Infusion Staffing Planner

Plan the nurse, pharmacy and intake hours your visits need, and see whether chairs or nurses run out first.

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Your chairs and hours

Chairs you can use for patients.

From the first chair start to the last checkout.

Days the center runs infusions.

Your visits

Infusion visits you expect to complete in a typical week.

From the patient sitting down to leaving, including vitals, pre-meds, and observation.

Your staff

Use the ratio you actually run. This planner does not suggest one.

How many chairs one nurse covers at once on your floor today.

Full-time equivalents on the floor. Two half-time nurses count as one.

The weekly hours you count as one full-time person, after breaks and time off if you plan that way.

Minutes to check, mix, and label one visit's drugs.

Minutes to take in one new referral: paperwork, insurance check, and the first call to the patient.

New patients referred to you in a typical week.

Example values. Replace them with yours.

3.1 nurse FTEs needed. Nurses run out first. Your nurse FTEs cover about 202 visits a week. Your chairs could hold 240.

Nurse FTEs needed

3.1

112.5 h of nurse time a week, against 3.5 you have now

Chair-hours needed a week
450 h
Chair-hours open a week
600 h (75% used)
Pharmacy hours a week
60 h (1.7 FTE)
Intake hours a week
11.3 h (0.3 FTE)
All three, in FTEs
5.1
Visits a week your chairs hold
240
Visits a week your nurses cover
202

Nurses run out first. Your nurse FTEs cover about 202 visits a week. Your chairs could hold 240.

A planning estimate, not a staffing standard. It assumes visits spread evenly across the hours you are open. Free, and nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

How to use it
  1. Enter your chairs, the hours you are open each day, and the days you are open each week.
  2. Add the visits you expect each week and the average chair time per visit.
  3. Fill in your nurse ratio, current nurse FTEs, and pharmacy and intake minutes, then read the FTEs you need and whether chairs or nurses run out first.
How the numbers work
  • Chair-hours needed = visits a week × average chair time
  • Nurse hours = chair-hours needed ÷ patients per nurse, and never less than the hours you are open
  • Pharmacy hours = visits a week × prep minutes ÷ 60
  • Intake hours = new referrals a week × intake minutes ÷ 60
  • FTEs = hours ÷ hours in one FTE
  • Visits your chairs hold = chairs × hours a day × days a week ÷ chair time
  • Visits your nurses cover = nurse FTEs × hours in one FTE × patients per nurse ÷ chair time

With the example values: 180 visits × 2.5 hours = 450 chair-hours. 450 ÷ 4 patients per nurse = 112.5 nurse hours, or 3.1 FTEs at 36 hours. Pharmacy is 180 × 20 ÷ 60 = 60 hours (1.7 FTEs), and intake is 15 × 45 ÷ 60 = 11.3 hours (0.3 FTE). The 12 chairs hold 240 visits a week, but 3.5 nurse FTEs cover about 202, so nurses run out first.

Before you trust the result
  • Visits are not spread evenly. A packed Tuesday morning needs more nurses than the weekly average says. Plan by weekday and hour once you know the totals.
  • Not every nurse hour is at a chair. Charting, starting lines, phone calls, and reactions take time. If your nurses do this off the floor, lower the hours in one FTE.
  • Long infusions change the math. A few eight-hour visits can hold a chair and a share of a nurse all day. Use a chair time that reflects your real mix.
  • Your ratio is your call. Use the one you run, and check it against what your state, contracts, and drug mix require.

To see how full your chairs are today, try the chair utilization calculator. For how each term is defined, see the infusion center KPI glossary.

Questions

How do you work out nurse hours for an infusion center?

Multiply your weekly visits by the average chair time to get the chair-hours patients need, then divide by the number of patients one nurse covers at a time. If that is less than your open hours, plan for at least one nurse whenever you are open. Divide the hours by the hours in one FTE to get the number of full-time nurses.

What nurse-to-patient ratio should I use?

The one you run today, or the one your state, payer contracts, and drug mix require. Ratios vary with acuity and with how many first-dose or reaction-prone drugs you give, so this planner leaves the number to you.

Where do I get these numbers in WeInfuse?

Visits a week and chair time come from completed appointments and their scheduled times. That is scheduled time, not measured time in the chair, so spot-check a few days on the floor. New referrals a week come from your intake list. Pharmacy and intake minutes usually need a short time study, because no system records them.

How do I turn nurse hours into FTEs?

Divide the weekly hours you need by the hours you count as one full-time person. With the example values, 112.5 nurse hours at 36 hours per FTE is about 3.1 FTEs. If you plan for breaks, charting, and time off, lower the hours in one FTE.

How do I work out pharmacy and intake staffing?

Multiply weekly visits by pharmacy prep minutes and divide by 60 to get pharmacy hours. Do the same with new referrals a week and intake minutes. Divide each by the hours in one FTE. Few systems record these minutes, so time a typical week first.

Should I add chairs or hire nurses first?

Compare the visits a week your chairs hold with the visits your nurses cover. The smaller number is your limit, so adding more of the other will not let you see more patients. The planner shows which one runs out first with your numbers.

More on pulling appointments and referrals out of WeInfuse in the WeInfuse reporting guide.

Infusion center KPI glossaryWeInfuse reporting guideTalk to Greyfield Data

Related tools

Want this from your own data?

Your schedule already shows visits by weekday, hour, site, and drug. We build the report that turns it into nurse and chair needs for each shift, so you staff the busy hours.

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Educational estimate only. WeInfuse is a trademark of its owner. Greyfield Data is independent and not affiliated with WeInfuse.