Nurses are expected to hand off their 5-6 patients to another nurse for breaks, temporarily doubling the covering nurse's patient load to 10-12, which feels unsafe.

Workarounds Described

• nurse takes break when patients are least likely to call and simply deals with it if they do
• nurse hands off patients to another nurse who then has 10-12 patients temporarily

Implied Software Gaps

• Automated break scheduling that ensures no nurse is overloaded during breaks
• Real-time patient load monitoring to alert when a nurse's ratio becomes unsafe

BreakRelief Nurse Coordinator

A mobile app and scheduling platform that ensures safe nurse breaks by assigning a dedicated float nurse or staggering break times to prevent any nurse from being overloaded. It uses real-time patient acuity data to optimize break schedules and alerts charge nurses when coverage gaps threaten safety.