| Course | HA 635 Healthcare Human Resources Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 1 |
| Paper type | Workforce demand analysis |
| Length | About 1,000 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | MS in Healthcare Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HA 635 Unit 1
49,151 Hours Needed, 44,244 Available: A Workforce Demand Analysis for Surgical Technologists in a 14-Room Texas Operating Room
Student Name
Health Care Administration, Herzing University
HA 635: Healthcare Human Resources Management
Instructor Name
January 15, 2026
49,151 Hours Needed, 44,244 Available: A Workforce Demand Analysis for Surgical Technologists in a 14-Room Texas Operating Room
Department, Role and Horizon
This analysis covers one role in one department: surgical technologists in the main operating room of a composite 320-bed hospital in north Texas, for fiscal year 2027, September 2026 through August 2027. The main operating room has 14 rooms. Surgical technologists serve as the scrub person, preparing the sterile field, instruments and supplies and passing instruments to the surgeon throughout each case. The ambulatory surgery center and the labor and delivery rooms have their own staff and are excluded.
Demand in Worked Hours
Demand is driven by scheduled room time. The workload standard is one scrub person for every running room for the full staffed day, consistent with national perioperative staffing guidance that each patient in an operating room have a dedicated circulating nurse and a scrub person (Association of periOperative Registered Nurses [AORN], 2021). The hospital's block schedule for fiscal year 2027, approved by the surgical services committee in December, sets the room hours.
Weekday rooms: 12 rooms staffed 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (10 hours) and 2 rooms staffed 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. (16 hours), a total of 152 room-hours a day, over 250 weekdays: 38,000 room-hours.
Weekend and holiday rooms: 2 rooms staffed 12 hours a day on 115 weekend days and holidays: 2,760 room-hours.
Relief factor: scrub persons cannot leave the sterile field for breaks or meals unless relieved, and the department's time studies show that relief adds 12% to room coverage. (38,000 + 2,760) × 1.12 = 45,651 hours.
Second scrub: spine, robotic and complex orthopedic cases require a second surgical technologist for part of the case; last year's case log shows 2,300 such hours, and the block schedule does not change this mix: 2,300 hours.
Call-back: surgical technologists take call for emergencies nights and weekends; hours actually worked on call-back averaged 1,200 a year over the last two years: 1,200 hours.
Total demand: 45,651 + 2,300 + 1,200 = 49,151 worked hours. At 1,820 worked hours per full-time equivalent (FTE), after paid time off, sick time and education are removed from 2,080 paid hours, demand equals 27.0 FTEs.
Supply From the Current Roster
Supply is built from the people actually employed, not from budgeted positions.
| Supply component | FTEs | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 22 full-time surgical technologists | 22.00 | Roster, January 2026 |
| 5 part-time at 0.6 | 3.00 | Roster |
| 2 as-needed staff averaging 0.2 | 0.40 | Last 12 months' hours |
| Gross supply | 25.40 | |
| Less: two staff on 12-week leaves planned in the year | -0.46 | 2 × 12 ÷ 52 |
| Less: two new graduates in orientation for 12 weeks at half productivity | -0.23 | 2 × 0.5 × 12 ÷ 52 |
| Less: precepting time for four preceptors at 10% | -0.40 | Education department standard |
| Effective supply | 24.31 | 44,244 worked hours |
The Gap
Demand of 49,151 worked hours less effective supply of 44,244 leaves a gap of 4,907 worked hours, or 2.7 FTEs. The department has three budgeted vacancies, so the budget already recognizes the need; the gap is the result of positions that have not been filled. Last year, the equivalent gap was covered by about 3,100 hours of overtime and one contracted traveler working about 1,700 hours.
Credential Requirements That Narrow the Pool
Not everyone can fill this gap. Texas prohibits a licensed health care facility from employing a person to practice surgical technology unless the person has completed an accredited surgical technology program and holds and maintains certification from a recognized certifying body, with limited exceptions for military training, federal service and people practicing before September 1, 2009 (Tex. Health & Safety Code § 259.002). A new graduate may practice for up to 180 days after graduation while obtaining certification. Staff practicing under an exception must complete continuing education in surgical technology every two years.
Federal hospital rules add a supervision requirement: surgical technologists may serve as scrub persons under the supervision of a registered nurse (42 C.F.R. § 482.51). The current roster includes 24 certified surgical technologists, 2 certified by the second national certifying body, 1 grandfathered technologist and 2 new graduates within their 180-day window. The two new graduates must pass their certification examinations by May 2026 or stop practicing, which is a risk to supply that the analysis tracks separately. The gap can therefore be filled only by certified technologists or by new graduates of accredited programs, a much smaller pool than the general labor market.
What the Gap Costs Now
Cost of one employed FTE: average base wage $31.50 an hour × 2,080 hours = $65,520, plus benefits at 28%, a total of $83,866, or $46.08 per worked hour.
Overtime: 3,100 hours at time and a half ($47.25) cost $146,475, of which the overtime premium above straight time was $48,825.
Traveler: 1,700 hours at an agency bill rate of $78 an hour cost $132,600, which is $54,264 more than the same hours from an employed technologist would have cost.
Recruitment: filling each vacancy is estimated at $6,500, including a $5,000 sign-on bonus and advertising and recruiter time.
The premium the hospital is paying to cover the gap, about $103,000 a year in overtime and agency premium, would pay the recruitment cost of all three vacancies about five times over. The larger cost is harder to count: overtime concentrated among the same experienced technologists, who are also the preceptors, raises the risk that they leave, and the turnover study later in the term examines that risk directly.
Sensitivity and Next Steps
Two assumptions move the answer most. If the relief factor were 10% rather than 12%, demand would fall by about 815 hours and the gap to about 2.2 FTEs; if the surgical services committee adds a third evening room in the spring, as some surgeons have requested, demand would rise by about 1,680 hours, 1,500 room-hours with relief added, and the gap to about 3.6 FTEs. The block schedule should therefore be settled before recruitment targets are finalized.
The analysis supports three steps. First, recruit to the three budgeted vacancies now, since the gap exists under every reasonable assumption. Second, confirm with the two new graduates' program that both are scheduled for the certification examination well before their 180-day deadline. Third, build a pipeline with the accredited surgical technology program at the local community college, whose graduates are the only new supply the law allows. The next unit analyzes the job itself, so that the posting and interview process ask for what the work requires.
References
Association of periOperative Registered Nurses. (2021). AORN position statement on perioperative safe staffing and on-call practices. AORN Journal, 114(6), 597-608. https://doi.org/10.1002/aorn.13536
Condition of participation: Surgical services, 42 C.F.R. § 482.51 (2025).
Tex. Health & Safety Code § 259.002 (2025).
The Herzing HA 635 Unit 1 instructions
Unit 1 asks you to analyze workforce demand and supply for one role in a health care department. Expect to define the department, role and horizon, calculate demand in worked hours, build supply from the current roster, state the gap, explain credential limits, cost the gap and test sensitivity. Students often ask whether to use budgeted positions or real staff. Use the people actually employed, minus leave, orientation and turnover, because budgets count vacancies as if they work. Tie demand to a workload standard, such as one scrub person per running room, with a source. Convert the gap to FTEs. Show what filling it with overtime or agency staff costs compared with hiring.
Inside the HA 635 Unit 1 example
The analysis opens with the hospital, the operating room's 14 rooms and the role's duties. The demand section multiplies room-hours by the staffing standard and adds relief for breaks and leave. The supply section lists current technologists by FTE and subtracts expected paid time off, education and turnover to reach effective hours. The gap section converts 4,907 hours into 2.7 FTEs and notes three budgeted vacancies already exist. The credential section summarizes the Texas statute on accredited training and certification. The cost section compares employed time, overtime premium and traveler bill rates per hour. The sensitivity section shows how a lower relief factor or a new evening room changes the gap, then lists next steps for recruiting.
Reading the HA 635 Unit 1 rubric
Herzing's rubric for a workforce demand analysis usually covers scope, demand, supply, the gap, credential requirements, cost and sensitivity. Building demand and supply in worked hours carries the most weight, because a gap measured in headcount or budget lines hides leave, turnover and orientation time. Scope points reward one role, one department and a dated horizon. Demand criteria look for a sourced workload standard and a relief factor. Supply credit goes to the real roster adjusted for time away. Credential points reward state law cited correctly. Cost criteria look for employed, overtime and agency rates compared per hour. Sensitivity should test the assumptions that move the answer most. AORN staffing guidance, the CMS surgical services rule and the Texas statute support the analysis.
HA 635 Unit 1 help before you submit
Workforce analyses in HA 635 Unit 1 often slip by counting budgeted positions as if they were filled. Another frequent problem is demand with no workload standard behind it. Students often forget a relief factor for leave and breaks. Supply ignores turnover and orientation time. The gap is given in people rather than hours and FTEs. Credential limits are missing, so the pool looks larger than it is. Costs compare salaries without benefits. Sensitivity is skipped. Overtime and agency costs are combined. Finally, express everything in worked hours before converting, because graders reward an analysis a director could use to justify filling positions instead of paying premium rates.
Get a HA 635 Unit 1 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 1 instructions and the rubric from your HA 635 classroom, plus the department, the volume figures and any workload standard your section requires. We write a custom example that shows the conversion, builds supply from the roster down and prices the gap, returned in 24 to 48 hours. The first custom sample is free.
More HA 635 papers and healthcare administration samples
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- HA 635 Unit 3: Selection defensibility memo
- HA 635 Unit 4: Credentialing and competency review
- HA 635 Unit 5: Compensation structure review
- HA 635 Unit 6: Discipline case file
- HA 635 Unit 7: Turnover and retention study
- HA 635 Unit 8: Employment policy defense
- HA 625 Unit 1: Regulatory authority memo
- HA 630 Unit 1: Marketing environment brief
- HA 640 Unit 1: Operations baseline report
- HA 645 Unit 1: Public reporting brief
HA 635 Unit 1 questions, answered
Do I need real data from an employer?
No, and most sections prefer you did not use it. A described department works: state the bed count or visit volume, the roster by role and the leave assumptions, then hold those figures steady for the whole document. What the criterion measures is whether the conversion from volume to hours is defensible, not whether the organization can be identified.
How long a horizon should the analysis cover?
Use whatever period the instructions set. Where the choice is open, a twelve month horizon usually works, because it is long enough for hiring and credentialing to complete and short enough that volume assumptions stay believable. Say what the horizon assumes about seasonality and growth, since a reader checking feasibility will look for those assumptions before they look at the total.
Is the first unit of HA 635 always a workforce count?
No. Herzing publishes no public map of what each unit asks for, and instructors change assignments from one term to the next. Workforce planning commonly sits early in this course, which is why the example is built that way, but only the instructions and rubric in your own classroom decide the deliverable you actually hand in.
Where can I find a free HA 635 Unit 1 sample paper?
The full HA 635 Unit 1 workforce demand analysis is free on this page, surgical technologist hours for a Texas operating room with the gap costed and tested. An analysis for a different hospital role is available on request.
How do you calculate a staffing gap in FTEs?
Calculate demand in worked hours from a workload standard plus relief, subtract effective supply from the current roster after leave and turnover, then divide the gap by worked hours per FTE. This sample shows each step.