AI Is Making a Mess of Nurses’ Schedules. They Say It’s a Safety Issue

In recent years, HCA Healthcare, the largest hospital chain in the United States, has integrated an AI scheduling tool called Timpani, developed in collaboration with Palantir, into roughly 130 of its 190 locations. The tool has been in use at Retzloff's hospital for nearly two years, but nurses are expressing strong dissatisfaction with it.

According to Retzloff, a labor union leader with ten years of bedside experience, "No one is happy with Timpani." In fact, multiple interviews with WIRED reported that nearly all nurses at other locations share similar complaints. The AI scheduling tool has allegedly led to understaffed, imbalanced, and exhausted care teams, particularly on Sundays, by scheduling too few nurses or not enough experienced veterans.

Additionally, it frequently disregards nurses' preferences for shift scheduling, leading to increased burnout. As a result, nurses are spending more time trading shifts or appealing their schedules, which can put them at risk of termination. One nurse, Retzloff, recalls working with only junior colleagues during shifts, delaying care for the sickest patients to guide novices through milder cases.

Former HCA CEO Michael Schlosser claimed the tool would save time and money, eliminate favoritism in assigning shifts, and improve retention. However, numerous nurses report having to make alternative arrangements for scheduling on shorter notice and experiencing an increase in temporary reassignments to different teams. Despite the tool's stated purpose of optimizing patient care, nurses are feeling disrespected and ignored.

HCA spokesperson Harlow Sumerford denies the claims, stating that final scheduling decisions are made by nursing leaders, not the AI tool, and that the company is improving Timpani based on nurses' feedback.