title: Routine assessment of patient progress: a multiformat, change-sensitive nurses' instrument for assessing psychotic inpatients.
abstract: A new instrument, the Routine Assessment of Patient Progress (RAPP), is a standardized scale with a unique format that allows trained nurses to incorporate both interview and observational data into a comprehensive assessment of psychiatric inpatients. The scale was developed to accurately document treatment effects, assist in treatment planning, and provide ancillary judgments of psychopathology that may affect diagnosis. The RAPP demonstrates satisfactory interrater reliability and internal consistency. The RAPP total score and its two subscales correlated highly, where expected, with an observation-based nursing scale, global measures, and an interview-based psychopathology scale. RAPP scores demonstrated sensitivity to change over time in patient functioning. It reliably discriminated among patients discharged to settings with varying degrees of independent living. The use of the RAPP over several years on a psychiatric inpatient unit has shown it to be a practical clinical tool that eases nurses' charting demands, helps create care plans, and facilitates interdisciplinary communication.
authors.affiliation: Refractory Psychosis Program, Riverview Hospital, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Ehmann
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Higgs
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Au
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Honer
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000341:Affective Disorders, Psychotic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D010343:Patient Admission; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology