[A study of patient severity classification and nursing hours].
The purpose of this study utilizing the patient classification system was to investigate the distribution of categories of patient severity in medical departments in relation to the nursing hours required for each patient according to the severity of illness. In addition, Work distribution among nursing personnel and evaluation for the feasibility of this program were also considered. As per a proto-type index, patient severity was recorded by the observer; a factor-type nursing requirement table was designed by the nursing personnel. There were 621 samples collected from sub-specialized medical departments. Snapshot observations were taken to survey the allocation of nursing care time. The total of 88 samples of nursing personnel data were analyzed. The results showed that most categories of patient severity were distributed among B II, B III, C III, C IV while the average nursing hours required daily fluctuated between 1.21-10.38 hours. Because of the few samples in A III, B IV, C II, the average nursing hours among three categories were no significance in statistics, and other categories were significant. The researcher may use the nursing hour model as an approach to determine ideal nursing manpower.
Ko
C C
CC
Department of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Kuo
C M
CM
Ko
M W
MW
D006801:Humans; D009732:Nursing Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors