Patients' needs for nursing care: beyond staffing ratios.
The current focus on staffing ratios as a means to assure appropriate care for patients ignores the very real differences among patients in their needs for nursing care. Implementing a system that identifies these needs provides a more accurate indication of staffing requirements. In addition, storing the raw data from the system at their most basic level provides opportunities for more extensive analyses and informed, data-driven decision-making related to resource allocation, performance improvement, and productivity enhancement.
Graf
Christina M
CM
Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, GRB 015, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Millar
Sally
S
Feilteau
Charlene
C
Coakley
Peter J
PJ
Erickson
Jeanette Ives
JI
D019985:Benchmarking; D001900:Boston; D003660:Decision Support Systems, Management; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010562:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling Information Systems; D040841:Resource Allocation