title: Acuity systems dialogue and patient classification system essentials.
abstract: Obtaining resources for quality patient care is a major responsibility of nurse leaders and requires accurate information in the political world of budgeting. Patient classification systems (PCS) assist nurse managers in controlling cost and improving patient care while appropriately using financial resources. This paper communicates acuity systems development, background, flaws, and components while discussing a few tools currently available. It also disseminates the development of a new acuity tool, the Patient Classification System. The PCS tool, developed in a small rural hospital, uses 5 broad concepts: (1) medications, (2) complicated procedures, (3) education, (4) psychosocial issues, and (5) complicated intravenous medications. These concepts embrace a 4-tiered scale that differentiates significant patient characteristics and assists in staffing measures for equality in patient staffing and improving quality of care and performance. Data obtained through use of the PCS can be used by nurse leaders to effectively and objectively lobby for appropriate patient care resources. Two questionnaires distributed to registered nurses on a medical-surgical unit evaluated the nurses' opinion of the 5 concepts and the importance for establishing patient acuity for in-patient care. Interrater reliability among nurses was 87% with the author's acuity tool.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA. kelle@suddenlink.net
authors.forename: Kelle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: Crystal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCully
mesh_terms: D003363:Cost Control; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000451:nursing; D006780:Hospitals, Rural / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000145:classification* / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016294:Models, Nursing; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009718:Nurse Administrators / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015401:Nursing Administration Research; D009736:Nursing Process; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology; D015588:Observer Variation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D016526:Workload / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data