Acuity System - your help needed!

[MNpedsRN]

Hi,

I am looking for information on hospitals that are currently using an acuity system for determining staffing needs. Our hospital is reevaluating our current product which has not been very successful in our organization.

If your hospital uses an acuity system which one do they use? Is it being successfully used for staffing? How reliable is it? What do the nurses think about it?

If any of you are personally involved with the development/maintenance of the acuity system at your hospital, I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to connect with you.

~Melissa

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

This question made me a little curious, because my hospital is notorious for taking someone else's idea and pretending they came up with it.

We use the "Synergy Model". A simple google search led me to this:

The AACN Synergy Model for Patient Care

As with most things at my institution, this is something that exists on paper only and basically just nonsense the hospital uses to argue against official nurse-patient ratios. A patient whose acuity demands 2:1 or 1:1 nursing could easily be 1 of 5 patients at night if that's all that staffing allows.

[MNpedsRN]

Thanks for responding. I am currently in the role of the acuity system specialist; this role is to represent the interests of 1500+ inpatient RN's in the maintenance of the acuity system. We have not been well supported by our current vendor. Our new CNO (and other management) does not like the acuity system. What I cannot reasonably determine is whether they don't like it because of some of its shortcomings, or because in its current state, it reinforces our staffing patterns which they would like to change.

I am trying to get more info about other acuity systems: what has worked, what hasn't. Especially nurse perception of the acuity system and whether it truly meets the needs of the patients or just those of administration.

I looked at the synergy model. While it seems to take in to account a patient's needs as far as emotional/family support, learning, stability etc., how do you account for things like number of meds, treatments, lines. I'm having a hard time appreciating how the synergy model reliably translates to required RN and/or ancillary staff time.

Thank you,

Melissa