aquity system

moonrose2u · Apr 18, 2002

i started at an acute care facility last summer...they don't have any acuity system in place....would love to find a good one....

appreciate you letting me know what you may run across....i've drawn a blank trying to access things on the net about acuity grids...

NurseDennie, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2002

I apologize if this sounds cynical... Well, I apologize, because I know it sounds cynical. It actually probably is cynical.

Don't bother working up an acuity system. I've worked under several of them, it's just more paperwork, and -- okay, here's the cynical part: Staffing is NEVER affected by acuity!!

Love

Dennie

Genista, BSN, RN · Apr 19, 2002

I was too busy today to fill out my "acuities," so a nice coworker offered to fill them in for me. I would like to see an acuity sheet that says, "acuity so high that you don't have time to fill out his form," in which case you circle one HUGE number for that patient.

;-) ~Kona

P_RN, ADN, RN · Apr 19, 2002

We did acuities faithfully. The charge nurses totaled 32 patients X 6 columns added up manually since it was on paper and done in pencil......then we hand carried it to the nursing office 8 floors down and faithfully placed it in the file box.

When the guy who was supposedly doing the acuities left employment (to go sell real estate instead of be a nurse) they found literally THOUSANDS OF PIECES OF PAPER-UNTOUCHED!!!

THEY NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT THEM!!!!!

night owl · Apr 19, 2002

Nothing surprises me anymore...

JillR · Apr 19, 2002

I read an article once about how acuity systems really work. It went like this. The hospital pays big bucks to use a certain acuity system, they send this place thier budget for the year and the place that makes up the system figures out the numbers in order to keep the unit within budget. So....acuity systems are just a big lie. We use an acuity system at our hospital. It is a joke. I have seen the nurse/patient ratio on paper (the acuity system) increase tremendously in the last two years.

In the long run, they mean nothing. Just another managerial lie. :devil:

moonrose2u · Apr 19, 2002

we have two boxes of scrap paper (4 1/2 x 6) that we use to take reports on....

its acuity sheets cut in half......used acuity that is...

nursing:

not cracked up to what its supposed to be.....

km rn · Apr 19, 2002

The last time I used an acuity scale it worked to our disadvantage.

When the acuity board said we were 4 nurses overstaffed you can bet that all 4 nurses got pulled to the floor.

However, when the board showed we needed 4 more nurses - we never got four....sometimes, 1 or 2.

They only used the acuity when it worked to their advantage.

SharonH, RN · Apr 19, 2002

Originally posted by NurseDennie
I apologize if this sounds cynical... Well, I apologize, because I know it sounds cynical. It actually probably is cynical.

Don't bother working up an acuity system. I've worked under several of them, it's just more paperwork, and -- okay, here's the cynical part: Staffing is NEVER affected by acuity!!

Love

Dennie

This is the absolute truth!!!!!!!!!!

fedupnurse · May 2, 2002

Depends. If you are management or adminsitration Medicus will be your best friend. If you are staff and looking for real acuity Medicus is your worst enemy. I've seen the Apache system but never used it. At least it asks clinical questions. We figured out how they 'grade' our patients and we started keeping track. We found we were being required to perform 50 hours of care in a 12 hour shift!!!! Administrations response was to water down the system. People who use to come in as a level6 (1:1) are now coming in as a level 4. I'd love to find a good acuity system that actually measures true patient care needs! If you find one please post it.

feduprn

tiger · Jun 26, 2002

we recently got the "grasp" acuity system. just learning so no more info yet. mabe you could check into it. will see how it goes.