New RN-What are the 4 code categories?

[RockinNurse]

Hi everyone! I am a new RN and I am one month into my orientation. This may sound like a silly question, but I seem to find more and more things every day that I never learned in nursing school! When referring to a patient's code status, a lot of nurses say, "The patient is a Cat. 2" or a "Cat. 4." I'm not quite sure which categories are which...I think a Cat. 4 is like a DNR. Just wondering if someone else could clarify them for me! Thank you so much!

Nurse Kristi

[CNL2B]

Those categories are used as part of a patient acuity system classification. My facility uses this (I wish I could tell you what the program was called, but I can't). 4's are higher acuity than 2's. There are a bunch of indicators you check to get these numbers for each individual patient. To my knowledge, it has nothing to do with code status.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Some facilities use these categories and some do not. As such, the meaning maybe different in each place.

This means that you need to ask someone in your facility what the specific codes mean. Someone from another facility is likely not to give the correct data.