Measuring Productivity in L & D

[Jemma]

For years the productivity of the L & D in our unit has been only measured by # of deliveries- not taking into account length of time in labor room or acuity of patients ( inductions, MagSo4, etc.)

With budget controls getting tighter and tighter we are looking for a better way to show the powers that be that # of deliveries doesn't really show the whole picture. Can anyone share what others are doing to justify staffing?

[shay]

The way it's typically done (in my experience) is that an acuity "number" is assigned to certain patients according to what's happening. Higher numbers of course go with sicker patients, i.e. mag patients, "sick" mag patients, scheduled c-s, stat c-s, and so on. That number is divided by the # of nurses, and the number left is the average acuity of each nurses' assignment. If that # is higher than your most acute patient, obviously you need some more nurses.

That's how it's usually been done at the hospitals where I worked.