Patient Acuity systems

allnurses Guide · Mar 1, 2008

In my experience... I've worked in two different hospitals in which patients were assigned acuities.... a number from 1-5, although it was really more like 3-5; anything below 3 was considered not sick enough to even be on the floor.

The first hospital, the patients had their acuities, and staffing was supposed to be based on how many patients there were with acuities of 5. It was SUPPOSED to be that way anyway, but rarely did the system really work, or rarely was it enforced.

The second hospital, the patients all had their acuity numbers, but that did not affect staffing in any way. The sheer number of patients on the unit affected staffing.

Where I currently work now, there is absolutely no acuity system in place; at least not that I'm aware of.

BookwormRN · Mar 1, 2008

We also use an acuity system at our hospital. However, as any nurse on the floor will tell you-those numbers do not always tell the true story! Someone with an acuity of 3 may become WAY more work than the 4 down the hall.

The supervisors DO use the system, we just aren't always happy with it.

sharlynn · Mar 2, 2008

In LTC, it is used to determine the rate the resident pays per day. Those who require more nursing care pay a higher rate than those who take care of themselves.

It is also supposed to be used to determine the amount of staff needed, but as others have said, it doesn't always work that way!

bubbles64 · Mar 21, 2008

The acuity system in Australalia is supposed to determine the amount of staff required for each shift depening on how sick your patients are so for example if you have patients who are day 3 or 4 post op there nurse may have 5 or 6 patients to look after as they are just basic care medications etc where if you have new post ops who have alot of pain issues and decrease vital signs you may only have one or two patients to look after.

I suppose it works diffrently in other hospitals but that is the way i see it.

bubbles64