The MATRIX

[RN130]

Has the Matrix made it to your hospital? How is it going. We are being totally overwhelmed with this inappropriate budget based staffing system. We have a whole new layer of managent who are newly hired to enforce this. It gives us the same # of nursing hours regardless of the acuity of the patient. We are being harassed into HC'ing every 4 hours. UGHhhh. We have not seen the hospitals that they are comparing us to and it has been 6 months of hell.

[zacarias, ASN, RN]

Good lord what is this MATRIX thing? Do you work in a community hospital?

[SmilingBluEyes]

sorry what is this?

[ICU_chick]

I'm not familiar with the Matrix... other than Morpheus & Neo, of course. Can you explain at all? Is this a regional thing?

[romie]

Could they be refering to Acheive Matrix, the computer based patient management system-- contains MDS, RUGs ect.?

[nursemaa]

Probably referring to a matrix system of staffing. You take your hours per pt day (theoretically based on average acuity), and use that to determine how many staff members you need for each census point, or number of pts. There's a formula for that, can't remember it off the top of my head.

A chart is usually made up that tells you "for 20 pts, you need ___ staff, for 21 pts, you need ___ staff", and so on. It's not a new system but I suspect more hospitals are using it....helps keep you within budget by not "overstaffing", and keeps your productivity reasonable by not "understaffing".

But it doesn't take into account situations like having more high acuity pts than usual, or high turnover of pts ( you know, those shifts where you discharge a bazillion pts and get a bazillion more in....). So a manager has to decide whether to go above the matrix in those situations, and take the heat if he/she does.