using patient acuity to determine nursing assignments

[Alrn]

I would like to know if you are on a med surg unit & have used patient acuity to determine nursing assignments. I would like to know what criterea that you used. Would like a copy. I would also like to hear the pros & cons of using this system. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.Thank you.

Alan rn :)

[mattsmom81]

Nurses love this, managers hate it...because they need to staff more nurses per shift. This is why so many facilities have gotten away from acuities and just go by numbers; which is understaffing in most cases today with sicker and sicker patients in the hospital.

Our acuities took into account treatments, IV's and piggybacks and meds per shift, frequency of vital signs, physical cares required, and emotional/safety/machinery treatment needs requiring nurse presence/ monitoring more frequently. I no longer have a copy of my last acuity system, it has been 10 plus years since I used one that was looked at.... unfortunately. This sytem supported the nursing staff's time; but seemed to require more staff than management wished to give us.The facility likely was not making the $$$ they wanted so it was eliminated. This timeframe coincided with when DRG's and managed care took over and understaffing by policy took over...so hospitals could make a buck from the nursing dept.

We need to mandate ratios per unit for this reason; as California has done, to keep facilities from chronically understaffing us to make a buck. They use the 'nursing shortage' as an excuse to understaff us too..but I don't buy it. JMHO.