Accession Number:

ADA288831

Title:

Development of an Acuity-Based Nurse Staffing System for the Post Anesthesia Care Unit.

Descriptive Note:

Final rept. 1992-1993,

Corporate Author:

ARMY HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT AGENCY FALLS CHURCH VA

Personal Author(s):

• Zadinsky, Julie K.

Report Date:

1994-11-01

Pagination or Media Count:

143.0

Abstract:

The purposes of the study were a to provide an acuity-based method of determining nurse staffing needs for post anesthesia care units PACUs in the Army Medical Department AMEDD and b to provide a method of analyzing PACU workload variation. This method of determining staffing needs and analyzing workload variation is known as the Post Anesthesia Care Staffing System PACS. Data were collected using a the PACU acuity worksheet Carty, Rea, Jennings, 1991 at six study sites for a 16-week period, b records of nursing hours worked when the acuity information was being collected, and c a survey of PACU characteristics sent to 39 Army PACUs in the U.S. Army Health Services Command HSC, now the U.S. Army Medical Command or MEDCOM. The strong positive correlation r .90 between daily direct nursing care hours and patient volume supported the development of a general regression model that was used to estimate daily direct nursing care hours from patient volume information.

Descriptors:

• *MILITARY MEDICINE
• *HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
• *ANESTHESIA
• *NURSES
• VOLUME
• ARMY PERSONNEL
• HEALTH
• ACUITY
• SITES
• VARIATIONS
• REGRESSION ANALYSIS
• CORRELATION
• COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS
• PATIENTS
• RECORDS
• MEDICAL SERVICES
• ARMY
• WORKLOAD
• ARMY OPERATIONS
• NURSING

Subject Categories:

• Personnel Management and Labor Relations
• Medicine and Medical Research
• Medical Facilities, Equipment and Supplies

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE