Description of the Staffing Model through Patient Acuity Model

Patient Acuity Model
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Description of the Staffing Model-Patient Acuity Model
Health care facilities are mandated to provide quality care that will significantly improve the outcomes of their patients. According to various medical studies, adequate nurse staffing levels in the hospitals is directly associated not only to a reduction in patient mortality but also leads to enhanced outcomes. Similarly, having too many nurses at one facility can jeopardize the conditions of the patients. There are several nurse staffing models and the most appropriate for a 30-bed acute inpatient unit is the Patient Acuity Model. Patient acuity refers to patient care needs and as such, the model is primarily used because of its ability to measure the intensity of nursing care that each patient at a particular health care facility requires. Incesti et al., (2014) reiterate that position and shares “An acuity-based safe staffing model regulates the number of nurses on shift according to patient’s’ needs and not patient numbers”. The patient acuity model takes into account that it is illogical to establish the number of nurses required at an acute inpatient unit based on the number of patients. For instance, some of the patients at the facility may be about to get discharged and require little care. On the other hand, the same facility may have patients in serious conditions and requiring nurses present around the clock (Incesti et al., 2014). The crucial duty of creating a balance between patient care needs and the staffing pattern is usually tasked to the nurse manager.
With the patient acuity model/system, the duty of the nurse manager is eased because it helps them use patient data to establish staffing patterns for every shift in the acute inpatient unit. Nurses participate in the system by continuously inputting patient data that will be used by the nurse manager when running the report. The information on the report will determine the number of nurses to attend to patients every shift based on their care needs. It will also ensure that patients with the greatest care needs are attended to by highly skilled and qualified nurses at all times (Choi et al., 2011). The model allows nurse managers to make adjustments whenever necessary and in consideration of the dynamic needs of their patients and skill sets of the nurses. As such, it is highly flexible unlike the other nurse staffing models and the most appropriate to serve the needs of patients in acute inpatient units whose conditions change drastically daily (Kitchens et al., 2018). Despite the above benefits of the patient acute model, critiques have argued that it tends to undermine the full scope of the nursing practice because a lot of time is consumed breaking down breaking down patient care needs.
Quality Metrics and Data
The patient acuity model is a nurse staffing measure that is keen on ensuring the provision of ...