Implementation of a Patient Acuity Tool and the

Implementation of a Patient Acuity Tool and the Impact on Nurse Satisfaction Amber Denson UT Tyler NURS 5382

Overview of Project A patient acuity tool (PAT) was implemented on a 20 -bed medical unit in an acute care hospital to evenly distribute patient acuity among the nurses on shift. The PAT project was well-received by the nurse manager, charge nurses, and bedside nursing staff. The purpose of the project was to evaluate the impact of using the PAT to make nursepatient assignments on nurse satisfaction.

Rationale 1 Balance workload/acuity 2 Standardize nurse -patient assignment making 3 Improve nurse satisfaction and retention 4 Improve patient safety and outcomes

Literature Synthesis – Easy to use, applicable, increase in total nurse satisfaction, satisfaction with workload, and standard of care, enhances staffing plan, positively inflluences patient outcomes (Firestone-Howard, Gonalez, Dudjak, & Rader, 2017; Al-Dweik & Ahmad, 2019; Al-Dweik & Ahmad, 2020) – Improved perceived workload (Sir, Dundar, Steege, & Pasupathy, 2015) – Significant improvement of perceived distribution of workload: – pre-implementation (20%), post-implementation (85%) (Giammona et al. , 2016) – Feasible, less biased, applicable, adaptable, effective (Acar & Butt, 2016; Amenudzie, Georgiou, Ho, & Sullivan, 2017)

Stakeholders BEDSIDE NURSES CHARGE NURSES NURSE MANAGER PATIENTS

Planned Evaluation – Pre- and post-implementation survey – Continued education – Frequency of use – Verbal feedback

Flowchart Problem Identification Literature review/Solution identification Discussion with nurse manager/approval Pre-PAT Survey Educate charge nurses/staff nurses Implementation Unit Closure/Conclusion Post-PAT Survey Dissemination

Data Collection Method – Pre-implementation survey – Post-implementation survey – Verbal feedback – Means and standard deviation

Cost/Benefit Discussion Preparation/Materials $175 Education for Implementation $981. 38

Discussion of Results – Improved nurse satisfaction – Improved teamwork – Reduction in falls – Improved patient experience

Recommendations – Modify PAT and re-implement once unit re-opens – Develop a house-wide implementation plan – Inquire about an electronic tool

References – Acar, I. & Butt, S. (2016). Modeling nurse-patient assignments considering patient acuity and travel distance metrics. Journal of Biomedical Informatics 64, 192 -206. http: //dx. doi. org/10. 1016/j. jbi. 2016. 10. 006 – Al-Dweik, G. & Ahmad, M. (2019). Matching nursing assignment to patients’ acuity level: The road to nurses’ satisfaction. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 27(1), E 34 -E 47. http: //dx. doi. org/10. 1891/1061 -3749. 27. 1. E 34 – Al-Dweik, G. & Ahmad, M. (2020). The effectiveness of patient acuity tool on nursing and patient outcomes: A literature review. ISSN: 13412051, 25(1), 329346. – Allen, S. B. (2019). Assignments matter: Results from a nurse-patient assignment survey. MEDSURG Nursing, 28(2), 119 -124.

References – Amenuddzie, Y. , Georgiou, G. , Ho, E. , & Sullivan, H. (2017). Adapting and applying the synergy model on an inpatient hematology unit. Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal, 27(4), 338 -342. doi: 10. 5737/23688076274338342 – Chiulli, K. , Thompson, J. , & Reguin-Hartman, K. (2014). Development and implementation of a patient acuity tool for a medical-surgical unit. Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, 23(2), 9 -12. – Di. Clemente, K. (2018). Standardizing patient acuity: A project on a medicalsurgical/cancer care unit. MEDSURG Nursing, 27(6), 355 -357, 387. – Firestone-Howard, B. , Gonzalez, J. , Dudjak, L. , & Rader, S. (2017). The effects of implementing a patient acuity tool on nurse satisfaction in a pulmonary medicine unit. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 41(4), E 5 -E 14. doi: 10. 1097/NAQ. 0000000254

References – Giammona, S. , Arena, G. , Calo, M. , Barone, M. , Scelsa, D. , Lepre, A. , … Schlenk, E. (2016). Nursing workload and staff allocation in an Italian hospital: A quality improvement initiative based on nursing care score. Central European Journal of Nursing and Midwifery, 7(2), 420 -427. doi: 10. 15452/CEJNM. 2016. 07. 0010 – Griffiths, P. , Saville, C. , Ball, J. , Jones, J. , Pattison, N. , Monks, T. (2020). Nursing workload, nurse staffing methodologies and tools: A systematic scoping review and discussion. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 103, 1 -11. https: //doi. org/10. 1016/j. ijnurstu. 2019. 103487 – Hairr, D. , Sailbury, H. , Johannsson, M. , & Redfern-Vance, N. Nurse staffing and the relationship to job satisfaction and retention. Nursing Economics, 32(3), 142 -147. – Ingraham, A. , & Powell, J. (2018). Patient acuity tool on a medical-surgical unit. American Nurse Today. Retrieved February 11, 2020 from https: //www. myamericannurse. com/patient-acuity-medical-surgical-unit/

References – O’Connell, A. , Nettleon, R. , Bunting, D. , & Eichar, S. (2020). What works: equitable nurse-patient assignments using a workload tool. Retrieved from https: //www. myamericannurse. com/what-works-equitable-nurse-patientassignments-using-a-workload-tool/ – Perry, S. J. , Richter, J. P. , & Beauvais, B. (2018). The Effects of Nursing Satisfaction and Turnover Cognitions on Patient Attitudes and Outcomes: A Three-Level Multisource Study. Health services research, 53(6), 4943– 4969. doi: 10. 1111/14756773. 12997 – Sir, M. , Dundar, B. , Steege, L. , & Pasupathy, K. (2015). Nurse-patient assignment models considering patient acuity metrics and nurses’ perceived workload. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 55, 237 -248. http: //dx. doi. org/10. 1016/j. jbi. 2015. 04. 005 – University of New Mexico. (November 2016). The high cost of nurse turnover. Retrieved April 10, 2020 from https: //rnbsnonline. unm. edu/articles/high-cost-ofnurse-turnover. aspx