Impact of average patient acuity on staffing of the phase I PACU

Franklin Dexter; Ruth E Wachtel; Richard H Epstein

doi:10.1016/j.jopan.2006.07.007

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Impact of average patient acuity on staffing of the phase I PACU

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Impact of average patient acuity on staffing of the phase I PACU

Franklin Dexter, Ruth E Wachtel and Richard H Epstein

Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, Vol.21(5), pp.303-310

10/2006

DOI: 10.1016/j.jopan.2006.07.007

PMID: 17027439

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Abstract

The authors consider methods for determining staffing requirements for a Phase I PACU. Given that the total number of nursing hours per day is limited by budgetary constraints, PACU staffing can be adjusted to minimize the percentage of days that the PACU is full and cannot accept additional patients from the OR. Except for very small PACUs, the number of staffing options is so large that computer optimization methods must be used. In addition, patient acuity must be incorporated into the staffing plan. Methods are described for adjusting staffing requirements when some patient acuities differ from 1 nurse:2 patients, when patients transition from one acuity to another, and when acuity is not known for all patients.

Severity of Illness Index

Data Interpretation, Statistical

Prospective Studies

Humans

Personnel Staffing and Scheduling - organization & administration

Personnel Staffing and Scheduling Information Systems - organization & administration

Nursing Staff, Hospital - economics

Workload

Recovery Room - manpower

Time Factors

Diagnosis-Related Groups - classification

Nursing Administration Research

Retrospective Studies

Safety Management - organization & administration

Needs Assessment - organization & administration

Nursing Staff, Hospital - supply & distribution

Postanesthesia Nursing - manpower

Budgets

Research Design

Length of Stay - statistics & numerical data

Details

Title: Subtitle: Impact of average patient acuity on staffing of the phase I PACU
Creators: Franklin Dexter - Department of Anesthesia, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA. Franklin-Dexter@UIowa.edu
Ruth E Wachtel
Richard H Epstein
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, Vol.21(5), pp.303-310
Publisher: United States
DOI: 10.1016/j.jopan.2006.07.007
PMID: 17027439
ISSN: 1089-9472
eISSN: 1532-8473
Language: English
Date published: 10/2006
Academic Unit: Health Management and Policy; Anesthesia
Record Identifier: 9983806255102771

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