Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

A descriptive study of the Workload Management System for Nurses (WMSN) was performed at Moncrief Army Community Hospital, Fort Jackson, South Carolina from 1 July to 16 December 1988. Descriptive and correlational statistics were generated from data collected from three medical/surgical nursing units to demonstrate professional and ancillary utilization overall unit staff availability, and the impact of staffing adjustments upon utilization. After segregating the data for each unit into four homogenous groups by shift and day of the week, comparisons of utilization information were made to nursing care hours, census, and changes in census. The study supported the contention that staff were being moved, in part, as a function of the elements of the WMSN. The availability of staff to be moved to meet nursing care needs was found to be a significant limiting factor. The need for follow-up studies and the routine use of the actual staffing Utilization Ratio as a means of communicating staffing needs to the hospital leadership were recommended.