Patient Acuity

Excerpt

Patient acuity is a concept that is very important to patient safety. Presumably, as acuity rises, more nursing resources are needed to provide safe care. Very little research has actually been conducted, however, to verify this premise. Moreover, findings from the research that has been conducted are largely inconsistent. Design issues account for these differences. In addition, it is possible that factors other than patient acuity may contribute more to patient outcomes. It remains important to derive a much better grasp of the relationship between patient acuity, outcomes, and patient safety. At present, little can be said with confidence about this association.