For example, when patients become obviously agitated, it's important to reduce stimulation, which can be as simple as closing blinds and using quiet tones to being sure never to walk directly toward the patient. But Flannery found the old system hard to use and confusing. In researching the methodology behind the old system, she found that no one had published validity and reliability studies during its development. Flannery began developing her own test which, after many trials, shows promise of being a major improvement over a system now 25 years old. The scale gives a more detailed analysis of where patients are in their recovery programs, and better predicts how they are likely to behave, says Flannery.
Nurses simply make checks on a grid, and checks clustered in one area produce an assessment.