A HEALTH DEPARTMENT CLINIC NURSE-STAFFING MODEL.
Contributors: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 172
Subjects: Health Sciences, Public Health.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Health Care Management.
Description: The Alabama Department of Public Health Clinic Nurse-staffing Model was developed to estimate the number of nurses required to provide health care services to a clinic's expected patient load (number of patients served). For the purposes of this study, nurse-staffing requirements are defined as the minimum hours of health department clinic nursing time required to provide good quality nursing care for a given patient load. The model was developed to guide nurse-staffing decisions for county health departments in the state of Alabama, but could be adapted for use in other states.

This study is unique among health department clinic nurse-staffing studies reported in the literature in three major ways. First, the model combines the use of two readily available and widely used management tools in the estimation of nursing-visit times: (1) Patient Flow Analysis (PFA), and (2) a patient classification system based on federal categorical funding of health department clinics. Incorporation of these two features may facilitate utilization of the model by public health administrators. Second, the model is unique in its consideration of the effect of variation in nursing workload on nurse-staffing requirements in health departments. Third, a validation strategy for the model was developed and implemented.

Four specifications of the nurse-staffing model were developed. The accuracy of each specification of the nurse-staffing model was estimated using clinic nurses' and nursing administrators' assessments of the adequacy of nurse staffing in Alabama health departments. The validity of each specification of the model was tested using clinic nurse assessments of nursing-care quality. The model was used to assess the adequacy of clinic nurse staffing in Alabama health department clinics in 1990.

The major limitation of the nurse-staffing model is its lack of an explicit nursing quality-control component.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-12, Section: B, page: 6158.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL, 1993.

School code: 0153.