Measuring patient intensity. A reliability study

The purpose of this study was to determine the interrater reliability for each of 12 dimensions of a measure of Patient Intensity for Nursing (PINI). Three hospitals in two states participated in this project with 121 Registered Nurses prepared in the use of the PINI. The interrater reliability was determined by day shift nurses rating their patients late in the shift and evening shift nurses rating the same patients early in their shift. Paired ratings of 657 patients were included in this analysis, and the reliability was substantial (kappa = greater than .60) for 10 of the 12 dimensions across hospitals. These findings provided the foundation for revision of the instrument, which is currently undergoing additional testing.