Finding the productivity standard in your acuity system

What is a realistic patient workload for nurses to handle on a given shift? Should the workload vary from shift-to-shift and nurse-to-nurse? This article describes how (1) the authors identified the standard inherent in their patient classification system; (2) the system is used to establish department workload standards; (3) managers comply with the established standard; and (4) nursing costs are affected when compliance with the standard is not achieved.