A method of estimating nursing workload

A real-time nursing computer system operational on six medical wards allows the automatic data capture of all nursing procedures carried out for all patients. Each nursing procedure has been graded by an experienced nurse on a 5-point scale (Ninewells Index I), with grade 5 representing the greatest workload. A Delphi type survey was carried out by a questionnaire involving 115 medical charge nurses in Scotland who graded the same procedures on a 5-point scale (Delphi Index I). Good agreement with the two indices was found. The Delphi Index I was transferred from the original scale to an interval scale (Delphi Index II) to facilitate statistical handling of data and conversion to timings. The conversion of Delphi Index II to timings (Ninewells Index II) was achieved by using data from three extensive work studies. It is suggested that Ninewells Index II is a practical problem of staff allocation in medical wards.