Nurse staffing studies: no need to reinvent the wheel

The authors estimate that hospitals spend $15,000,000 yearly on nurse staffing studies. Unfortunately, much of this annual investment is used to reinvent the wheel. Therefore, this article recommends standardizing the terminology and some of the basic principles for patient classification (the basis of nurse staffing systems) so that directors of nursing can better assess their organizations and make meaningful comparisons with other institutions. This article is adapted from a presentation at the annual meeting of the Hospital Management Systems Society, Tucson, Arizona, February 15, 1979.