[A system of patient classification: construction and validation of an instrument]

This study had in its aim the construction and the validation of a patient classification instrument which has been based on the patient's individual necessities that require the nursing care. It was considered in the instrument 13 critical indicators: Mental State and Level of Consciousness. Breathing, Vital Signs, Nutrition and Hydration, Movement, Locomotion, Corporeal Hygiene, Eliminations, Therapy, Health Teaching, Behavior, Communication and Skin Integrety. Each one of these indicators has a 1 to 5 gradation denoting an increasing level in the nursing care complexity. The patient is classified in all the indicators in one of the five levels, in the option that better describes his/her situation. The content validation of the instrument was done by the Delphi Technique application through 2 rounds. A team of 15 nursing experts who attend patients or teach in the Medical School in São José do Rio Preto were participants in this research. The obtained results have showed the experts' agreement concerned to: the maintenance of the 13 critical indicators in the instrument; property and intelligibility of the critical indicator contents and the presence of an increasing level in the nursing care complexity.