Ep. 21 - Acuity-Based vs. Ratio-Based Staffing

In this episode, we're taking a close look at acuity-based vs. ratio-based staffing.  Nurses address patient care needs through a variety of nursing interventions, all of which require time to execute. Insufficient time means insufficient care.  Administrators seek to achieve staffing levels that are lean enough to contain labor costs yet robust enough to support quality patient care and safe nurse workloads. Because the demand for nursing services is dynamic and associated with much uncertainty, this goal is often elusive.

GUEST

Dr. Terry Jones RN, PD is currently an Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia where she teaches and conducts research. She has over 30 years’ experience in nursing and has served in a variety of roles to include direct patient care, staff development, management, executive leadership, performance improvement, and care coordination. Dr. Jones received her PhD from The University of Texas at Austin and now teaches courses on leadership, organizational theory and performance, and quality and safety. She mentors students in multiple programs to include the Master’s Nursing Administration & Leadership, the DNP, and the PhD. Her areas of research include leadership development and work environment issues that affect patient care quality to include unfinished nursing care. She has published on these topics in a variety of journals and serves on related international collaboratives. Most importantly, Dr. Jones is a member of AMSN and serves as the principal investigator for the AMSN-sponsored study to evaluate the effectiveness of our online Clinical Leadership Development Program.

HOST

Chelsea Parker RN, BSN, CMSRN was born and raised in Newport News, Virginia. She attended the University of Virginia and graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. Since then she has pursued geriatric and palliative care nursing and developed a love for general medicine, which is where her foundation for med-surg nursing was built. As a young nurse looking for ways to bridge engagement between generations of nurses, she is excited about what this podcast will mean for AMSN.