Out lines :

Introduction
Level of pcs . Categories of pcs . Purpose of the pcs . Characteristics of pcs . Styles of pcs . Measurement of pcs .

Introduction :
A patient classification system, which quantifies the

quality of nursing care , is essential to staffing nursing units of hospitals and nursing homes . In selecting or implementing a pcs , a representative committee of hospital administration , nurse managers, and clinical nurses should be used

Level of patient care classification system for public health nursing service:
Level 1 : Is for clients who require a high degree of

nursing skill. Level 2 : Includes families that need regular public health nursing service . Level 3 : Is for people requiring occasional service. Level 4 : Is for client and families requiring limited public health nursing service .

Categories of patient classification systems :

Category 1 : Self care requiring from 1 to 2 hours per

day . Category 2 : Minimal care requiring from 3 to 4 hours . Category 3 : Intermediate care requiring from 5 to 6 hours . Category 4 : Modified intensive care requiring from 7 to 8 hours . Category 5: Intensive care requiring from 10 to 14 hours

Purposes of the pcs :

1- Staffing : The system will establish a unit of measure for nursing that is ; time which will be used to determine numbers and kinds of staff needed. 2- Program costing and formulation of the nursing budget . 3- Tracking changes patient care needs . 4- Determining values for the productivity equation . 5- Determining quality .

Characteristics of pcs :
1-Differentiate intensity of care among definitive classes . 2- Measure and quantify care to develop a management engineering standard . 3- Match nursing resources to patient care requirements. 4- Relate to time and effort spent on the associated activity .

 Be economical and convenient to report and use . Be mutually exclusive , counting no item under more

than one work unit . Be open to audit . Be understood by those who plan , schedule and control the work . Be individually standardized as to the procedures needed for accomplishment. Separate requirements for registered nurses from those of other staff.

Styles of patient classification systems:

1- The descriptive style : The nurse chooses the category that best describes the patient . 2- The check list style : The nurse check the activity level for each patient in each category and total the points for each patient to determine the level of care 3- Time standard or relative value unit systems: In this style one should consider both direct and indirect care

Measurement of pcs :

NCH /PPD = NURSING HOURS WORKED IN 24 HOURS PATIENT CENSUS