Patient classification system in a rural emergency department.

How sick are the patients? How many nurses are needed to care for them? These have been described as the perennial nursing questions. This paper explains that a patient classification system, as used in the nursing context, is an attempt to answer these question: to quantify and reduce to empirical data that which is abstract and complex. Nowhere are the 'perennial questions' more difficult to answer than in an Emergency department, where patient flow and patient acuity change so rapidly. This paper illustrates that it is, however, possible to apply a patient classification system (PCS) in an Emergency department. The author describes the steps involved in the implementation of such a system-including literature review, choice of system, validation, modification, reliability testing, staff education; and discusses calculation of time taken to care for each category of patient. The paper concludes with some suggestions for future research.