Productivity presented graphically.

Tools used in collecting data on nursing workload focus on standards of care, time and motion studies and patient care requirements. Since no one tool can measure adequately the work of nursing, the number of personnel required to fill patient needs is difficult to determine. Thus, a tool with long-term predictive ability can be valuable in assisting nursing administrators to determine staffing requirements. Any nursing department with a computerized database which can produce variance can develop long-term graphical representations of staffing like that described in this paper.