Validity and reliability testing of the Oulu patient classification: instrument within primary health care for the older people

Workload and short sickness absences in a cohort of Finnish hospital employees

This article used register data on day-to-day working hours of hospital employees combined with patient characteristics at work unit (wards) level to measure workload and its implications for short, self-certified sickness absences. We measured statistically the average nursing treatment burden of different patient mixes in hospital wards, and then analyzed the overall workload (intensity) of working days by comparing it to the actual available nursing workforce. We found that a significant part of the workload variation occurred between working days, and it was related to unexpected changes in the number of employees. In atypical situations a long work shift was associated with caring for patients with fewer resources. The high workload of a day increased the risk of short sickness absences along the following 3-week period. The results show that managing short-term workload variability should be a key aim from the perspective of well-being at work, and that combining different data sources can provide novel, important insights to the measurement of workload.

Using a new interrater reliability method to test the modified Oulu Patient Classification instrument in home health care

Aim

To test the interrater reliability of the modified Oulu Patient Classification instrument, using a multiple parallel classification method based on oral case presentations in home health care in Norway.

Design

Reliability study.

Methods

Data were collected at two municipal home healthcare units during 2013-2014. The reliability of the modified OPCq instrument was tested using a new multiple parallel classification method. The data material consisted of 2 010 parallel classifications, analysed using consensus in per cent and Cohen's kappa. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure internal consistency.

Results

For parallel classifications, consensus varied between 64.78-77.61%. Interrater reliability varied between 0.49-0.69 (Cohen's kappa), the internal consistency between 0.81-0.94 (Cronbach's alpha). Analysis of the raw scores showed 27.2% classifications had the same points, 39.1% differed one point, 17.9% differed two points and 16.5% differed ≥3 points.

Exploring nurse managers' perception of using the RAFAELA system as a management tool in a Norwegian hospital setting

Aim

The aim of the study, being part of a Norwegian evaluation project of the RAFAELA system, was to explore nurse managers’ perception of the RAFAELA system as a management tool in a Norwegian hospital setting.

Design

We applied an explorative qualitative design using focus group interviews.

Methods

Two focus group interviews were performed with 12 nurses in different management positions during autumn 2013. The principles of qualitative content analysis were used for analysing data.

Results

Three themes emerged. The informants experienced the RAFAELA system to be a basis for a precise and common langue. Furthermore, the informants considered it to be a system defining quality standards of nursing care. Finally, the RAFAELA system provided daily documentation of nursing intensity and thus was considered an important management tool for balancing patient needs with appropriate staff.

The Criterion Validity, Reliability, and Feasibility of an Instrument for Assessing the Nursing Intensity in Perioperative Settings

Patient classification systems generate information for staff allocation based on a patient's care needs. This study aims to test further the instrument for assessing nursing intensity (NI) in perioperative settings. Nine operating departments from five university hospitals were involved. The perioperative nurses gathered data from patients (N = 876) representing different fields of surgery. Reliability was tested by parallel classifications (n = 144). Also, the users' (n = 40) opinions were surveyed. The results support the predictive validity and interrater reliability of the instrument. The nurses considered the instrument feasible to use. The patients' low ASA class did not automatically signify low NI; however, high ASA class was more frequently associated with high intraoperative NI. Intraoperative NI indicated the length of the postanaesthesia care and the type of the follow-up unit. Parallel classifications ensured the homogenous use of the instrument. The use of the instrument is recommended.

Quality of nursing intensity data: inter-rater reliability of the patient classification after two decades in clinical use

AIMS

The aim of this study was to measure the inter-rater reliability of the Oulu Patient Classification and to discuss existing methods of reliability testing.

BACKGROUND

The Oulu Patient Classification, part of the RAFAELA^® System, has been developed to assist nursing managers with the proper allocation of nursing resources. Due to the increased intensity of inpatient care during recent years, there is a need for the reliability testing of the classification, which has been in clinical use for 20 years.

DESIGN

Retrospective statistical study.

METHODS

To test inter-rater reliability, a pair of nurses classified the same patients, without knowledge of each other's ratings, as a part of annually conducted standardization. Data on the parallel classifications (n = 19,997) was obtained from inpatient units (n = 32) with different specialties at a university hospital in Finland during 2010-2015. Parallel classification practices were also analysed. The reliability of the overall classification and its subareas were calculated using suitable statistical coefficients.

RESULTS

Inter-rater reliability coefficients were a reliable or almost perfect means of considering the nursing intensity category and various practices, but there were detectable differences between subareas. The lowest agreement levels occurred in the subareas 'Planning and Coordination of Nursing Care' and 'Guiding of Care/Continued Care and Emotional Support'.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a need to develop the descriptions of subareas and to clarify the related concepts. Precise nursing documentation can promote a high level of agreement and reliable results. The traditional overall proportion of agreement does not provide an adequate picture of reliability - weighted kappa coefficients should be used instead.

Healthcare professionals' views on the mutual consistency of the Finnish Classification of Nursing Interventions and the Oulu Patient Classification

BACKGROUND

Various classification schemes have been used for clinical and administrative purposes, but their concepts have seldom been cross-mapped. Cross-mapping is a formal method that can be used for examining existing classifications' validity.

AIM

The aim was to cross-map two nursing classifications - the Finnish Classification of Nursing Interventions (FiCNI, version 3.0), developed for structured nursing documentation, and the Oulu Patient Classification (OPCq), created for daily assessment of nursing intensity - and evaluate their mutual consistency. The objective was to obtain information on the content equivalence of the two classifications and the consistency of the concepts used, to inform further development of both.

METHODS

The Delphi method was utilised, with a panel of experts that included terminology developers, researchers, teachers and nurses (n = 16). Four Delphi rounds were required. In these, panellists selected the most relevant content from the OPCq subareas (n = 6) for each FiCNI main category and subcategory (n = 307). In cases of doubt, respondents were asked to justify their choices.

RESULTS

Response rates ranged from 68.8 to 93.8% in the Delphi rounds. After three rounds, 81.4% of the FiCNI categories were cross-mapped with sufficient consensus. A fourth round was needed for 57 FiCNI categories (18.6%). Most FiCNI categories (29.3%) were cross-mapped to the OPCq's subarea 2. Deficiencies in the concepts' clarity and in the OPCq's content areas complicated the cross-mapping. The most unambiguous categories of the FiCNI were found in the respiratory, cardiac and activity components. The components showing greatest ambiguity were skin integrity, mental balance and safety.

CONCLUSION

The content and concepts used in both classifications need further development. The cross-mapping results can be utilised for developing reuse of structured nursing data in assessment of nursing intensity and in decision-making in human-resources planning.

Pre-implementation studies of a workforce planning tool for nurse staffing and human resource management in university hospitals

AIM

To investigate the reliability, validity and feasibility of the RAFAELA workforce planning system (including the Oulu patient classification system - OPCq), before deciding on implementation in Dutch hospitals.

BACKGROUND

The complexity of care, budgetary restraints and demand for high-quality patient care have ignited the need for transparent hospital workforce planning.

METHODS

Nurses from 12 wards of two university hospitals were trained to test the reliability of the OPCq by investigating the absolute agreement of nursing care intensity (NCI) measurements among nurses. Validity was tested by assessing whether optimal NCI/nurse ratio, as calculated by a regression analysis in RAFAELA, was realistic. System feasibility was investigated through a questionnaire among all nurses involved.

RESULTS

Almost 67 000 NCI measurements were performed between December 2013 and June 2014. Agreement using the OPCq varied between 38% and 91%. For only 1 in 12 wards was the optimal NCI area calculated judged as valid. Although the majority of respondents was positive about the applicability and user-friendliness, RAFAELA was not accepted as useful workforce planning system.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Nurses' performance using the RAFAELA system did not warrant its implementation. Hospital managers should first focus on enlarging the readiness of nurses regarding the implementation of a workforce planning system.