300670
Emerging Best Practice: Los Angeles County Foster Care Public Health Nurses Improve Care Coordination by Creating and Using a Client Acuity Tool
An acuity tool that measures complexity, each client needs and required nursing interventions was needed for Public Health Nurses (PHNs) to have the ability to manage their large and complex workloads. Numerous acuity models exist for nurses working in the acute care setting; however, research reveals few acuity tools for nurses working in community settings. Therefore, Los Angeles County Foster Care PHNs developed an acuity tool.
Methodology:
The Los Angeles County Public Health Nurse Practice Model was used as a framework to develop this acuity tool. The tool is used daily by PHNs and involves a point based scale for each PHN intervention. Each case is given an acuity rating based on a scale of 1 to 4, 1 being fairly complex and 4 being extremely complex.
Results:
An acuity tool was developed, tested and implemented on November 5, 2013. This tool is allowing Managers, Supervisors and PHNs to better assess and manage workloads and provides the program a baseline of nursing interventions needed for each client.
Conclusions:
Creating this tool was challenging due to the complexity of the duties of the PHNs. Tool provides PHNs with more accurate information on the needs of the clients on their caseload. As a result, PHNs are able to improve health care coordination for the FC children. Plans to collaborate with PHNs within the LA county PHD to improve modify and implement this acuity tool. The optimal goal is for this tool to be used as a best practice for all PHNs.
Learning Areas:
Program planningPublic health or related nursing
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health
Learning Objectives:
Explain how this acuity tool will help PHNs improve health care coordination for the children in foster care
Assess the amount of nursing interventions required per child
Discuss how to better asses and allocate resources to all those children with higher acuity level
To describe how this acuity tool will assist to asses and distribute PHN workload equally
Keyword(s): Public Health Research, Nurses/Nursing
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am currently a Public Health Nurse for the Health Care Program for Children in Foster Care for 14 years and serve as a nursing consultant to Children's Social Workers within the Department of Children and Family Services. I have been working on the Client Acuity tool for over 5 years. I recently received my Master's in Public Administration at California State University Northridge. I am an advocate for children's rights and their overall well-being.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.