Electronic health record–generated work intensity scores represent state-of-the art functionality for dynamic nursing workload estimation in the hospital setting. In contrast to traditional stand-alone patient classification and acuity tools, electronic health record–based tools eliminate the need for dedicated data entry, and scores are automatically updated as new information is entered into patient records. This paper summarizes the method and results of evaluation of electronic health record–generated work intensity scores on six hospital patient care units in a single academic medical center. The correlation between beginning-of-shift work intensity scores and self-reported registered nurse rating of appropriateness of patient assignment was assessed using Spearman rank correlation. A weak negative correlation (−0.09 to −0.23) was observed on all study units, indicating that nurse appropriateness ratings decrease as work intensity scores increase. Electronic health record–generated work intensity scores provide useful information that can augment existing data sources used by charge nurses to create equitable nurse-patient assignments. Additional research is needed to explain observed variation in nurses' appropriateness ratings across similar work intensity point ranges.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.