Ward Analysis Criteria

( Based on the Functions of Management )

Criteria Yes No Commments/Justifications

1) Evidence of Planning & Organizing the unit
a. Patients are strategically placed in rooms
to allow easy access and monitoring of
priority care patients
b. Unit supplies are adequate for patients
C. Crash cart is checked for completeness/shift
d. Patient groupings are appropriate (infectious
patients separate from non infectious/
immunocompromised patients
e. Requests for duties and off days taken
from staff ahead of time
f. Schedules for meetings are posted days in
advance
2. Staffing
3. The staff is adequate to meet the workload
in
3 shifts ( Use computation guide/tool)
b. Staffing is balanced in terms of knowledge and
skills .
c. A senior nurse is assigned as incharge per
shift
d. A contingency plan is in place for emergency
and sick leaves of staff
3. Directing & controlling
a. Policies and procedures are available to
guide the staff in doing work and care
procedures
b. Memos & circulars are posted and clearly
discussed and clarified with staff
c. Unit protocols are established in special care
areas and discussed with staff
d. Conflicts are resolved timely and
appropriately
e. Sanctions for violations are clear and just
4. Recording (& Documentation)
a. Patient records are complete and / Some patient’s records are not
updated every shift complete, e.g. height and weight.
Room number of patient’s chart
has not coincide with the kardex
and medication cards.

b. Records of supplies and consumables
are updated
c. Minutes of meetings are posted for staff
to read
Criteria
d. Incident reports are recorded and documented
f. Sanctions are clearly documented
5. Evidence of Coordination & Communication
a. Meetings are conducted regularly with in the
unit to address issues/concerns
Recommendation: Complete the
patient’s record as soon as
possible. The staff should always
be reminded to always update
the room number of patients
especially if they switch rooms so
that errors in kardexing, patient’s
chart, and medication cards will
be prevented.
/ Records of supplies and
consumables are always charged
by the nurse and/ or the ward
clerks every shift, before or after
the patient consumes a hospital
supply or medication.
/ As observed, there are no
information regarding minutes of
meetings posted.
Recommendation: Memo
regarding meetings should be
posted where it is visible for the
staff to notice and read.
Page 2.
Yes No Remarks
/ There is a form where the staff
writes the incident report and
submitted to the supervisor. The
supervisor then keeps it for the
records.
/ Regarding the sanction, the
committee with some of the
administrators together with sir
Leon, will first tackle the incident
report and have a sit-down
meeting with the involved
employee to talk about the
severity of the problem and by
then, they will decide on what
sanction will be given.
b. Meetings with other departments are
conducted to allow congruence of patient
services
c. Linkages with other units foster smooth flow
and transition of patients
d. Staff /personnel are aware of changes or new
protocols in the unit
e. Communication among the staff follows the
proper channels of communication
6.Evidence of Budgeting
a. Procurement of supplies( consumables and
non-consumables) are updated regularly
depending on unit demands and census and
submitted
b. Requests for additional manpower justified
c. Proposed additional needs are planned and
deliberated with the unit staff before submission
d. Supplies are appropriately and efficiently used
(With minimal wastage).
/ Obtaining consumables and non-
consumable supplies are checked
regularly. Estimation of the
quantities of each item needed
including extra stocks of some
items needed for unexpected
events is done by the staff and
updated every shift.
/ Request for additional staff in
their area is not justified. Their
nurse-patient ratio is usually 1:12
and they only have 2 staff nurses
and 1 head nurse. Especially in
the Intensive Care Units, the
ideal ratio should be 1:1 but in
the area, it is usually 1:4 ratios.
According to Koethe (2017), the
goal of staffing each nursing unit
is to ensure patient safety in
healthcare delivery. Therefore,
staffing is planned based on
average daily census and usual
patient acuity.
/ Additional items needed in the
area are planned and
communicated with the staffs.
However, processing of the
additional supplies needed is
sometimes delayed and not
immediately provided such as the
infusion pump. It will undergo
some process before accepting
the request for additional
supplies.
/ Most supplies are appropriately
used in the area. However,
approximately 1% of the supplies
are going to waste due to
expiration of the items.
Procedure for Ward Analysis:

1. Review /Introduce the concept of ward analysis (based on the functions of management . (
Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing , Controlling, Recording and Budgetting (POSDCORB
framework) .( Chalekian ,2013) is a helpful reading material). The above principles were applied
and adapted to nursing management only as framework.
2. Group the students by pairs .
3. Allow them 1 week to observe how the unit is being managed : examples-
a) Admissions - assigning patients in their respective rooms including considerations of
accessibility and infection control vis a vis the nursing policies and procedures and
institutional standard operative procedures(SOPs) & guidelines related to patient care.
b) Provision of appropriate and adequate supplies required according to the patient’s
condition- i.e. was the appropriate size of suction tubing available when a patient needed
a French 12 from a French 14 to prevent a possible tracheal injury ? Was there a
ventilator ready when the patient was admitted to ICU because of arrest or respiratory
failure? Was there a ready ether bed when the patient was being shifted from O.R. under
general anesthesia? Is insulin syringe available for insulin injections ? or a tuberculin
syringe for skin testing etc. etc.
c) Adequacy of staff to meet the care needs- ( I.E..Close care patients need atleast 7.24
hours average care time daily or about 3.27 hours per shift ( Koontz, Essentials of
Management).
d) How referrals are made if efficient of not.( Refer to policies of admission and transfer)
e) How conflict and incident reports are managed .( Patient complaints, between nursing
staff or between nurses and doctors, and other department personnel ).
f) Other problems with patient care or staffing and supplies are also noted.

f. Get feedbacks of the students after 1 week related to the above criteria.

g. Fill the criteria on the second or third week by pairs- I They will write the justification if they tick
the NO Column.

H. The over all results are synthesized in a report to be submitted as one of their group requirement
in the intensive nursing practice.

I. Nursing implications to improve the unit management and patient care are included in the final
output based on the ward analysis results including supporting journals and researches.

Drafted by : Rosemarie C. Pachao

Level IV faculty