Abstract
The RAFAELA system was developed in Finland
during the 1990s to help with the systematic and
daily measurement of nursing intensity (NI) and
allocation of nursing staff. The system has now been
rolled out across almost all hospitals in Finland,
and implementation has started elsewhere in
Europe and Asia. This article describes the system,
which aims to uphold staffing levels in accordance
with patients’ care needs, and its structure,
which consists of three parts: the Oulu Patient
Classification instrument; registration of available
nursing resources; and the Professional Assessment
of Optimal Nursing Care Intensity Level method, as
an alternative to classical time studies. The article
also highlights the benefits of using a systematic
measurement of NI.
Keywords
Nursing intensity, staffing, care needs, leadership,
nursing resources, management, human resource
management