AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVELS OF ACUITY PATIENTS IN INPATIENT WARDS AND THE QUALITY OF NURSING CARE: DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the acuity levels of patients in inpatient wards and the quality of nursing care.Methods: This study is descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional in nature. Data were collected using the “Nurse-Patient Introduction Form,” the “Perroca Patient Classification Instrument-Turkish Form-Expanded,” and the “Quality Nursing Care Scale-Turkish.” Without using any sampling method, 120 nurses who volunteered to participate in the study and a total of 506 patients cared for by these nurses on the data collection day were included in the study. It was conducted between February 1 and March 1, 2025. Descriptive statistics were used in data analysis, and the Kruskal-Wallis H test was applied to determine the differences between the groups.Results: The average age of the nurses participating in the study was 34.82 years, with an average professional experience of 12.24 years; the average age of the patients was 59.38 years, and the average length of stay was 5.37 days. It was determined that most patients in the wards were at Type 2 acuity level and that nursing care requirements differed according to care areas. A statistically significant difference was found between patient acuity levels and quality nursing care only in the nursing dimension; no significant difference was found in the physical environment and patient outcomes dimensions.Conclusion: This study found that patients in inpatient wards differed in their acuity levels; however, the perceived quality of care provided by nurses did not show a significant change based on patients' acuity levels, except for the physical environment sub-dimension.