Do Nursing Patient Classification Systems to Classify Inpatients Impact Outcomes? A Scoping Review.

Only 4 studies were included, and all were small, non-experimental and published between 1998 and 2015. The studies used different NPCSs, different hospital units and different timing of classification, so the results cannot be combined into a single effect. No quality appraisal of the included studies was performed. Outcomes were mostly satisfaction, perceptions or counts of care areas, not objective clinical outcomes such as safety, complications or discharge results. No included study assessed caregivers, pediatric patients or organizational outcomes. The review was limited to languages known by the team, so relevant studies in other languages may have been missed. Stakeholder consultation involved only authors of NPCS papers; none of the 5 authors who responded had studied the impact of their system.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Health (5x1000 project 2017 5M-2017-23684151).

Do not conclude that nursing patient classification systems improve patient care. The review found only four small, non-experimental studies, and the reported gains were care-area counts or satisfaction perceptions, not objective clinical outcomes. In some studies the NPCS was introduced alongside education or quality-improvement changes, so its effect cannot be separated.