California Code of Regulations
Title 22 - Social Security
Division 5 - Licensing and Certification of Health Facilities, Home Health Agencies, Clinics, and Referral Agencies
Chapter 1 - General Acute Care Hospitals
Article 1 - Definitions
Section 70053.2 - Patient Classification System

(1) A method to predict nursing care requirements of individual patients.

(2) An established method by which the amount of nursing care needed for each category of patient is validated for each unit and for each shift.

(3) An established method to discern trends and patterns of nursing care delivery by each unit, each shift, and each level of licensed and unlicensed staff.

(4) A mechanism by which the accuracy of the nursing care validation method described in (a)(2) above can be tested. This method will address the amount of nursing care needed, by patient category and pattern of care delivery, on an annual basis, or more frequently, if warranted by the changes in patient populations, skill mix of the staff, or patient care delivery model.

(5) A method to determine staff resource allocations based on nursing care requirements for each shift and each unit.

(6) A method by which the hospital validates the reliability of the patient classification system for each unit and for each shift.