Abstract
In outpatient settings, the role of nursing has shifted from episodic, reactive care to management of patients with higher acuity. In a pediatric outpatient clinic specializing in burn injuries, it became apparent that the lack of an acuity tool to measure patient complexity challenged efficient nurse staffing and patient satisfaction. In this quality improvement project, we developed a patient acuity tool to help determine nurse staffing, improve workload efficiencies, and improve the delivery of care.