Pre-implementation studies of a workforce planning tool for nurse staffing and human resource management in university hospitals.

Aim: To investigate the reliability, validity and feasibility of the RAFAELA workforce planning system (including the Oulu patient classification system - OPCq), before deciding on implementation in Dutch hospitals.

Background: The complexity of care, budgetary restraints and demand for high-quality patient care have ignited the need for transparent hospital workforce planning.

Methods: Nurses from 12 wards of two university hospitals were trained to test the reliability of the OPCq by investigating the absolute agreement of nursing care intensity (NCI) measurements among nurses.