According to the Nursing intellectual Capital (NIC) Theory, which factor increases overall organizational improvement?

A. Nurse-patient ratios refer to the number of patients assigned to a nurse at any given time. While maintaining optimal nurse-patient ratios is crucial for patient care quality and nurse workload management, it is not directly related to the concept of intellectual capital.
B. Centralized staffing involves managing staffing needs and scheduling from a central point to ensure coordination and efficiency across departments. While centralized staffing can improve organizational efficiency and care coordination, it does not directly address the concept of increasing overall organizational improvement through intellectual capital.
C. According to the NIC Theory, intellectual capital is crucial for improving organizational performance. An increase in knowledge—whether at the individual, group, or organizational level—directly contributes to overall improvement. Enhanced knowledge and skills among nursing staff lead to better decision-making, innovation, and overall quality of care, thereby positively impacting organizational outcomes.
D. Adherence to budget-based staffing involves staffing levels and allocation based on budgetary constraints. While important for financial management and resource allocation, budget-based staffing does not directly relate to the concept of increasing organizational improvement through intellectual capital.

A. This description fits a patient classification system, but it doesn’t specifically define a prototype evaluation system. Patient classification systems, like the Resource Utilization Groups (RUGs) or the Patient Classification System (PCS), categorize patients to predict care needs and allocate resources.

B. This description fits an advanced scheduling or staffing system, which uses algorithms to manage schedules based on certain rules. While it involves evaluation and planning, it’s focused on staffing and scheduling rather than evaluating prototypes specifically. Prototype evaluation systems generally involve assessing and refining models or systems, not just scheduling.
C. A formula-driven approach to calculating nursing productivity involves measuring efficiency and performance based on predefined formulas. While this relates to evaluation, it is not specifically about prototype evaluation
D. This describes a system that rates patient care activities based on workload, which can be part of a classification or workload measurement system. However, it does not directly relate to a prototype evaluation system, which is more focused on assessing and refining prototypes rather than rating individual activities.