Novato, CA-July 8, 2003: Catalyst Systems, LLC, a healthcare consulting company specializing in precision staffing solutions, helped a Bay Area nursing student earn her master's degree. Last spring, a student from the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) did her residency at Catalyst to study and report on pain assessment.

Catalyst Systems Research Consultant Lynn Forsey, PhD, RN, explained that the UCSF nursing master's program requires students to complete 240 hours of work with a service organization. Acting as her preceptor at Catalyst, Dr. Forsey supervised this student's work, which lasted approximately three months.

The state of California requires that pain should be measured as one of five vital signs, and the UCSF student studied how proactively or reactively nurses handle this task. She wrote her report from the management perspective. Her evidence was gleaned from Catalyst's data on various hospitals; she researched this information to see how much pain assessment was being done by a number of organizations.

"This student's findings indicated that pain assessment makes up only a small part of a nurse's day," Dr. Forsey said. "We're pleased to have provided her with material for her research, and to have helped her complete a substantial part of her educational requirements."

Catalyst Systems strongly advocates the nursing profession. By serving as a site for student residencies, programs, and educational seminars and sponsorships, the company continually strives to help the nursing community grow. All RN staff members actively participate in either the American Association of Nurse Executives (AONE) or the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL), or both organizations. Catalyst also gives special attention to Bay Area nursing students and institutions.

Nurse-owned and operated, Catalyst Systems has provided healthcare organizations across the nation with its leading EVALISYS® Patient Classification System and objective workload studies for more than 18 years. Catalyst maintains the largest objective database of its type on workload and staff utilization in the US. The company is the leading authority on the collection and usage of such data in meeting patient care needs and ensuring that nursing staff is devoted to appropriate patient-focused activities. For more information on Catalyst, please email info@catsys.com, call 415-893-7600 or visit the website at www.catsys.com.