Effects of nurse staffing on hospital-acquired conditions and length of stay in community hospitals.
BACKGROUND
Error-free care is the goal of health care professionals, consumers, and public policy makers. Because nurses can be the last barrier between a patient and an error, there is a need to examine this pressing nursing issue-nurse staffing.


OBJECTIVE
This research examined the predictive relationships between nurse staffing and patient outcomes in hospitals.


METHODS
A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used to examine data on nearly 35,000 patients from 11 medical-surgical units in 4 hospitals. Data were extracted from administrative databases over a 2-year period and were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings from the study indicated that higher registered nurse (RN) and licensed practical nurse hours per equivalent patient day and higher percentages of RNs in the skill mix predicted a lower number of adverse events and shorter lengths of stay, controlling for patient age and complications.


CONCLUSIONS
This study, with its improved methodology, supports previous findings and should be used as evidence for changes to nurse staffing.
Frith
Karen H
KH
College of Nursing, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA. Karen.frith@uah.edu
Anderson
E Faye
EF
Caspers
Barbara
B
Tseng
Fan
F
Sanford
Kathleen
K
Hoyt
Nancy G
NG
Moore
Kim
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019992:Databases as Topic; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007902:Length of Stay; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D011640:Public Policy; D055815:Young Adult