title: Nursing inputs and outcomes of hospital care: an empirical analysis of Ontario's acute-care hospitals.
abstract: The authors analyze the association between intensity of nursing care (as measured by nursing hours per patient day), hospital bed days, and patient outcomes in acute-care hospitals in the province of Ontario, Canada, to determine whether higher levels of nursing inputs are associated with shorter lengths of stay (LOS) and, if so, whether these shorter LOS are achieved at the expense of health outcomes. After controlling for supply of nurses, workload, community characteristics, and hospital type, the authors found that nursing hours per patient day had a significant negative effect on LOS but had no significant effect on patient satisfaction, hospital mortality, or readmission rates. Further, there was no evidence that shorter than expected LOS were associated with poorer patient health. Such information is relevant for efforts to deploy efficient mixes of health-care resources and to identify future human resource requirements to support the efficient provision of health human resources.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Community Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Gail Tomblin
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Birch
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: O'Brien-Pallas
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kephart
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: MacKenzie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009732:Nursing Care; D009864:Ontario; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010359:Patient Readmission; D017060:Patient Satisfaction