title: A survey on the current status of pediatric nursing human resources in Sichuan province of China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the status of pediatric nurses in Sichuan province of China, and to compare the status with the national standards.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used a convenience sample of hospitals with pediatric departments in Sichuan province. A list of hospitals was obtained from the Health and Family Planning Commission of Sichuan province. Fifty hospitals with pediatric departments were selected to receive questionnaires. Thirty-nine hospitals responded and 38 responses were valid. Bed-to-nurse ratios were evaluated. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the bed-to-nurse ratios among the studied hospitals and the Chinese national standard.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 38 surveyed hospitals, the average bed-to-nurse ratio was 1:0.57 and the average physician-to-nurse ratio was 1:1.53. The average bed-to nurse ratio in the pediatric departments was 1:0.51. The average bed-to-nurse ratio in the pediatric inpatient wards was 1:0.40. There were significant differences in the average bed-to-nurse ratios in the pediatric departments (Z = -2.149, P = 0.032) and the pediatric inpatient wards (Z = -2.328, P = 0.020) between general hospitals and specialty hospitals. There were significant differences between the average bed-to-nurse ratios in tertiary-level hospitals (Z = -4.178, P < 0.0001) and the pediatric inpatient wards of the surveyed hospitals (Z = -4.518, P < 0.0001) and the national standard.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a nursing shortage in tertiary-level hospitals and some grade-A specialty hospitals in Sichuan, China. The shortage is worse in pediatric inpatient wards, especially in the general hospitals and some grade-B specialty hospitals. Hospital administrations need to understand the situation and offer strategies to cope for routine nursing management as well as disaster management.
authors.affiliation: West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Xingli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department of West China Hospital/School of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Xianqiong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D009738:Nursing Service, Hospital; D010371:Pediatric Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Current situation; human resource; nursing; pediatric; survey