Abstract
The global COVID-19 pandemic is creating challenges to manage staff ratios in clinical units. Nurse staffing level is an important indicator of the quality of care. This study aimed to identify any changes in the nurse staffing levels in the general wards of hospitals in Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. The unit of analysis was the hospitals. This longitudinal study observed the quarterly change of the nurse staffing grades in 969 hospitals in 2020. The nurse staffing grades ranged from 1 to 7 according to the nurse–patient ratio measured by the number of patients (or beds) per nurse. The major dependent and independent variables were the change of nurse staffing grades and three quarterly observation points being compared with those during the 1st quarter (1Q) of 2020, respectively. A generalized linear model was used. Unexpectedly, the nurse staffing grades significantly improved (2Q: RR, 27.2%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 15.1–27.6; p < 0.001; 3Q: RR, 95% CI, 20.2%; 16.9–21.6; p < 0.001; 4Q: RR, 26.6%; 95% CI, 17.8–39.6; p < 0.001) quarterly, indicating that the nurse staffing levels increased. In the comparison of grades at 2Q, 3Q, and 4Q with those at 1Q, most figures improved in tertiary, general, and small hospitals (p < 0.05), except at 3Q and 4Q of general hospitals. In conclusion, the nurse staffing levels did not decrease, but nursing shortage might occur.
Highlights
Published: 31 May 2021Nurses in hospital wards are responsible for monitoring inpatients for 24 h and providing nursing care without any delay [1]
This study aimed to identify any changes in the nurse staffing levels of hospital wards during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea
This study aimed to identify any changes in the nurse staffing levels, especially in the general wards of hospitals, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
Nurses in hospital wards are responsible for monitoring inpatients for 24 h and providing nursing care without any delay [1]. Many hospitals are already using several advanced technologies and automated devices, the role of hospital nurses has not changed considerably and is, even more, the headline of health care. With the shortage of nurses and the lack of nursing care, patients are at risk of being exposed to dangerous situations [2,3]. According to a Korean study, patient mortality rates on pneumonia and hemorrhagic septicemia after operations significantly decrease if the nurse staffing level increases [7,8] The effects of nurse staffing level and appropriate level of nurse allocation on the quality of nursing care in hospital wards have already been extensively reported [4,5,6].
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