Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between nurse staffing and patient outcomes including inpatient mortality and length of hospital stay. Data were obtained from the '2008 Korea National Patients Survey' conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. The study sample consisted of inpatients with surgical cerebrovascular diseases (n= 728). Nurse staffing was measured using 2 indicators: number of beds per nurse and number of inpatient days per nurse. Hospital characteristics included size, location, ownership, and physician staffing. Patient characteristics were age, gender, primary diagnosis, admission route, type of surgery, and primary payer. Patient outcomes were mortality during hospitalization and length of hospital stay. After controlling for hospital and patient characteristics, the relationships of nurse staffing to inpatient mortality and length of hospital stay were analyzed by multilevel analysis. Nurse staffing was not significantly associated with inpatient mortality. Higher nurse staffing was related to a decrease in length of hospital stay. The study findings suggested that higher nurse staffing might decrease length of hospital stay, which could increase efficiency and profits in providing hospital services. Government and nursing policies are required to ensure adequate nurse staffing in hospitals.
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More From: International Journal of Bio-Science and Bio-Technology
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