Optimal Nurse Staffing to Improve Quality of Care and Patient Outcomes

Optimal Nurse Staffing to Improve Quality of Care and Patient Outcomes PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781935213727
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description


Patient Safety and Quality

Patient Safety and Quality PDF Author: Ronda Hughes
Publisher: Department of Health and Human Services
ISBN:
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 592

Book Description
"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/

Keeping Patients Safe

Keeping Patients Safe PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309187362
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 485

Book Description
Building on the revolutionary Institute of Medicine reports To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, Keeping Patients Safe lays out guidelines for improving patient safety by changing nurses' working conditions and demands. Licensed nurses and unlicensed nursing assistants are critical participants in our national effort to protect patients from health care errors. The nature of the activities nurses typically perform â€" monitoring patients, educating home caretakers, performing treatments, and rescuing patients who are in crisis â€" provides an indispensable resource in detecting and remedying error-producing defects in the U.S. health care system. During the past two decades, substantial changes have been made in the organization and delivery of health care â€" and consequently in the job description and work environment of nurses. As patients are increasingly cared for as outpatients, nurses in hospitals and nursing homes deal with greater severity of illness. Problems in management practices, employee deployment, work and workspace design, and the basic safety culture of health care organizations place patients at further risk. This newest edition in the groundbreaking Institute of Medicine Quality Chasm series discusses the key aspects of the work environment for nurses and reviews the potential improvements in working conditions that are likely to have an impact on patient safety.

Nursing Staff in Hospitals and Nursing Homes

Nursing Staff in Hospitals and Nursing Homes PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309175704
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 558

Book Description
Hospitals and nursing homes are responding to changes in the health care system by modifying staffing levels and the mix of nursing personnel. But do these changes endanger the quality of patient care? Do nursing staff suffer increased rates of injury, illness, or stress because of changing workplace demands? These questions are addressed in Nursing Staff in Hospitals and Nursing Homes, a thorough and authoritative look at today's health care system that also takes a long-term view of staffing needs for nursing as the nation moves into the next century. The committee draws fundamental conclusions about the evolving role of nurses in hospitals and nursing homes and presents recommendations about staffing decisions, nursing training, measurement of quality, reimbursement, and other areas. The volume also discusses work-related injuries, violence toward and abuse of nursing staffs, and stress among nursing personnelâ€"and examines whether these problems are related to staffing levels. Included is a readable overview of the underlying trends in health care that have given rise to urgent questions about nurse staffing: population changes, budget pressures, and the introduction of new technologies. Nursing Staff in Hospitals and Nursing Homes provides a straightforward examination of complex and sensitive issues surround the role and value of nursing on our health care system.

Principles for Nurse Staffing

Principles for Nurse Staffing PDF Author:
Publisher: American Nurses Association
ISBN:
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 60

Book Description


Adoption of Standard Nurse-to-patient Ratios and Strict Nurse Staffing Plans to Reduce the Occurrence of Negative Patient Outcomes

Adoption of Standard Nurse-to-patient Ratios and Strict Nurse Staffing Plans to Reduce the Occurrence of Negative Patient Outcomes PDF Author: Casey J. Carnahan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Burn out (Psychology)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The rate of occurrence in negative patient outcomes resulting in the development of morbidity and/or mortality is alarming. Based on the findings of multiple documented studies, high levels of nurse-to-patient ratios compromise the safety of patient care due to increases in nurse workloads and decreases in the amount of surveillance time spent with patients. This issue creates a toxic environment for medication errors, patient falls, hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), and death to occur, ultimately increasing health care costs, diminishing the quality of for many patients, and heavily impacting the lives of family members. In the attempt to decrease the numbers of negative patient outcomes, this paper introduces the solution of developing optimal nurse staffing models accounting for patient acuity, unit layout, and skills and educational levels of nursing staff (Knudson, 2013). Standard nurse-to-patient ratios of 1:2 in one intensive care unit (ICU) and 1:4 in one medical surgical unit are implemented and tested during a six-month pilot study. A separate ICU and medical surgical unit are set as the control variables where solutions are not implemented. Through the evaluations of the rate of occurrence of negative patient outcomes documented through incident reports, nurse pre-and post- implementation questionnaires, and patient satisfaction surveys before and after implementation of the solution, plan effectiveness will be measured and visualized through the use of graphs and charts. The researcher will disseminate results of the study using a PowerPoint presentation and handouts to key stakeholders and compose an article and handouts for the greater nursing community. By adopting this solution to the issue the researcher aims to lower patient mortality rates and negative patient outcomes through the decrease in nursing workload and stress levels, ultimately increasing patient surveillance and the amount of time available to effectively care for all patients.

Advances in Patient Safety

Advances in Patient Safety PDF Author: Kerm Henriksen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 526

Book Description
v. 1. Research findings -- v. 2. Concepts and methodology -- v. 3. Implementation issues -- v. 4. Programs, tools and products.

Quality Improvement for Nurse Managers

Quality Improvement for Nurse Managers PDF Author: Cynthia Barnard
Publisher: HC Pro, Inc.
ISBN: 1601467362
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 167

Book Description
This book and CD-ROM clearly outline a nurse leader's role in quality improvement and offer simple instructions to improve patient outcomes through nurse education and engagement. In an easy-to-understand format, this guide explains how to engage staff, how to choose, measure, and benchmark nursing quality data, and how to use QI projects to achieve positive results."

Nurse Staffing and Quality of Patient Care

Nurse Staffing and Quality of Patient Care PDF Author: U.s. Department of Health and Human Services
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781500374150
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 544

Book Description
A shortage of registered nurses, in combination with increased workload, has the potential to threaten quality of care. Increasing the nurse to patient ratios has been recommended as a means to improve patient safety. However, the cost effectiveness of increasing registered nurse (RN) staffing is controversial. This systematic review analyzes associations between hospital nurse staffing and patient outcomes with consideration of variables that could influence the primary association. The basic research questions were: 1. How is a specific nurse to patient ratio associated with patient outcomes (i.e., mortality; adverse drug events, nurse quality outcomes, length of stay; patient satisfaction with nurse care)? How does this association vary by patient characteristics, nurse characteristics, organizational characteristics, and nursing outcomes? 2. How is a measure of nurse work hours (hours per patient or patient day) associated with the same patient outcomes? 3. What factors influence nurse staffing policies? 4. What nurse staffing strategies are effective for improving the patient outcomes listed in question 1? 5. What gaps in research on nurse staffing and patient outcomes can be identified to address in future studies? Questions 1, 2, and 4 are addressed in the systematic review using meta-analytic approaches. The literature associated with question 3 does not lend itself to meta-analysis. Questions 1 and 2 address the same basic association but employ two different measures of nurse staffing. The nurse to patient ratio relies on a general ratio, which may include all nurses assigned to a unit, including non-clinical time, whereas nurse work hours look specifically at nurses involved in patient care. Even beyond this distinction, the varied ways staffing rates are calculated complicates pooling data.

Improving Healthcare Quality in Europe Characteristics, Effectiveness and Implementation of Different Strategies

Improving Healthcare Quality in Europe Characteristics, Effectiveness and Implementation of Different Strategies PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264805907
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 447

Book Description
This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.