More nurses lead to fewer patient deaths
Date: 13 May 2021 Tags: Reports & IndicesIssue
A new research has given indications of decrease in patient deaths by increasing the number of nurse staffs.
Background
The WHO has designated the year 2020-21 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife to honour 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale.
Details
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The study conducted in Australia has shown that the recent policy of increasing minimum ratio of a nurse to four patients during day shits has provided benefits.
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The policy has reduced the chances of the chance of death and readmission by 7 percent in addition to improved patient care.
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It also reduces the length of stay by 3 percent for every one less individual a nurse has to take care of.
The study
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The team collected data from hospitals that implemented the policy and also from those who did not with base year of 2016 and a follow-up in 2018.
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Researchers collected data such as demographics, discharge details, diagnoses as well as length of hospital stay for individuals.
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The data was then compared with the death records 30 days after hospital discharge and also re-admission after seven days of discharge.
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The re-admission chances grew by 6 percent in those hospitals that had not implemented the policy whereas it remained same in those that implemented.
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The length of stay decreased by 5 percent in hospitals that did not implement the measure whereas it fell by 7 percent in those that implemented.