Current Affairs

Issue

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

• 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.

• The policy has reduced the chances of the chance of death and readmission by 7 percent in addition to improved patient care.

• It also reduces the length of stay by 3 percent for every one less individual a nurse has to take care of.

 

The study

• 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.

• Researchers collected data such as demographics, discharge details, diagnoses as well as length of hospital stay for individuals.

• The data was then compared with the death records 30 days after hospital discharge and also re-admission after seven days of discharge.

• 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.

• 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.