• Karen K Giuliano, Valerie Danesh, and Marjorie Funk.
• Author Affiliations: Postdoctoral Fellow (Dr Giuliano) and Helen Porter Jayne and Martha Prosser Jayne Professor of Nursing (Dr Funk), Yale School of Nursing, Orange, Connecticut; and Corporate Manager (Dr Danesh), Research and Clinical Grants, Orlando Health, Florida.
• J Nurs Adm. 2016 Jan 1; 46 (1): 25-9.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between nurse staffing and 30-day excess readmission ratios for patients with heart failure in the top US adult cardiology and heart surgery hospitals.BackgroundHeart failure is the most common cause of hospitalization for patients older than 65 years and is the most frequent diagnosis associated with 30-day hospital readmission in the United States.MethodsA secondary data analysis was conducted using nurse staffing data from 661 cardiology and heart surgery hospitals from the 2013 US News & World Report "Best Hospitals" survey. These data were combined with excess readmission ratios from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Compare database from 2013. An independent-samples t test was used to compare staffing (low/high) and excess hospital readmissions rates.ResultsA significant difference (P = .021) was found between the low nurse staffing group (n = 358) and the high nurse staffing group (n = 303). Hospitals with a lower nurse staffing index had a significantly higher excess readmission rate.ConclusionThese data provide further support to the body of research showing a positive relationship between nurse staffing and positive outcomes.

30 keywords...

hide…