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- Access to Care (1)
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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 9 of 9 Research Studies DisplayedMerkow RP, Chung JW, Slota JM
Correlation of the US News and World Report-calculated nurse staffing index with actual hospital-reported nurse staffing.
This study’s objective was to understand how the Nurse Staffing Index (NSI) used in the US News and World Report “Best Hospitals” rankings correlates to actual nurse staffing levels. Nurse staffing data was obtained from publicly available data in the states of Illinois, California, and New Jersey. No other states had publicly accessible data. Hospital characteristics were obtained from the 2016 American Hospital Association (AHA) survey. The NSI was calculated using AHA data and is defined as the number of FTE RNs per adjusted patient day. Hospital characteristics were assessed using Hospital Compare data. Higher actual hospital-reported nurse staffing in Illinois and New Jersey was paradoxically associated with lower nurse staffing when measured by the NSI. California hospital-reported staffing intensity was weakly correctly with the NSI and RN nursing hours per patient day was not correlated with any of the 9 structural measures of hospital quality, while NSI was positively correlated with 3 of the 9 measures, particularly hospital volume status. None of the 11 outcome measures the authors assessed were associated with RN nursing hours per patient day or the NSI in either Illinois or California. All 12 patient experience measures were significantly and positively correlated with RN nursing hours in Illinois. However, none of the patient experience measures were significantly associated with the NSI in Illinois. The authors concluded that the NSI may not measure actual nurse staffing as intended.
AHRQ-funded; HS024516; HS026385.
Citation: Merkow RP, Chung JW, Slota JM .
Correlation of the US News and World Report-calculated nurse staffing index with actual hospital-reported nurse staffing.
J Nurs Care Qual 2022 Jul-Sep;37(3):195-98. doi: 10.1097/ncq.0000000000000619..
Keywords: Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Provider: Nurse, Workforce
Cimiotti JP, Becker ER, Li Y
Association of registered nurse staffing with mortality risk of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with sepsis.
The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine if registered nurse workload was related with mortality in Medicare beneficiaries admitted to an acute care hospital with sepsis. The researchers evaluated the records of Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 to 99 years with a primary diagnosis of sepsis that was present on admission to 1 of 1958 nonfederal, general acute care hospitals that had data on CMS SEP-1 scores and registered nurse workload. Researchers utilized 2018 data from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey, CMS Hospital Compare, and Medicare claims. The patient outcome of interest was mortality within 60 days of admission. The study found that 702,140 Medicare beneficiaries with a mean age of 78.2 years, 51% of whom were women, had a diagnosis of sepsis. In a multivariable regression model, each additional registered nurse hour per patient day (HPPD) was associated with a 3% decrease in the odds of 60-day mortality. The researchers concluded that hospitals which provide more registered nurse hours of care could possibly decrease the likelihood of mortality in Medicare beneficiaries with sepsis.
AHRQ-funded; HS026232.
Citation: Cimiotti JP, Becker ER, Li Y .
Association of registered nurse staffing with mortality risk of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with sepsis.
JAMA Health Forum 2022 May;3(5):e221173. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.1173..
Keywords: Sepsis, Mortality, Provider: Nurse, Nursing, Workforce
Dierkes AM, Aiken LH, Sloane DM
Hospital nurse staffing and sepsis protocol compliance and outcomes among patients with sepsis in the USA: a multistate cross-sectional analysis.
The timely and effective administration of sepsis treatment may improve sepsis outcomes, and those improvements may provide evidence of the need for mandated reporting of adherence to sepsis care protocol. The purpose of the study was to better understand the association between patient-to-nurse staffing ratios, sepsis protocol compliance, and patient outcomes. The researchers conducted a cross-sectional study utilizing linked data from 537 hospitals from across California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York (representing 252,699 Medicare inpatients with sepsis present on admission), nurse and hospital surveys, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare and the corresponding MedPAR patient claims. The study found that every additional patient per nurse was associated with greater odds of mortality, readmission, ICU admission, and greater risk of relative duration of stay. Every 10% increase in compliance of sepsis protocol was only associated with a shorter duration of stay. The study concluded that improvements in nurse staffing and the nurse-to-patient ratios had a greater impact on sepsis infection outcomes than compliance with protocols.
AHRQ-funded; HS026232.
Citation: Dierkes AM, Aiken LH, Sloane DM .
Hospital nurse staffing and sepsis protocol compliance and outcomes among patients with sepsis in the USA: a multistate cross-sectional analysis.
BMJ Open 2022 Mar 22;12(3):e056802. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056802..
Keywords: Sepsis, Hospitals, Provider: Nurse, Workforce
Goodwin JS, Agrawal P, Li S
Growth of physicians and nurse practitioners practicing full time in nursing homes.
This retrospective cohort study examined the growth of physicians and nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) who work full time in nursing homes, and to assess resident and nursing home characteristics associated with receiving care from full-time providers. Researchers looked at a 20% national sample of Medicare data on long-term care residents in 2008 and 2018 and the physicians, NPs, and PAs who submitted charges for services rendered in nursing homes. Full-time nursing home providers increased from 26% in 2008 to 44.6% in 2017. The largest increase from 2008 to 2017 was in NPs with 1986 total in 2008 increasing 44.6% in 2017. Residents with an NP primary care provider were 23 times more likely to have a full-time provider. Residents who received care from both a physician and an NP or PA increased from 33.5% in 2008 to 62.5% in 2018. There was large variation in the percentage of residents with full-time providers, with 5.72% of residents in the bottom quintile of facilities to 91.4% in the top quintile.
AHRQ-funded; HS020642.
Citation: Goodwin JS, Agrawal P, Li S .
Growth of physicians and nurse practitioners practicing full time in nursing homes.
J Am Med Dir Assoc 2021 Dec;22(12):2534-39.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2021.06.019..
Keywords: Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Provider: Clinician, Provider: Physician, Provider: Nurse, Workforce
Germack HD, Kandrack R, Martsolf GR
Relationship between rural hospital closures and the supply of nurse practitioners and certified registered nurse anesthetists.
This study sought to examine the extent to which rural hospital closures are associated with changes in the NP (nurse practitioner) and CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist) workforce. The authors used the Area Health Resources Files (AHRF) data from 2010-2017 to estimate the relationship between rural hospital closures and changes in the supply of NPs and CRNAs. They found 151 hospital closures among 1,544 rural counties. After controlling for local market characteristics, they did not find a significant relationship between hospital closure and the supply of NPs and CRNAs.
AHRQ-funded; HS000032.
Citation: Germack HD, Kandrack R, Martsolf GR .
Relationship between rural hospital closures and the supply of nurse practitioners and certified registered nurse anesthetists.
Nurs Outlook 2021 Nov-Dec;69(6):945-52. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2021.05.005..
Keywords: Provider: Nurse, Workforce, Hospitals
Kandrack R, Barnes H, Martsolf GR
Nurse practitioner scope of practice regulations and nurse practitioner supply.
This study’s objective was to estimate associations between adopting full nurse practitioner (NP) scope of practice (SOP) and improved access to care. The authors used county-level data to estimate the association between adopting full NP SOP and NP supply in general, and in rural and health professional shortage area-designed counties specifically. They estimated positive associations, although the relationship was only statistically significant in health professional shortage areas.
AHRQ-funded; HS000032.
Citation: Kandrack R, Barnes H, Martsolf GR .
Nurse practitioner scope of practice regulations and nurse practitioner supply.
Med Care Res Rev 2021 Jun;78(3):208-17. doi: 10.1177/1077558719888424..
Keywords: Provider: Nurse, Provider: Clinician, Workforce, Policy
Wilson BL, Butler RJ
Identifying optimal labor and delivery nurse staffing: the case of cesarean births and nursing hours.
Numerous studies have identified a relationship between nurse staffing and adverse patient outcomes in medical / surgical patient populations. However, little is known about the impact of labor and delivery (L&D) nurse staffing and adverse birth outcomes, such as unintended cesarean delivery, in low-risk term-gestation women. In this study the investigators examined nurse staffing patterns on the likelihood of cesarean sections (C-sections) among low- risk, full gestation births and provided a testing framework to distinguish optimal from ineffective levels of nurse staffing.
AHRQ-funded; HS024607.
Citation: Wilson BL, Butler RJ .
Identifying optimal labor and delivery nurse staffing: the case of cesarean births and nursing hours.
Nurs Outlook 2021 Jan-Feb;69(1):84-95. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2020.07.003..
Keywords: Provider: Nurse, Provider, Workforce, Labor and Delivery, Pregnancy, Quality of Care, Risk, Women
Cohen C, Baird M, Koirola N
The surgical and anesthesia workforce and provision of surgical services in rural communities: a mixed-methods examination.
This mixed-methods study described the distribution of the surgical and anesthesia workforce and qualitatively explored how such workforce and other factors influenced rural hospitals' provision of surgical services. Using American Hospital Association survey data, the researchers found that within rural counties, 55.1% had no surgeon, 81.2% had no anesthesiologist, and 58.1% had no Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. While rural hospitals reported meeting community needs for elective and noncomplex surgeries, these hospitals continued to face significant challenges providing subspecialty surgeries, emergency surgeries, and 24-hour obstetrical services.
AHRQ-funded; HS023009.
Citation: Cohen C, Baird M, Koirola N .
The surgical and anesthesia workforce and provision of surgical services in rural communities: a mixed-methods examination.
J Rural Health 2021 Jan;37(1):45-54. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12417..
Keywords: Rural Health, Access to Care, Surgery, Workforce, Provider: Physician, Provider: Nurse, Provider, Hospitals
Poghosyan L, Liu J, Shang J
Practice environments and job satisfaction and turnover intentions of nurse practitioners: implications for primary care workforce capacity.
Researchers examined nurse practitioner (NP) practice environments in primary care organizations and the extent to which they were associated with NP retention measures. NPs rated the relationship between NPs and physicians favorably, contrary to the relationship between NPs and administrators. With every unit increase in each standardized subscale score, the odds of job satisfaction increased about 20 percent whereas the odds of intention of turnover decreased about 20 percent.
AHRQ-funded; HS020999.
Citation: Poghosyan L, Liu J, Shang J .
Practice environments and job satisfaction and turnover intentions of nurse practitioners: implications for primary care workforce capacity.
Health Care Manage Rev 2017 Apr/Jun;42(2):162-71. doi: 10.1097/hmr.0000000000000094.
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Keywords: Primary Care, Provider: Nurse, Provider: Clinician, Provider, Workforce