Diane Doran

Nurse staffing models, nursing hours, and patient safety outcomes.

Background Data Limited research has been conducted examining the effect of nurse staffing models on costs and patient outcomes. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different nurse staffing models on costs and the patient outcomes of patient falls, medication errors, wound infections, and urinary tract infections. Methods A descriptive correlational study was conducted in all of the 19 teaching hospitals in Ontario, Canada. The sample comprised hospitals and adult medical, surgical, and obstetric inpatients within those hospitals. Results The lower the proportion of professional nursing staff employed on a unit, the higher the number of medication errors and wound infections. The less experienced the nurse, the higher the number of wound infections. Nurse staffing models that included a lower proportion of professional nursing staff in the mix used more nursing hours in this study. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that a higher proportion of professional nurses in the staff mix (RNs/RPNs) on medical and surgical units in Ontario teaching hospitals are associated with lower rates of medication errors and wound infections. Higher patient complexity was associated with greater patient use of nursing care resources.

Nurse staffing models as predictors of patient outcomes.

Background. Little research has been conducted that examined the intended effects of nursing care on clinical outcomes. Objective. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different nurse staffing models on the patient outcomes of functional status, pain control, and patient satisfaction with nursing care. Research Design. A repeated-measures study was conducted in all 19 teaching hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Subjects. The sample comprised hospitals and adult medical–surgical and obstetric inpatients within those hospitals. Measures. The patient’s functional health outcomes were assessed with the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and the Medical Outcome Study SF-36. Pain was assessed with the Brief Pain Inventory and patient perceptions of nursing care were measured with the nursing care quality subscale of the Patient Judgment of Hospital Quality Questionnaire. Results. The proportion of regulated nursing staff on the unit was associated with better FIM scores and better social function scores at hospital discharge. In addition, a mix of staff that included RNs and unregulated workers was associated with better pain outcomes at discharge than a mix that involved RNs/RPNs and unregulated workers. Finally, patients were more satisfied with their obstetric nursing care on units where there was a higher proportion of regulated staff. Conclusions. The results of this study suggest that a higher proportion of RNs/RPNs on inpatient units in Ontario teaching hospitals is associated with better clinical outcomes at the time of hospital discharge.

The Link between Leadership and Safety Outcomes in Hospitals

AIM To test and refine a model examining relationships among leadership, interactional justice, quality of the nursing work environment, safety climate and patient and nurse safety outcomes. BACKGROUND The quality of nursing work environments may pose serious threats to patient and nurse safety. Justice is an important element in work environments that support safety initiatives yet little research has been done that looks at how leader interactional justice influences safety outcomes. METHOD A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 600 acute care registered nurses (RNs) to test and refine a model linking interactional justice, the quality of nurse leader-nurse relationships, work environment and safety climate with patient and nurse outcomes. RESULTS In general the hypothesized model was supported. Resonant leadership and interactional justice influenced the quality of the leader-nurse relationship which in turn affected the quality of the work environment and safety climate. This ultimately was associated with decreased reported medication errors, intentions to leave and emotional exhaustion. CONCLUSIONS Quality relationships based on fairness and empathy play a pivotal role in creating positive safety climates and work environments. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT To advocate for safe work environments, managers must strive to develop high-quality relationships through just leadership practices.

Outcomes of interventions to improve hospital nursing work environments.

Objective: The impact of interventions designed to improve the nursing work environment on patient and nurse outcomes was examined. Background: Nursing work environments have been characterized as contributing to patient outcomes as a result of organizational management practices, workforce deployment, work design, and organizational culture. Methods: This quasi-experimental study involved 16 unit managers, 1,137 patients, and 296 observations from registered nurses over time. Results: After participation in the intervention, study nurses reported higher perceptions of their work and work environment. Demographic nurse, unit, and hospital characteristics also had an impact on the work environment and outcomes. Conclusions: Findings in this study highlight the importance of understanding factors in the work environment that influence patient and nurse outcomes.

Nurse staffing, care delivery model, and patient care quality.

Little research has been conducted examining the linkages between nurse staffing and care delivery models in relation to patient care quality. Nurses in this study perceive that an all-RN staffing model is associated with better quality outcomes for patients, and that staffing models that include professional and unregulated staff may pose a challenge for unit-based communication and the coordination of care. Patient care delivery models were also important predictors of the quality outcomes studied.

Evaluation of a preoperative team briefing: a new communication routine results in improved clinical practice

Background Suboptimal communication within healthcare teams can lead to adverse patient outcomes. Team briefings were previously associated with improved communication patterns, and we assessed the impact of briefings on clinical practice. To quantify the impact of the preoperative team briefing on direct patient care, we studied the timing of preoperative antibiotic administration as compared to accepted treatment guidelines. Study design A retrospective pre-intervention/post-intervention study design assessed the impact of a checklist-guided preoperative team briefing on prophylactic antibiotic administration timing in surgical cases (N=340 pre-intervention and N=340 post-intervention) across three institutions. χ2 Analyses were performed to determine whether there was a significant difference in timely antibiotic administration between the study phases. Results The process of collecting and analysing these data proved to be more complicated than expected due to great variability in documentation practices, both between study sites and between individual practitioners. In cases where the timing of antibiotics administration was documented unambiguously in the chart (n=259 pre-intervention and n=283 post-intervention), antibiotic prophylaxis was on time for 77.6% of cases in the pre-intervention phase of the study, and for 87.6% of cases in the post-intervention phase (p<0.01). Conclusions Use of a preoperative team checklist briefing was associated with improved physician compliance with antibiotic administration guidelines. Based on the results, recommendations to enhance timely antibiotic therapy are provided.

Boundary work and the introduction of acute care nurse practitioners in healthcare teams

AIM This article is a report of a study of boundary work following the introduction of an acute care nurse practitioner role in healthcare teams. BACKGROUND Acute care nurse practitioners enacting their roles in healthcare teams have faced a number of challenges including a mix of positive and negative views of the acute care nurse practitioner role from healthcare team members and acute care nurse practitioner roles crossing the boundaries between the medical and nursing professions. Understanding the process by which the boundaries between professions changed following the introduction of an acute care nurse practitioner role was important since this could affect scope of practice and the teams ability to give patient care. METHODS The study was conducted in two university-affiliated teaching hospitals in Canada. A descriptive multiple case study design was used. Data were collected from March to May 2009. RESULTS Participants (N = 59) described boundary work as a process that included: (1) creating space; (2) loss of a valued function; (3) trust; (4) interpersonal dynamics; and (5) time. The development of trust among team members was essential. The co-location of team members working on common projects, and medical and nursing leadership facilitated boundary work. CONCLUSION The micro-level processes of boundary work in healthcare teams have important implications for the development of full scope of practice for acute care nurse practitioners, effective inter-professional teamwork and the integration of new roles in healthcare systems. Future research needs to be undertaken in different contexts, and with patients and families.

Achieving clinical improvement: an interdisciplinary intervention.

This study evaluates whether training health care teams in continuous quality improvement methods results in improvements in the care of and outcomes for patients. Nine of the 25 teams who participated in the study were successful in improving the care/outcomes for patients. Successful teams were more effective at problem solving, engaged in more functional group interactions, and were more likely to have physician participation.

Assessing adverse events among home care clients in three Canadian provinces using chart review

Objectives The objectives of this study were to document the incidence rate and types of adverse events (AEs) among home care (HC) clients in Canada; identify factors contributing to these AEs; and determine to what extent evidence of completion of incident reports were documented in charts where AEs were found. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study based on expert chart review of a random sample of 1200 charts of clients discharged in fiscal year 2009–2010 from publicly funded HC programmes in Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia, Canada. Results The results show that 4.2% (95% CI 3.0% to 5.4%) of HC patients discharged in a 12-month period experienced an AE. Adjusting to account for clients with lengths of stay in HC of less than 1 year, the AE incidence rate per client-year was 10.1% (95% CI 8.4% to 11.8%); 56% of AEs were judged preventable. The most frequent AEs were injuries from falls, wound infections, psychosocial, behavioural or mental health problems and adverse outcomes from medication errors. More comorbid conditions (OR 1.15; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.26) and a lower instrumental activities of daily living score (OR 1.54; 95% CI 1.16 to 2.04) were associated with a higher risk of experiencing an AE. Clients’ decisions or actions contributed to 48.4% of AEs, informal caregivers 20.4% of AEs, and healthcare personnel 46.2% of AEs. Only 17.3% of charts with an AE contained documentation that indicated an incident report was completed, while 4.8% of charts without an AE had such documentation. Conclusions Client safety is an important issue in HC, as it is in institutionalised care. HC includes the planned delivery of self-care by clients and care provision by family, friends and other individuals often described as ‘informal’ caregivers. As clients and these caregivers can contribute to the occurrence of AEs, their involvement in the delivery of healthcare interventions at home must be considered when planning strategies to improve HC safety.

Structuring communication relationships for interprofessional teamwork (SCRIPT): A Canadian initiative aimed at improving patient-centred care

There is a growing movement in health care that advocates the use of interprofessional education to help deliver collaborative patient-centred care (Oandasan et al., 2004). For example, the Romanow Commission (2002) and the First Ministers’ Accord (Health Canada 2003) both stress the need for collaborative practice to help ensure that the quality of health care delivered to Canadians can be enhanced. Both reports identified that introducing interprofessional education within the health professional education system was the key to achieving this aim. Evidence of the effectiveness of interprofessional education suggests that it can generate a number of positive outcomes for professionals and for patients (Barr et al., 2005). However, at present, this evidence base is generally weak and fragmentary in nature (Zwarenstein & Reeves, 2006). To help generate a more informed understanding of interprofessional education and its potential impact on collaborative relationships and the delivery of patient care, the Canadian federal government has recently funded eleven projects across the country. This paper describes one of these projects based at the University of Toronto. The project involves the development of an intervention designed to improve interprofessional collaboration across three separate clinical settings: general internal medicine (GIM); primary care; and rehabilitation and complex continuing care. Each of these settings was selected as they represent key trajectories along which patients travel while receiving care in the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN), the network of partnerships between the University of Toronto and its fully affiliated health services’ institutes. Journal of Interprofessional Care, January 2007; 21(1): 111 – 114