Nurse Staffing Levels Make a Difference on Patient Outcomes: A Multisite Study in Chinese Hospitals

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between nurse staffing and patient outcomes in hospitals in mainland China. Methods: The study was conducted in 181 hospitals across all of the eight economic zones in mainland China using a four‐stage sampling design. Two instruments...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of nursing scholarship 2012-09, Vol.44 (3), p.266-273
Main Authors: Zhu, Xiao-wen, You, Li-ming, Zheng, Jing, Liu, Ke, Fang, Jin-bo, Hou, Shu-xiao, Lu, Min-min, Lv, Ai-li, Ma, Wei-guang, Wang, Hong-hong, Wu, Zi-jing, Zhang, Li-feng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
China
Clinical outcomes
Female
Health Care Surveys
Hospitals
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
nurse staffing
Nurses
Nursing
Nursing care
Nursing Staff, Hospital - supply & distribution
Outcome Assessment (Health Care)
Patient outcomes
Patient Safety
Patient Satisfaction
Personnel Staffing and Scheduling
quality of care
Staffing
Staffing levels
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Summary:Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between nurse staffing and patient outcomes in hospitals in mainland China. Methods: The study was conducted in 181 hospitals across all of the eight economic zones in mainland China using a four‐stage sampling design. Two instruments, the China Nurse Survey and the patient satisfaction measurement from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, were employed in data collection. In this article, 7,802 nurse surveys and 5,430 patient surveys from 600 medical and surgical units were analyzed. Results: The adjusted joint effects of nurse staffing on patient outcomes from logistic regression analyses showed that more nursing staff per patient had statistically significant positive effects on all necessary nursing care, nurses’ reports of quality of care, their confidence on patients’ self‐care ability on discharge from the hospital, patient adverse events, as well as patients’ report of satisfaction. When the nurse‐to‐patient ratio (total number of nurses on all shifts on the unit divided by total number of patients who stay on the unit) increased to the 0.5–
ISSN:1527-6546
1547-5069
DOI:10.1111/j.1547-5069.2012.01454.x