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Objectives: To explore and make recommendations to implement direct billing and reimbursement models for nursing care in the United States., Background: Nurses make up the largest group of healthcare professionals and within hospitals, nurses represent approximately a quarter of all resources and associated costs of patient care. This care is mostly hidden in daily room and board charges., Methods: The authors surveyed the recent and historical literature related to costing and billing for nursing care. These results were synthesized and led to the recommendation of several new models to cost, bill, and pay for nursing care provided by nurses who are not currently billing for their services., Results: Two basic billing models are proposed: the 1st is to remove nursing care out of the current daily room or facility-based charges and allocate nursing care time provided to each patient during each day of stay. The 2nd is to expand existing Current Procedural Terminology codes to bill for specific activities and interventions by nurses in all settings where nursing care is delivered., Conclusions: It is feasible to implement the proposed methods to identify patient-level nursing intensity, cost, services, and interventions provided by individual nurses in all healthcare settings., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to project the impact of legislated nurse staffing ratios on patient-, staff-, and system-level outcomes for Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals in Montana., Background: In 2023, House Bill 568 was introduced in Montana focused on legislating hospital safe nursing standards., Methods: A quantitative design was used for a convenience sample of Montana PPS hospitals. Data were gathered through a newly developed survey and from other publicly available sources for the years 2018 to 2022. Independent t tests were conducted when appropriate with the significance threshold set at 0.05., Results: Projections indicate no significant change in patient outcome metrics accompanied by increases in labor requirements, slower emergency department throughput times, and decreases in hospital operating margins., Conclusions: In Montana, legislating nurse staffing ratios would have downstream implications inconsistent with the intended impact on patient safety, emphasizing the complexity of variables within and external to the healthcare system that drive patient-, staff-, and system-level outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hospitals are resurrecting the outdated "team nursing" model of staffing that substitutes lower-wage staff for registered nurses (RNs)., Objectives: To evaluate whether reducing the proportion of RNs to total nursing staff in hospitals is in the best interest of patients, hospitals, and payers., Research Design: Cross-sectional, retrospective., Subjects: In all, 6,559,704 Medicare patients in 2676 general acute-care US hospitals in 2019., Measures: Patient outcomes: in-hospital and 30-day mortality, 30-day readmission, length of stay, and patient satisfaction. Avoidable Medicare costs associated with readmissions and cost savings to hospitals associated with shorter stays are projected., Results: A 10 percentage-point reduction in RNs was associated with 7% higher odds of in-hospital death, 1% higher odds of readmission, 2% increase in expected days, and lower patient satisfaction. We estimate a 10 percentage-point reduction in RNs would result in 10,947 avoidable deaths annually and 5207 avoidable readmissions, which translates into roughly $68.5 million in additional Medicare costs. Hospitals would forgo nearly $3 billion in cost savings annually because of patients requiring longer stays., Conclusions: Reducing the proportion of RNs in hospitals, even when total nursing personnel hours are kept the same, is likely to result in significant avoidable patient deaths, readmissions, longer lengths of stay, and decreased patient satisfaction, in addition to excess Medicare costs and forgone cost savings to hospitals. Estimates represent only a 10 percentage-point dilution in skill mix; however, the team nursing model includes much larger reductions of 40-50 percentage-points-the human and economic consequences of which could be substantial., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background: Globally the burden of heart failure is rising. Hospitalisation is one of the main contributors to the burden of heart failure and unfortunately, the majority of heart failure patients will experience multiple hospitalisations over their lifetime. Considering the high health care cost associated with heart failure, a review of economic evaluations of post-discharge heart failure services is warranted., Aim: An integrated review of the economic evaluations of post-discharge nurse-led heart failure services for patients hospitalised with acute heart failure., Methods: Electronic databases were searched using EBSCOHost: CINAHL complete, Medline complete, Embase, Scopus, EconLit, Global Health, and Health source (Consumer and Nursing/Academic) for published articles until 22nd June 2021. The searches focussed on papers that examined the cost-effectiveness of nurse-led clinics or telemonitoring involving nurses to follow-up patients after hospitalisation for acute heart failure. GRADE criteria and CHEERS checklist were used to determine the quality of the evidence and the quality of reporting of the economic evaluation., Results: Out of 453 studies identified, eight studies were included: four in heart failure clinics and four in telemonitoring programs. Five of the articles were cost-effectiveness analyses, one a cost comparison and two studies involved economic modelling The GRADE criteria were rated as high in five studies. In which, four studies examined the cost-effectiveness of telemonitoring programs. Based on the CHEERS checklist for reporting quality of economic evaluations, the majority of economic evaluations were rated between 86 and 96%. All the studies found the intervention to be cost-effective compared to usual care with Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratios ranging from $18 259 (Canadian dollars)/life year gained to €40,321 per Quality Adjusted Life Years gained., Conclusion: Nurse-led heart failure clinics and telemonitoring programs were found to be cost-effective. Certainly, this review has shown that heart failure clinics and telemonitoring programs do represent value for money with their greatest impact and cost savings through reducing rehospitalisations., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Healthcare workers (nurses and nursing aides) often have different exposures and injury risk factors depending on their occupational subsector and location (hospital, long-term care, or home health care)., Methods: A total of 5234 compensation claims for nurses and nursing aides who suffered injuries to their lower back, knee, and/or shoulder over a 5-year period were obtained from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation and analyzed. Injury causation data was also collected for each claim. The outcome variables included indemnity costs, medical costs, total costs, and the number of lost work days. The highest prescribed morphine equivalent dose for opioid medications was also calculated for each claim., Results: Home healthcare nurses and nursing aides had the highest average total costs per claim. Hospital nurses and nursing aides had the highest total claim costs, of $5 million/year. Shoulder injuries for home healthcare nursing aides (HHNAs) had the highest average total claim costs ($20,600/injury) for all occupation, setting, and body area combinations. Opioids were most frequently prescribed for home healthcare nurses (HHNs) and nursing aides (18.9% and 17.7% having been prescribed opioids, respectively). Overexertion was the most common cause for HHN and nursing aide claims., Conclusions: With the rapidly expanding workforce in the home healthcare sector, there is a potential health crisis from the continued expansion of home healthcare worker injuries and their associated costs. In addition, the potential for opioid drug usage places these workers at risk for future dependence, overdose, and prolonged disability. Future research is needed to investigate the specific and ideally reversible causes of injury in claims categorized as caused by overexertion., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Purpose of Study: To estimate time allocation and labor cost for care coordinators (CCs), community health workers (CHWs), and mental health workers (MHWs) to conduct care coordination tasks in a pediatric care coordination program., Primary Practice Setting: A public tertiary academic medical center in Chicago, IL., Methodology and Sample: A work-sampling study was conducted using a text message-based survey on 5 CCs, 20 CHWs, and 4 MHWs who volunteered to participate. Workers were randomly sampled within working hours to collect information on who was the subject of interaction and what service was being delivered over a 6-month period. Time allocation of workers to different subjects and services was summarized using descriptive statistics., Results: Care coordinators allocated 41% of their time to managing CHW teams. Community health workers allocated 37% of time providing services directly to children and 26% to the parent/caregiver. Mental health workers allocated 16% of time providing services to children and 29% to the parent/caregiver. The care coordination program serviced 5,965 patients, with a total annual labor cost of $1,455,353., Implications for Case Management Practice: Community health workers spent the majority of time working with patients and their families to conduct assessments. Mental health workers primarily addressed children's needs through their caregivers. Care coordinators primarily supported CHWs in coordinating care. Results may be used to inform development of such programs by determining services most often utilized, and labor cost may be used to inform program implementation and reimbursement.

Aim: In modern healthcare there is increased focus on optimizing efficiency for every treatment or performed procedure, of which reduction of costs is an important part. With this study, authors aimed to calculate the cost of peripheral intravenous cannulation including all components that influence its price., Methods: This observational cost-utilization study was conducted between May and October 2016. Hospitalized adults were included in this study, who received usual care. Peripheral intravenous cannulation was carried out according to current hospital protocols, based on international standards for peripheral intravenous catheter insertion. Device costs were assumed equal to the number of attempts multiplied by the fixed supply costs and applicable costs for additional attempts, whereas personnel costs for both nurses and physicians were based on their hourly salary., Results: A total of 1512 patients were included in this study, with a mean of 1.37 (±0.77) attempts and a mean time of 3.5 (±2.7) min were needed for a successful catheter insertion. Adjusted mean costs for peripheral intravenous cannulation were estimated to be €11.67 for each patient, but costs increase as the number of attempts for successful cannulation increases. The cost for patients with a successful first attempt was lower, at approximately €9.32 but increased markedly to €65.34 when five attempts were needed., Conclusion: Prevention of multiple attempts may lower the costs, and furthermore, additional technologies applied by nurses to individual patients based on predicted difficult intravenous access will make the application of these additional technologies, in turn, more efficient.

Background: Isolation of patients colonized or infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria is an established infection-control measure taken in Norway. Local reliable data on the costs of this isolation are needed., Methods: A micro-costing study from a healthcare perspective was conducted on infectious disease wards in three general acute hospitals, utilising direct observation, staff registration, interviews and survey data., Findings: The daily additional cost of isolation was €56.8 (95% confidence interval (CI) 42.4-72.7) for non-bedridden patients and €87.5 (95% CI 48.3-129.6) for bedridden patients. Of these sums, labour costs accounted for the largest share (71-72%), followed by the costs of personal protective equipment (21-23%) and waste management (6-8%). Overall, isolation-specific workload amounted to 65 min/day for non-bedridden patients and 95 min/day for bedridden patients, predominantly in the form of extra time used by nurses. Higher isolation costs for bedridden patients were largely attributable to resources used for personal hygiene practices. One-time isolation costs incurred for room cleaning after patient discharge averaged at €14.0 (95% CI 10.7-17.6)., Conclusions: Our study provides novel, detailed evidence on resource use attributable to patient isolation in hospitals that can be used to inform future assessments directed toward precautionary hygienic measures. Our results suggest that allocating additional nurse staffing to wards with large numbers of isolated patients should be considered., (Copyright © 2019 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim of the Study: Delirium is a frequent intensive care unit (ICU) complication, affecting 26% to 80% of ICU patients, often with serious consequences. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness, costs and benefits of following a standardised multiprofessional, multicomponent delirium guideline on eight outcomes: delirium prevalence and duration, lengths of stay in ICU and hospital, in-hospital mortality, duration of mechanical ventilation, and cost and nursing hours per case. It also aimed to explore the associations of delirium with length of ICU stay, length of hospital stay and duration of mechanical ventilation., Methods: This retrospective cohort study used a pre-post design. ICU patients in an historical control group (n = 1608) who received standard ICU care were compared with a postintervention group (n = 1684) who received standardised delirium management – delirium risk identification, preventive measures, screening and treatment – with regard to eight outcomes. The delirium management guideline was developed and implemented in 2012 by a group of experts from the study hospital. As appropriate, descriptive statistics and multivariate, multilevel models were used to compare the two groups and to explore the association between delirium occurrence and the selected outcomes., Results: Twelve percent of the 1608 historical controls and 20% of the 1684 postintervention patients were diagnosed with delirium according to the ICD-10 delirium diagnosis codes. Patients being treated for heart disease, and those with septic shock, ARDS, renal insufficiency (acute or chronic), older age and higher numbers of comorbidities were significantly more likely to develop delirium during their stay. Multivariate models comparing the historical controls with the post intervention group indicated significant differences in delirium period prevalence (odds ratio 1.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.38–2.06; p <0.001), length of stay in the ICU (time ratio [TR] 0.94, CI 0.89–1.00; p = 0.048), cost per case (median difference 3.83, CI 0.54–7.11; p = 0.023) and duration of mechanical ventilation (TR 0.84, CI 0.77–0.92; p <0.001). The observed differences in the other four outcomes – in-hospital mortality, delirium duration, length of stay in the hospital, and nursing hours per case – were not significant. Delirium was a significant predictor for prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation and for both ICU and hospital stay., Conclusion: Standardised delirium management, specifically delirium screening, supports timely detection of delirium in ICU patients. Increased awareness of delirium after the implementation of standardised multiprofessional, multicomponent management leads to increased therapeutic attention, a prolongation of ICU stay and increased costs, but with no influence on mortality.

Objective: To assess the level of job satisfaction and associated factors among nurses in Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia, 2017., Results: The overall proportion of nurses' job satisfaction was 43.6%. From motivational factors, advancement (AOR = 2.64; 95% CI [1.17, 5.96]) and recognition (AOR = 2.56; 95% CI [1.08, 6.08]) were the main determinants of nurses' job satisfaction. Among hygienic factors, work security (AOR = 4.88; 95% CI [1.13, 21.03]) was positively associated with nurses' job satisfaction. In conclusion, the nurses' job satisfaction was low in this study setting. Modifiable factors such as advancement, recognition and work security positively affect job satisfaction of nurses. Therefore, the current study recommended that the health care system administers should work on improvement of advancement, security, and recognition in the facilities.

Background: Job satisfaction is a major issue in work psychology among nurses, and in the surgical nursing context, important factors leading to the perception of job satisfaction have been suggested. Two European Union neighboring countries (Sweden and Poland) were chosen for the purpose of this study due to similar nursing education but different health care systems, employment regulations and salaries. Recognition of the factors which are related to nurse job satisfaction may lead to improvements in the nurses' working conditions. The aim of this study was to explore and compare job satisfaction and various factors among Polish and Swedish nurses in a surgical ward context., Material and Methods: The study had a cross-sectional survey design, with questionnaires among Polish and Swedish nurses in surgical care, and was conducted between April and December 2014. The main assessment tool was a Job Satisfaction Survey questionnaire. In total, 408 nurses returned the questionnaire (response rate - 59%)., Results: Swedish nurses rated job satisfaction significantly higher than Polish nurses. The possibilities for professional development at the current workplace correlated with job satisfaction in both groups. Higher values of exhaustion due to nurses' working duties were correlated with general job satisfaction., Conclusions: Swedish and Polish nurses showed ambivalence towards job satisfaction. Their job satisfaction increased when their exhaustion level was higher. The possibilities for achievements, developing professional skills, and promotion may be important factors affecting job satisfaction. Med Pr. 2019;70(2):155-67., (This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.)

Health systems produce vast amounts of complex, multidimensional data. Health systems nurse leaders, informaticians, and nurse researchers must partner to turn these data into actionable information to drive quality clinical outcomes. The authors review health systems in the era of big data, identify opportunities for health systems-nursing research partnerships, and introduce emerging approaches to data science education in nursing.

Introduction: This paper describes the funding rates established in Ontario to reflect best practices in hospital-based care delivery for these endoscopic procedures: colonoscopy, colonoscopy biopsy, gastroscopy, gastroscopy biopsy, and colonoscopy combined with gastroscopy., Methods: The funding rates are based on direct costs and were established using a micro-costing approach after receipt of inputs from 3 working groups and a review of the administrative data and literature, where applicable. The first group advised on nursing activities, time, and staffing ratios along the patient pathway for each of the procedures. The second group provided recommendations about the duration for each procedure, and the third group provided information about supplies and equipment, their use, and costs., Results: The resulting funding rates are $161.18 for colonoscopy and $151.08 for gastroscopy (without accompanying interventions), $16.06 for colonoscopy biopsy and $8.22 for gastroscopy biopsy (added to the respective procedures), and $207.26 for combined colonoscopy and gastroscopy. Detailed costs for each component embedded in the rates are also provided., Conclusions: The rates came into effect in April 2018. The process and outcomes described here allowed for a transparent pricing mechanism in which funding follows the patient, clinical expert consensus is the basis for practice, and providers and payers both understand the components., Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES We have read and understood Current Oncology’s policy on disclosing conflicts of interest, and we declare that we have none.

Introduction As the electronic health record becomes more sophisticated, commensurate advances in cost accounting have risen as a top priority for hospital leaders. This study explored: 1) the average time to complete common nursing tasks documented in the electronic health record, 2) nursing-related tasks that remain undocumented, 3) the association between observation data and actual nursing documentation, and 4) considerations for model development and report design to be used for activity based cost accounting in nursing. Methods This was an observational study completed on acute care inpatient nursing units at a large academic medical center. During a five-week period, 63 nurses from 25 units were observed for over 250 h. Results Nearly 60% of the observed nursing activities did not fit into categories readily available in, and easily abstracted from, the electronic health record. The undocumented activities accounted for over half of the observation tasks and equated to nearly 130 h, in which over 40 h were spent on the activity of documentation/charting itself. Furthermore, nearly 36 h were spent on communication, followed by 13.5 h on monitoring/surveillance, two critical tasks in nursing which cannot be overlooked. Conclusions Using the electronic health record for cost accounting in nursing is a novel approach. In addition to the electronic health record, supplementary sources of data must be included to accurately capture nursing work and associated costs. Findings and lessons learned from this study will be used to guide future work and develop a model that determines the cost of nursing care and improved value in hospitalized patients., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Presenteeism is a behavior in which an employee is physically present at work with reduced performance due to illness or other reasons. Hospital doctors and nurses are more inclined to exhibit presenteeism than other professional groups, resulting in diminished staff health, reduced team productivity and potentially higher indirect presenteeism-related medical costs than absenteeism. Robust presenteeism intervention programs and productivity costing studies are available in the manufacturing and business sectors but not the healthcare sector. This systematic review aims to 1) identify instruments measuring presenteeism and its exposures and outcomes; 2) appraise the related workplace theoretical frameworks; and 3) evaluate the association between presenteeism, its exposures and outcomes, and the financial costs of presenteeism as well as interventions designed to alleviate presenteeism amongst hospital doctors and nurses., Methods: A systematic search was carried out in ten electronic databases from 1998 to 2017 and screened by two reviewers. Quality assessment was carried out using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) tool. Publications meeting predefined assessment criteria were selected for data extraction., Results: A total of 275 unique English publications were identified, 38 were selected for quality assessment, and 24 were retained for data extraction. Seventeen publications reported on presenteeism exposures and outcomes, four on financial costing, one on intervention program and two on economic evaluations. Eight (39%) utilized a theoretical framework, where the Job-Demands Resources (JD-R) framework was the most commonly used model. Most assessed work stressors and resources were positively and negatively associated with presenteeism respectively. Contradictory and limited comparability on findings across studies may be attributed to variability of selected scales for measuring both presenteeism and its exposures/outcomes constructs., Conclusion: The heterogeneity of published research and limited quality of measurement tools yielded no conclusive evidence on the association of presenteeism with hypothesized exposures, economic costs, or interventions amongst hospital healthcare workers. This review will aid researchers in developing a standardized multi-dimensional presenteeism exposures and productivity instrument to facilitate future cohort studies in search of potential cost-effective work-place intervention targets to reduce healthcare worker presenteeism and maintain a sustainable workforce.

Despite largely unproven clinical effectiveness, incentive spirometry (IS) is widely used in an effort to reduce postoperative pulmonary complications. The objective of the study is to evaluate the financial impact of implementing IS. The amount of time nurses and RTs spend each day doing IS-related activities was assessed utilizing an online survey distributed to the relevant national nursing and respiratory therapists (RT) societies along with questionnaire that was prospectively collected every day for 4 weeks at a single 10-bed cardiothoracic surgery step-down unit. Cost of RT time to teach IS use to patients and cost of nurse time spent reeducating and reminding patients to use IS were used to calculate IS implementation cost estimates per patient. Per-patient cost of IS implementation ranged from $65.30 to $240.96 for a mean 9-day step-down stay. For the 566 patients who stayed in the 10-bed step-down in 2016, the total estimated cost of implementing IS ranged from $36 959.80 to $136 383.36. Using national survey workload data, per-patient cost of IS implementation costed $107.36 (95% confidence interval [CI], $97.88-$116.98) for a hospital stay of 4.5 days. For the 9.7 million inpatient surgeries performed annually in the United States, the total annual cost of implementing postoperative IS is estimated to be $1.04 billion (95% CI, $949.4 million-$1.13 billion). The cost of implementing IS is substantial. Further efficacy studies are necessary to determine whether the cost is justifiable.

Background: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is characterized by a high prevalence of hypertension (HTN) and a high proportion of uncontrolled HTN, which is indicative of poor HTN management. Effective management of HTN in the African region is challenging due to limited resources, particularly human resources for health. To address the shortage of health workers, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends task shifting for better disease management and treatment. Although task shifting from doctors to nurses is being implemented in the DRC, there are no studies, to the best of our knowledge, that document the association between task shifting and HTN control. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between task shifting and HTN control in Kinshasa, DRC., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in Kinshasa from December 2015 to January 2016 in five general referral hospitals (GRHs) and nine health centers (HCs). A total of 260 hypertensive patients participated in the study. Sociodemographic, clinical, health care costs and perceived health care quality assessment data were collected using a structured questionnaire. To examine the association between task shifting and HTN control, we assessed differences between GRH and HC patients using bivariate and multivariate analyses., Results: Almost half the patients were female (53.1%), patients' mean age was 59.5 ± 11.4 years. Over three-fourths of patients had uncontrolled HTN. There was no significant difference in the proportion of GRH and HC patients with uncontrolled HTN (76.2% vs 77.7%, p = 0.771). Uncontrolled HTN was associated with co-morbidity (OR = 10.3; 95% CI: 3.8-28.3) and the type of antihypertensive drug used (OR = 4.6; 95% CI: 1.3-16.1). The mean healthcare costs in the GRHs were significantly higher than costs in the HCs (US$ 34.2 ± US$3.34 versus US$ 7.7 ± US$ 0.6, respectively)., Conclusion: Uncontrolled HTN was not associated with the type of health facility. This finding suggests that the management of HTN at primary healthcare level might be just as effective as at secondary level. However, the high proportion of patients with uncontrolled HTN underscores the need for HTN management guidelines at all healthcare levels.

Background: Rising acuity levels in inpatient settings have led to growing reliance on observers and increased the cost of care., Objectives: Minimizing use of observers, maintaining quality and safety of care, and improving bed access, without increasing cost., Design: Nursing staff on two inpatient psychiatric units at an academic medical center pilot-tested the use of a "milieu manager" to address rising patient acuity and growing reliance on observers. Nursing cost, occupancy, discharge volume, unit closures, observer expense, and incremental nursing costs were tracked. Staff satisfaction and reported patient behavioral/safety events were assessed., Results: The pilot initiatives ran for 8 months. Unit/bed closures fell to zero on both units. Occupancy, patient days, and discharges increased. Incremental nursing cost was offset by reduction in observer expense and by revenue from increases in occupancy and patient days. Staff work satisfaction improved and measures of patient safety were unchanged., Conclusions: The intervention was effective in reducing observation expense and improved occupancy and patient days while maintaining patient safety, representing a cost-effective and safe approach for management of acuity on inpatient psychiatric units.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and incremental net cost of a fall prevention intervention that involved hourly rounding by RNs at 2 hospitals., Background: Minimizing in-hospital falls is a priority, but little is known about the value of fall prevention interventions., Methods: We used an uncontrolled before-after design to evaluate changes in fall rates and time use by RNs. Using decision-analytical models, we estimated incremental net costs per hospital per year., Results: Falls declined at 1 hospital (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.26-0.87; P = .016), but not the other (IRR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.59-1.17; P = .28). Cost analyses projected a 67.9% to 72.2% probability of net savings at both hospitals due to unexpected declines in the time that RNs spent in fall-related activities., Conclusions: Incorporating fall prevention into hourly rounds might improve value. Time that RNs invest in implementing quality improvement interventions can equate to sizable opportunity costs or savings.

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Objective: This replication study examined differences in RN perception of the professional practice environment (PPE) between salary- and hourly-wage compensation models over time., Background: A previous study demonstrated that nurses in a salary-wage model had a significantly higher perception of the PPE compared with their peers receiving hourly wages., Methods: A descriptive, comparative design was used to examine the Revised Professional Practice Environment (RPPE) scale of nurses in the same units surveyed in the previous study 2 years later., Results: Mean scores on the RPPE continued to be significantly lower for hourly-wage RNs compared with the RNs in the salary-wage model., Conclusions: Nurses in an hourly-wage unit have significantly lower perceptions of the clinical practice environment than their peers in a salary-wage unit, indicating that professional practice perceptions in a salary-wage unit were sustained for a 2-year period and may provide a more effective PPE.

A nurse-led initiative of peer-to-peer teaching positively impacted organizational incidence of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). The initiative included validating the competency of the nursing staff, highlighting the importance of CAUTI prevention, identifying CAUTI costs, quantifying the value of nursing care, and supporting nurses as teachers. The project demonstrated that peer-to-peer teaching and competency validation can be effective methods to engage nurses in quality improvement.

Protests mount as economic pressures on nurses increase.

Background: In keeping with recent trends, patients with hepatocellular cancer have had their care managed by a dedicated Nurse Coordinator at our tertiary Australian hospital since 2010. To date, there are few data to justify the cost-effectiveness of this approach., Aims: To quantify the potential cost saved through the employment of a Nurse Coordinator in the management of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma at a single tertiary-level Australian hospital., Methods: A retrospective audit of patients managed by the Nurse Coordinator between 2010 and 2015 was conducted. Consensus reports from previous meetings were reviewed, and nurse-initiated radiological procedures and encounters were identified. Clinical activities were prospectively evaluated over a 1-month period in July-August 2015. The equivalent annual number of outpatient medical encounters spared was calculated. Using the national average cost of each gastroenterology outpatient encounter, a total annual cost was determined and was compared against the cost of funding the position., Results: The activity of the Nurse Coordinator resulted in an equivalent of at least 175 outpatient encounters being spared per year, with a minimum annual cost saving of $85 750. A total of 113 encounters resulted from the independent delivery and initiation of multidisciplinary team meeting plans; 10 were attributed to nurse-led patient education, and 52 were equated to weekly clinical activities. This represented a net annual saving of $17 050., Conclusion: The incorporation of the Nurse Coordinator in the care pathway of patients with hepatocellular cancer is associated with a reduction in medical outpatient load and, consequently, a significant annual cost saving., (© 2017 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.)

Every nurse who leaves an organisation incurs big costs. Research shows the financial impact of nurse turnover on an employer is equivalent to at least several months' salary per nurse. Lost productivity, and the time and cost of finding replacement nurses, are major concerns for most NHS trusts. At a time of nursing shortages, these problems are exacerbated.

Background: The costs of nursing staff amounts to approximately 50% of the total budget of the health workforce and accounts for 20% to 30% of the total costs incurred by the health care companies. The goal of the study, by analyzing the complexity of care, is to provide a quantification of the assistance delivered, through the assessment of the technical aspects of the welfare activities according to the variable of time. Data from these activities flow into the clinical nursing information system Professional Assessment Instrument - PAI - which is used at the health facility involved in this study. This instrument allows nurses to document the nursing process in electronic format by using a standardized nursing language (nursing diagnoses, nursing interventions and nursing outcomes)., Methods: The design of the study is observational. The participants will be patients that are hospitalized in the cardiology departments, the intensive care units for cardiac and thoracic surgery, pulmonary medicine and medical oncology of the "A.Gemelli" hospital in Rome, Italy. The observers who will carry out the surveys will be students of the nursing degree course and the coordinators of the respective wards. The times recorded for each health care activity will be correlated with variables that are defined in the literature as the indicators of the complexity of care. The research protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the "A. Gemelli" Hospital in June 2015., Results: In terms of results, this study aims to verify the reliability of the Professional Assessment Instrument tool as a system for the classification and measurement of nursing care which includes the entire care process, taking into account all of the variables deemed crucial to the nursing care effort., Conclusions: This study will provide a tool for the assessment of the complexity of care, with the goal of improving the quality of care for the patients and of interacting with the health administration system for the management of resources.

. The new methods to define the staffing requirements for doctors, nurses and nurses aides: an example of their implementation in an Italian hospital. The Italian government, after the transposition of European Union legislation on working hours, made a declaration of commitment to increase the number of staff of the National Health Service (NHS). The method for assessing the staffing needs innovates the old one that dated back a few decades., Aim: To implement the method proposed by the Ministry of Health to an Italian hospital and assess its impact on staffing and costs., Methods: The model was implemented on all the wards, multiplying the minutes of care expected in 2016, dividing the result by 60 to obtain the hours of care, and further dividing by the number of yearly hours of work of a nurse (1418). Same was done for nurses aides. The minutes of care were related to mean weight of the Diagnosis Related Groups of the ward and the results obtained compared to the actual staffing of nurses and nurses aides. The costs of the differences were calculated., Results: The implementation of the model produced an excess of 23 nurses and a scarcity of 95 nurses aides compared to the actual staffing, with an increase of the costs of € 1.828.562,00., Conclusions: The results obtained and the criticisms received so far show the need of major changes. The data from international studies that associate staffing and patients outcomes and the nurse/patient ratio are macro-indicators already available that may orient choices and investments on the health care professions.

The neuroscience intermediate unit is a 23-bed unit that was initially staffed with a nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:4 to 1:5. In time, the unit's capacity to care for the exceeding number of progressively acute patients fell short of the desired goals in the staff affecting the nurse satisfaction. The clinical nurses desired a lower nurse-patient ratio. The purpose of this project was to justify a staffing increase through a return on investment and increased quality metrics., Methods: This initiative used mixed methodology to determine the ideal staffing for a neuroscience intermediate unit. The quantitative section focused on a review of the acuity of the patients. The qualitative section was based on descriptive interviews with University Healthcare Consortium nurse managers from similar units., Design: The study reviewed the acuity of 9,832 patient days to determine the accurate acuity of neuroscience intermediate unit patients. Nurse managers at 12 University Healthcare Consortium hospitals and 8 units at the Medical University of South Carolina were contacted to compare staffing levels., Discussion: The increase in nurse staffing contributed to an increase in many quality metrics. There were an 80% decrease in controllable nurse turnover and a 75% reduction in falls with injury after the lowered nurse-patient ratio. These 2 metrics established a return on investment for the staffing increase. In addition, the staffing satisfaction question on the Press Ganey employee engagement survey increased from 2.44 in 2013 to 3.72 in 2015 in response to the advocacy of the bedside nurses.

Background and Aims: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are chronic gastrointestinal conditions requiring long-term outpatient follow-up, ideally by a dedicated, multidisciplinary team. In this team, the IBD nurse is the key point of access for education, advice, and support. We investigated the effect of the introduction of an IBD nurse on the quality of care delivered., Methods: In September 2014, an IBD nurse position was instituted in our tertiary referral center. All contacts and outcomes were prospectively recorded over a 12-month period using a logbook kept by the nurse., Results: Between September 2014 and August 2015, 1313 patient contacts were recorded (42% men, median age: 38 years, 72% Crohn's disease, 83% on immunosuppressive therapy). The contacts increased with time: Q1 (September-November 2014): 144, Q2: 322, Q3: 477, and Q4: 370. Most of the contacts were assigned to scheduling of follow-up (316/1420), start of new therapy (173/1420), therapy follow-up (313/1420), and providing disease information (227/1420). In addition, 134 patients contacted the IBD nurse for flare management and a smaller number for administrative support, psychosocial support, and questions about side effects. During the study period, 30 emergency room and 133 unscheduled outpatient visits could be avoided through the intervention of the IBD nurse. A faster access to procedures and other departments could be provided for 136 patients., Conclusion: The role of IBD nurses as the first point of contact and counseling is evident from a high volume of nurse-patient interactions. Avoidance of emergency room and unscheduled clinic visits are associated with these contacts.

Aim: To investigate the relationship between nursing hours per patient day and the inpatient mortality rate in Taiwan., Background: Nursing hours per patient day has been associated with better patient outcomes. The literature is inconclusive on the relationship between nursing hours per patient day and the inpatient mortality rate, and no studies have yet examined this issue in Taiwan., Methods: A retrospective longitudinal study analysed data from the 'Nursing Utilization of Resources, Staffing and Environment on Outcome Study: NURSE-outcome study'. Hierarchical regression estimated the relationship between nursing hours per patient day and in-hospital mortality rate after controlling for confounding variables., Results: The mean nursing hours per patient day in Taiwan was 2.3, while the mean inpatient mortality rate was 0.73% higher nursing hours per patient day was associated with a lower inpatient mortality rate after controlling for confounding variables. The total explained variance of this study in inpatient mortality rate was 19.9%. Significant relationships to inpatient mortality were found in levels of hospitals, seasonal variation and nurses' work experience., Conclusion: Nursing hours per patient day affects the mortality rate among hospitalised patients in Taiwan., Implications for Nursing Management: According to the results, we suggested the government and managers in Taiwan double the nursing hours per patient day so that the inpatient mortality rate will decline by 1.1%. This might be the optimal nurse configuration that could provide a balance between cost-effectiveness and patient safety., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Chief nurse executives (CNEs) face challenges in providing high-quality, patient-centered care for diverse populations. Although the implementation of culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) may improve patient satisfaction, the cost of initiatives and education coupled with shortened episodes of care pose obstacles. The article describes themes from a qualitative study with CNEs, describes resources and best practices, and highlights nurse leader rounds as a vehicle for implementing CLAS.

Objective: to calculate the cost of the average time of nursing care spent and required by patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the financial expense for the right dimension of staff of nursing professionals., Method: a descriptive, quantitative research, using the case study method, developed in adult ICU patients. We used the workload index - Nursing Activities Score; the average care time spent and required and the amount of professionals required were calculated using equations and from these data, and from the salary composition of professionals and contractual monthly time values, calculated the cost of direct labor of nursing., Results: the monthly cost of the average quantity of available professionals was US$ 35,763.12, corresponding to 29.6 professionals, and the required staff for 24 hours of care is 42.2 nurses, with a monthly cost of US$ 50,995.44., Conclusion: the numerical gap of nursing professionals was 30% and the monthly financial expense for adaptation of the structure is US$ 15,232.32, which corresponds to an increase of 42.59% in the amounts currently paid by the institution.

The labor market perspective focuses on supply and demand for registered nurses (RNs) as employees. This perspective contrasts with beliefs in the public health sector that RNs working in local health departments (LHD) as public health nurses (PHNs) accept lower wages because of factors other than market demand. This study sought to describe the extent to which hourly wages of RNs working in LHDs are competitive with hospital RN wages within the same county market. A repeated measures survey design was used in collecting 2010 and 2014 data. The unit of analysis was the county, as an RN labor market for LHDs and hospitals. Survey questions captured factors common in human resources benefits and wage packages, such as differential pay, hourly rate pay based on years of experience, components of benefit packages (eg, sick and vacation leave), and reimbursement for education. Within each county, the LHD and all hospitals constituted a "market," yielding a potential 12 markets in our study sample. Human resources representatives from each of the 12 LHDs and from all hospitals within those 12 counties were invited to participate. We conducted comparisons with survey data using t test of mean differences on mean RN wages across years of experience. On average, LHDs paid significantly less than hospitals in their markets, at all levels of RN experience, and this gap increased with RN experience in the sample markets. Salary compression was evident in 2010 and worsened for PHNs in 2014, when compared with hospital RNs. In 2014, 100% of the sample LHDs offered reimbursements for continuing education for PHNs compared with 89% of hospitals providing this benefit. This study contributes to our understanding of the human resources challenges faced by LHDs and provides evidence elucidating resources issues that need to be addressed in order to improve recruitment and retention of PHNs.

Purpose: Work-related musculoskeletal injuries remain a concern for the nursing profession. The purpose of this study was to reduce work-related musculoskeletal nursing injuries by 10% on the rehabilitation unit in a Midwestern hospital., Design: Using a quality improvement and evidence-based practice lens, one group time-series design was employed., Methods: Shift reports, interdisciplinary collaboration, self-study educational packets, and journal club sessions were implemented., Findings: Results, although not statistically significant, indicated over a 50% reduction in work-related musculoskeletal nursing injuries. Self-engagement and the Hawthorne effect are thought to have contributed to this decline in injury rates., Conclusions: A cost-benefit analysis indicates an estimated savings of $90,000 over 4 months. A yearly practice-based education program and improvement in electronic health records is advocated to sustain this decrease in nursing injury rates., Clinical Relevance: Context-specific interventions, communication, algorithm approach to patient transfers, and research knowledge are needed to decrease rehabilitation work-related musculoskeletal nursing injuries., (© 2014 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses.)

Sam Foster, Chief Nurse at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, reflects on the patient and carer experience of one-to-one care.

Purpose: To better understand the apparent persistent shortage of registered nurses (RNs), including both aggregate trends and cyclical responses., Design: We examine the employment of RNs over variations in economic activity, employing national aggregate and unique micro-population data on nurses in Arizona., Methods: These data, including our unique, ongoing survey of nurses in Arizona, enable a systematic examination of the cyclical demand for hospital care and institutional responses to that demand in the nursing market by employing multivariate regressions., Findings: Demand for hospital nursing care increases rapidly during the early years of recessions, moderating as the economy improves. Hospitals initially employ more temporary nurses, then reduce temporary hires by shifting employed RNs from part time to full time while also adding RNs not previously employed in hospitals. The substitution of regularly employed RNs for temporary nurses reflects the need to reduce staffing costs to offset increases in uncompensated care., Conclusions: The increased supply of nurses came from delayed retirements, higher relative hospital wages (inducing nurses in other sectors to return to hospitals), and added-worker effects. Additional nursing hours were drawn from a pool of RNs who were not employed in health care., Clinical Relevance: These results strongly suggest that correctly aligned incentives could reduce RN shortages without waiting for another recession., (© 2016 Sigma Theta Tau International.)

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare rates and reasons for registered nurse (RN) turnover by Magnet® status., Background: Although lower RN turnover rates in Magnet hospitals have been documented well in the literature, little is known about specific separation reasons for RN turnover and whether the reasons differ between Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals., Methods: This descriptive, correlational study analyzed unit-level 2013 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® turnover data (2,958 units; 497 hospitals). Poisson regression and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test were used., Results: Registered nurse turnover due to environment-related reasons was higher on units in non-Magnet hospitals than units in Magnet hospitals. Units in non-Magnet hospitals had 4.684 times higher turnover rates due to staffing/workload and 1.439 times higher rates due to work schedules than did units in Magnet hospitals., Conclusions: Nursing administrators in both Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals need to continually strive to improve unit work environments, particularly staffing and workload conditions and work scheduling.

This case study explores costs of electronic health record (EHR) implementation with the nursing super-user role in a metropolitan, not-for-profit health care system. Tapping the local pool of unemployed newly graduated nurses as half the required super-user workforce leveraged the technology skills of novice registered nurses (RNs) as trainers of experienced nurses in five hospitals. The novel workforce migrated from hospital to hospital, thereby reducing the number of experienced nurses reassigned to super-user duties in each hospital. This strategy reduced the amount of contract labor required to backfill nurse super-users' clinical shifts. Employment of the recently graduated nurses as RN residents upon completion of the EHR implementation enabled the organization to augment its clinical workforce with expert users of its EHR. The proposed innovative model increases super-users, minimizes disruption of core staffing, and dramatically reduces expense.