Application of case mix index in the allocation of nursing human resources.

AIM: To investigate the feasibility of the case mix index and compare the allocation of nursing human resources between two departments of a hospital with different case mix indexes in China. BACKGROUND: The case mix index is used to assess the resource allocation of all cases in two departments of a hospital. Its values can determine the resource allocation required to diagnose and treat the patients. METHODS: Clinical data were obtained from 23 different departments in 2015 and analysed retrospectively from October to November, 2016. Factors influencing the allocation of registered nurses were identified, and balanced quantities of patients with different case mix indexes were chosen from two departments. Spearman correlation analysis was performed. RESULTS: The per capita nursing workload was significant (r = .669, p = .000). The length of hospital stay, quantity of nurses, and department case mix index were correlated with the nursing workload (t = 4.211, p = .000; t = 2.962, p = .008; t = 2.266, p = .035). Education levels (Z = -1.391, p = .164) and the professional titles (Z = -1.832, p = .067) of the nurses were not statistically significant, whereas the registered nurse level differed between two departments (Z = -2.125, p = .034). CONCLUSION: The case management index provides references for the efficient allocation of registered nurses in clinical practice.

[Patterns and Influential Factors of Inter-Regional Migration of New and Experienced Nurses in 2011~2015].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the migration patterns of new nurses and experienced nurses and to identify the factors influencing inter-regional migration for solving regional imbalances of clinical nurses in South Korea. METHODS: This study involved a secondary analysis of data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: New nurses tended to migrate from Kyunggi to Seoul. However, experienced nurses tended to migrate from Seoul and Chungchung to Kyunggi. Significant predictors of inter-regional migration among new nurses were location and nurse staffing grade of hospitals. Significant predictors of inter-regional migration among experienced nurses were location, hospital type, nurse staffing grade, ownership of hospitals and age of nurses. CONCLUSION: Inter-regional migration occupied a small portion of total hospital movement among clinical nurses. The regional imbalances of nurses were not caused by the migration from non-metropolitan areas to Seoul. Nurse shortage problems in the small and medium hospitals of the non-metropolitan area can be solved only through improvement of work environment.

A Preliminary Analysis of Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue With Considerations for Nursing Unit Specialization and Demographic Factors.

Compassion fatigue (CF), or vicarious traumatization, is a state of physical/emotional distress that results from caring for those experiencing pain. We sought to characterize levels of CF in intensive care unit (ICU) and oncology nursing populations with subanalyses comparing specific personal/professional demographic factors. The Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale, a validated tool for assessing CF, burnout (BO), and compassion satisfaction (CS), was distributed to the ICU and oncology divisions of a community hospital. Demographic data and ProQOL scale scores were collected and compared within specialty and gender subgroups. Two-sample t tests and regression analyses were used to compare groups. Statistical significance was defined as p < .05. A total of 86 nurses submitted completed surveys able to be analyzed. Levels of CS were significantly lower (p = .023) and levels of BO were significantly higher (p = .029) in ICU nurses than in oncology nurses. Male nurses exhibited significantly higher CS (p = .001) and significantly lower BO (p = .021) and CF (p = .014) than female nurses. Intensive care unit nurses and female nurses from both ICU and oncology specialties may be at increased risk for developing a poorer overall ProQOL and CF.

Supplemental nurses are just as educated, slightly less experienced, and more diverse compared to permanent nurses.

In the past three decades, the shortage of nurses willing to work in hospitals has been a persistent challenge in the United States. Hiring supplemental registered nurses-nurses on short-term contracts obtained through an external staffing agency-has been common to fill gaps in nurse staffing. But there has been insufficient evidence about supplemental nurse workforce trends to inform workforce policy. To address this concern, we compared qualifications and characteristics of supplemental nurses with those of permanent nurses during 1984-2008. The two groups shared similar education levels in terms of possessing a baccalaureate or higher degree. Supplemental nurses were somewhat less experienced than permanent nurses, averaging fifteen years of experience in 2008 compared to eighteen years for permanent nurses. The supplemental nurse workforce was more diverse racially and ethnically and more likely to be male than the permanent nurse workforce. These data show that employing supplemental nurses could help meet the challenges of an aging nursing workforce, the projected future shortage of nurses, and an increasingly diverse US population.

Health-related quality of life and working conditions among nursing providers.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate working conditions associated with health-related quality of life (HRQL) among nursing providers. METHODS: Cross-sectional study conducted in a university hospital in the city of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, during 2004-2005. The study sample comprised 696 registered nurses, nurse technicians and nurse assistants, predominantly females (87.8%), who worked day and/or night shifts. Data on sociodemographic information, working and living conditions, lifestyles, and health symptoms were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The following questionnaires were also used: Job Stress Scale, Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) and Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Ordinal logistic regression analysis using proportional odds model was performed to evaluate each dimension of the SF-36. RESULTS: Around 22% of the sample was found to be have high strain and 8% showed an effort-reward imbalance at work. The dimensions with the lowest mean scores in the SF-36 were vitality, bodily pain and mental health. High-strain job, effort-reward imbalance (ERI>1.01), and being a registered nurse were independently associated with low scores on the role emotional dimension. Those dimensions associated to mental health were the ones most affected by psychosocial factors at work. CONCLUSIONS: Effort-reward imbalance was more associated with health than high-strain (high demand and low control). The study results suggest that the joint analysis of psychosocial factors at work such as effort-reward imbalance and demand-control can provide more insight to the discussion of professional roles, working conditions and HRQL of nursing providers.

Health-related quality of life and working conditions among nursing providers / Qualidade de vida associada a saúde e condições de trabalho entre profissionais de enfermagem / Calidad de vida asociada a la salud y condiciones de trabajo entre profesionales de enfermería

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate working conditions associated with health-related quality of life (HRQL) among nursing providers. METHODS: Cross-sectional study conducted in a university hospital in the city of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, during 2004-2005. The study sample comprised 696 registered nurses, nurse technicians and nurse assistants, predominantly females (87.8 percent), who worked day and/or night shifts. Data on sociodemographic information, working and living conditions, lifestyles, and health symptoms were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The following questionnaires were also used: Job Stress Scale, Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) and Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Ordinal logistic regression analysis using proportional odds model was performed to evaluate each dimension of the SF-36...

OBJETIVO: Avaliar condições de trabalho associadas à qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde entre profissionais de enfermagem. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal realizado em um hospital universitário de São Paulo, SP, em 2004-2005. A população estudada foi de 696 enfermeiros, técnicos e auxiliares de enfermagem, predominantemente feminina (87,8 por cento) e que trabalhava em turnos diurnos e/ou noturnos. Os dados sociodemográficos, de condições de trabalho e de vida, hábitos de vida e sintomas de saúde auto-referidos foram obtidos por meio de questionários auto-aplicados: Resultados de Estudos de Saúde - versão reduzida, Escala de Estresse no Trabalho e Desequilíbrio Esforço-Recompensa. Valores do coeficiente 1,01 significam mais esforços do que recompensas no trabalho. Modelos de regressão logística ordinal de chances proporcionais foram ajustados para cada dimensão do SF-36...

OBJETIVO: Evaluar condiciones de trabajo asociadas a la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud entre profesionales de enfermería. MÉTODOS: Estudio transversal realizado en un hospital universitario de Sao Paulo, Sureste de Brasil, en 2004-2005. La población estudiada fue de 696 enfermeros, técnicos y auxiliares de enfermería, predominantemente femenina (87,8 por ciento) y que trabajaba en turnos diurnos y/o nocturnos. Los datos sociodemográficos, de condiciones de trabajo y de vida, hábitos de vida y síntomas de salud auto-referidos fueron obtenidos por medio de cuestionarios auto-aplicados: Resultados de Estudios de Salud-versión reducida, Escala de Estrés en el Trabajo y Desequilibrio Esfuerzo-Recompensa. Valores del coeficiente ³ 1,01 significan más esfuerzos que recompensas en el trabajo. Modelos de regresión logística ordinal de oportunidades proporcionales fueron ajustados para cada dimensión del SF-36...

Staffing strategies help ED save more than $1 million a year.

You don't have to cut staff to save money, as the ED at Catawba Valley Medical Center has demonstrated. It is saving more than $1 million a year without reducing the number of full-time staff. Here's how you can do the same thing: If you are currently using contrast nurses, gradually replace them with PRNs. Eliminate overtime for your nurses. It's better than having to lay some of them off. Cross-train nursing assistants so they can fill in for other employees, such as secretaries or phlebotomists.

[Patient classification systems. Nursing workload from the perspective of applied research (part I)]. / Patientenklassifikationssysteme. Leistungsdaten im Blickfeld angewandter Forschung (Teil 1).

This article describes in two parts the basic principles of categorising nursing data into Patient Classification Systems (PCS) and related findings of nursing research. PCS are used to group patients into classes by using some specified criteria or indicators, e.g. needs of a patient, functional status or different nursing activities. They are often applied to constitute staff requirements. Since the large number of available classification systems differs in terms of development procedures and use of resulting data, it was rarely possible to compare different PCS with each other until now. Therefore a typology of PCS was developed, which is presented in the first part of this article. While assigning current PCS to adequate classes of the typology, the development and complexity of different PCS can be evaluated and discussed. Thus using the typology allows to identify advantages and limitations of individual classification systems. Conclusions can be drawn about requirements for further PCS development.

Hospital nurse productivity enhancement.

Nurse staffing patterns have come under increased scrutiny as hospital managers attempt to control costs without harming service quality or staff morale. This study presents production function results from a study of nurse output from 2002 to 2005. The results suggest that productivity varies widely among the 39 hospitals as a function of staffing patterns, methods of organization, and the degree of reliance on nurse extender technicians. Nurse extenders can enhance the marginal value product of the most educated nurses as the RNs concentrate their workday around patient care activities. The results suggest that nurse extenders free RNs from the burden of nonnursing tasks. Incentive pay for nurses based on productivity gains is associated with enhanced productivity. One should get the greatest output for the least input effort, better balancing all factors of service delivery to achieve the most with the smallest resource effort.

National audit of critical care resources in South Africa - nursing profile.

OBJECTIVES: (i) To determine the profile and number of nurses working in South African intensive care units (ICUs) and high care units (HCUs); (ii) to determine the number of beds in ICU and HCUs in South Africa; and (iii) to determine the ratio of nurses to ICU/HC beds. DESIGN AND SETTING: A descriptive, non-interventive, observational study design was used. An audit of all public and private sector ICU and HCUs in South Africa was undertaken. RESULTS: A 100% was sample obtained; 74.8% of the ICU nursing managers were ICU-trained nurses with an average of 12.8 years of ICU experience. Only 25.6% of nurses working in ICU were ICU trained. The majority were registered nurses (49.2%), while 21.4% were semi-professional nurses. Private sector nurses represented 50.3% of all nurses. Some 42.8% of the professional nurses had 0 - 5 years of experience and 28.7% had 5 - 10 years. The groups 10 - 15 and 15 - 20 years represented 16.1% and 6.6% respectively. Only 5.7% nurses had 20 and more years' experience. In the units that used agency staff the ratio of permanent to agency nursing staff for the month of June 2003 was 64.5% versus 35.5%. In total there are 4,168 ICU and HC beds in South Africa that are serviced by 4,584 professional nurses. The nurse:bed ratio is 1.1 nurses per ICU/HC bed. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that ICU nursing in South Africa faces the challenge of an acute shortage of trained and experienced nurses. Our nurses are tired, often not healthy, and are plagued by discontent and low morale.

Nurses ready to right back. Ruling that full-time charge nurses can't belong to unions has labor leaders determined to work for ways around it.

Nurse labor leaders are fighting mad over last week's ruling that full-time charge nurses aren't eligible for union membership. Labor and healthcare insiders say the decision leaves gray areas that will have to be settled at the negotiating table. Barbara Medvec, left, an executive at the system that brought the case before the NLRB, says she finds the "silence" on part-time charge nurses puzzling.

Evaluation of early DNA damage in healthcare workers handling antineoplastic drugs.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluates by comet assay the induction of early DNA damage in healthcare workers of an oncology hospital regularly handling antineoplastic drug mixtures. The aim was to identify a suitable biomarker of DNA damage by exposure to low levels of such drugs. METHODS: We studied 12 day hospital nurses and 13 oncology ward nurses who performed up to 300 and up to 35 drug administrations per week, respectively, and five pharmacy employees who regularly prepared mixtures of antineoplastic agents. Thirty healthy subjects were selected as controls. For exposure evaluation, we performed environmental monitoring of 5-fluorouracil, cytarabine, gemcitabine, cyclophosphamide, and ifosfamide in selected work areas of pharmacy and day hospital units and biological monitoring of urine for the 5-fluorouracile metabolite, alpha-fluoro-beta-alanine. We evaluated early DNA damage in lymphocytes and exfoliated buccal cells by comet assay measuring tail moment (TM) parameter that indirectly indicates the presence of DNA damage. RESULTS: Environmental monitoring detected cyclophosphamide, 5-fluorouracil and ifosfamide, with higher levels of contamination in day hospital unit. The biological monitoring measured detectable levels of alpha-fluoro-beta-alanine only in three nurses. Comet assay showed an increase on exfoliated buccal cells, even if not statistically significant, of mean TM with respect to controls in day hospital nurses (43.2 vs. 28.6, respectively) while ward nurses and pharmacy technicians did not show differences. Comet assay performed on lymphocytes did not show appreciable differences between exposed and controls. CONCLUSIONS: The employment of the sensitive comet assay, which is able to detect early the effects of a recent exposure to genotoxic substances, allowed us to find a slight DNA damage, only on exfoliated buccal cells of day hospital nurses, the group handling the highest amount of drugs during the administration process. This finding suggests that comet assay on exfoliated buccal cells could represent a useful tool to evaluate early and still repairable genotoxic effects of exposure to antineoplastic drug mixtures and then contribute to the improvement of the hospital safety practices.

Differences in perceptions of empowerment among nationally certified and noncertified nurses.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the difference in perceptions of empowerment between nurses who were nationally certified and those who were not. BACKGROUND: Nurses are encouraged to obtain certification in their specialty. The focus of most nursing research on certification has been on motivation to acquire certification and perceived benefits of certification. Research related to empowerment indicates that access to empowerment structures results in achievement and success. METHODS: This descriptive comparative study used the Conditions of Work Effectiveness II Questionnaire to measure registered nurses' perceptions of empowerment. Certification status was recorded on the demographic section of the questionnaire. RESULTS: Significant differences were noted in empowerment scores for certified and noncertified nurses as measured by the Conditions of Work Effectiveness II Questionnaire. Findings suggest that nurses who are certified have higher perceptions of empowerment. Certification may increase nurses' perceptions of empowerment and therefore improve work effectiveness. CONCLUSION: Certified nurses in this study had increased access to job-related power and opportunity structures. Certification provides recognition of the nurses' knowledge and expertise in the specialty area which in turn is empowering. Organizations that support and recognize this achievement may experience improved turnover and retention rates.

Reaching for the stars: career advancement and the registered nurse.

Clinical nursing has long struggled to secure the place of primacy it deserves in the profession's hierarchy of importance and worth. It is ironic that, even at the beginning of the 21st century, a clinical nurse is generally not as well-recognized, rewarded or remunerated as a colleague working in nursing management, education or research. Until the profession recognizes and takes serious action to remedy this situation, the crisis of recruitment and retention in nursing currently ravaging the globe is likely to continue. In this paper, I present a discursive account of an exciting initiative by a leading private, acute-care hospital which addresses this very problem. A new ladder for clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) introduces a rigorous and systematic approach to the appointment of three classifications of CNS, each requiring evidence of successively higher levels of competency, and which are accompanied by fiscal reward and stronger peer recognition.

[Nursing auxiliaries and nursing technicians: different professional categories and equivalent jobs]. / O auxiliar e o técnico de enfermagem: categorias profissionais diferentes e trabalhos equivalentes.

This is a qualitative study with the purpose of identifying and analyzing the differences between the work developed by nursing auxiliaries and nursing technicians. It relies on the theoretical framework concerning health care and nursing work and the Theory of Communicative Action. Information was collected by means of interviews in three hospitals and involved nursing auxiliaries, nursing technicians, nurses and physicians, totaling 32 statements. Results showed that auxiliaries and technicians perform a wide range of actions, including those which are usual for such categories, patient evaluation activities and complex procedures. All the statements indicated that there was no difference between the work done by nursing auxiliaries and that performed by nursing technicians, which allows for questioning the appropriateness of such work division.