Opportunities to Diversify the Pediatric Nursing Workforce: A Focus on Male Nurses.

INTRODUCTION: Pediatric nursing has been a profession dominated by women, but patients benefit from representation of both men and women. We describe characteristics associated with male pediatric nurses and consider potential pathways to greater male pediatric nurse workforce participation. METHOD: We used data from the 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, a nationally representative survey of nurses that estimates characteristics of the workforce. We present summary statistics to describe demographic, work setting and work environment characteristics of male and pediatric nurse workforces. Analyses accounted for complex survey design and weighting. RESULTS: Only 7% (N = 108,752) of the pediatric registered nurse workforce and 3% (N = 779) of the pediatric nurse practitioner workforces were male. Notable demographic and educational difference exist among compared workforces. DISCUSSION: Males are significantly underrepresented in pediatric nursing. Much effort and intention need to be directed towards increasing male representation in pediatric nursing.

Construct Validity Testing of the Provider Co-Management Index to Measure Shared Care in Provider Dyads.

BACKGROUND: Co-management encompasses the dyadic process between two healthcare providers. The Provider Co-Management Index (PCMI) was initially developed as a 20-item instrument across three theory-informed subscales. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to establish construct validity of the PCMI with a sample of primary care providers through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants randomly selected from the IQVIA database across New York State. Mail surveys were used to acquire a minimum of 300 responses for split sample factor analyses. The first subsample (derivation sample) was used to explore factorial structure by conducting an exploratory factor analysis. A second (validation) sample was used to confirm the emerged factorial structure using confirmatory factor analysis. We performed iterative analysis and calculated good fit indices to determine the best-fit model. RESULTS: There were 333 responses included in the analysis. Cronbach's alpha was high for a three-item per dimension scale within a one-factor model. The instrument was named PCMI-9 to indicate the shorter version length. DISCUSSION: This study established the construct validity of an instrument that scales the co-management of patients by two providers. The final instrument includes nine items on a single factor using a 4-point, Likert-type scale. Additional research is needed to establish discriminant validity.

Organizational trust breaches among nurses and aides: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare worker retention and burnout are confounding issues. Trust among workers and their employer, that is, organization, is an important yet underexplored concept in research. RESEARCH AIM: The aim of this qualitative study is to explore organizational actions and systems that promote or denigrate trust among registered nurses and patient care aides (aides). RESEARCH DESIGN: The study uses the Model of Psychological Contract as a theoretical framework. Focus groups were conducted to explore the concept of organizational trust and the consequences of broken trust. PARTICIPANTS: Registered nurses (RNs) (n=6) and aides (n=6) participated in the study. Six focus groups (three RN and three aide) were conducted, with two participants per group. Focus groups were conducted online. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The study's methods were reviewed by the University of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board. FINDINGS: Among RNs and aides, a sense of trust and feeling valued were important to their sense of relationship with their employers. Trust was breached when resources were scarce, employees did not feel validated and listened to, and problems were not addressed. RNs and aides described feeling devalued when compensation practices were unjust or inequitable, they had limited autonomy, and the employer created an organizational climate where business needs superceded human caring. Consequences of trust breach included burnout, dejection, and feelings of non-belonging. DISCUSSION: Tangible organizational resources (compensation and staffing) and intangible resources (value, respect, autonomy) are important to RNs and aides alike. Inability to provide these resources diminishes trust and even causes a sense of betrayal. CONCLUSION: Future research can explore the concepts of organizational justice and interventions to restore lost trust and improve healthcare worker well-being. This is one of only a few identified studies to explore organizational factors and well-being among aides and more research among this healthcare worker population is warranted.

The Perspectives of Advanced Practice Provider Directors on Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Alignment and Hiring.

Demand for acute care is forecasted to grow in the United States. To meet this demand, nurse practitioners (NPs) are increasingly employed in acute care settings. Yet, there is concern about an adequate supply of acute care NPs given demand. Further, professional nursing organizations recommend aligning an NP's role with their education, certification, licensure, and practice. Given workforce constraints and the policy environment, little is known about how hospitals approach hiring NPs for acute care roles. The purpose of this study was to explore advanced practice provider (APP) directors' approaches to hiring NPs within the context of alignment and describe factors that influence hiring decisions. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 APP directors in hospitals and health systems. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded using an iterative, hybrid inductive and deductive method. Two themes emerged: (1) local factors that inform aligned hiring and (2) adaptive hiring responses to changing environments. Practices around hiring NPs varied across institutions influenced by organization and state policies and regulations, workforce availability, and institutional culture. Most APP directors recognized trends towards hiring aligned NPs for acute care roles. However, they also identified barriers to fully aligning their NP workforce and described adaptive strategies including hiring physician assistants, building relationships with APP schools, and leveraging hospital resources to develop the APP workforce to meet care delivery demands given the current NP workforce supply. Future research is needed to assess widespread practices around acute care NP alignment and the implications of alignment for patient and organizational outcomes.

Describing the male registered nursing workforce toward increasing male representation in professional nursing.

BACKGROUND: Men are significantly underrepresented in nursing and increasing their numbers should be a priority. PURPOSE: To describe the male nursing workforce in terms of size, demographics, education, and work settings. METHODS: Using data from the 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, we performed a secondary descriptive analysis. FINDINGS: We find that 9.6% of registered nurses are men. Men are more likely than women to hold an associate degree and clinical doctorates, be nurse anesthetists and supervisors, and work in emergency settings but less likely than females to participate in teaching. DISCUSSION: To increase male representation in nursing we must simultaneously rearticulate what it means for a job to be "female" while also showing that nursing incorporates many skills and interests traditionally coded as "male." We can also show men that nursing offers appealing employment that can lead to a deeply fulfilling personal and professional life.

A Scoping Review on Work Experiences of Nurses After Being Diagnosed With Cancer.

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION: To map key concepts underpinning work-related studies about nurses with cancer and identify knowledge gaps. LITERATURE REVIEW: A search was conducted in the PubMed®, CINAHL®, and PsycINFO® databases for articles about nurses with cancer and work-related topics published through March 2023. DATA EVALUATION: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist was used to report results, and the JBI critical appraisal tools were used to assess the quality of studies. Eleven articles were included. SYNTHESIS: The following four critical concepts were identified: role adjustments at work, cancer impacts on work, organizational support, and translating insights gained from cancer experience into work. Research gaps identified by the scoping review were a lack of theoretical or conceptual frameworks, lack of syntheses of main ideas, and lack of clear data about participants' socioeconomic status across studies. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Minimal research exists to map predictors, outcomes, or intervention targets to guide organizational strategies to support nurses' retention in the nursing workforce. A guiding framework, recruitment of diverse nurses, and focus on the four critical concepts identified in this scoping review are suggested for future research.

Initial psychometric properties of the provider-co-management index-RN to scale registered nurse-physician co-management: Implications for burnout, job satisfaction, and intention to leave current position.

Team-based care has become a cornerstone of care delivery to meet the demands of high-quality patient care. Yet, there is a lack of valid and reliable instruments to measure the effectiveness of co-management between clinician dyads, particularly physicians and registered nurses (RNs). The purpose of this study was to adapt an existing instrument, Provider Co-Management Index (PCMI), previously used among primary care providers into a new version to scale RN-physician co-management (called PCMI-RN). We also aimed to explore preliminary associations between RN-physician co-management and burnout, job satisfaction, and intention to leave current job. Face, cognitive, and content validity testing, using mixed methods approaches, were preceded by initial pilot testing (n = 122 physicians and nurses) in an acute care facility. The internal consistency reliability (α=.83) was high. One-quarter of participants reported burnout, 27% were dissatisfied with their job, and 20% reported intention to leave their job. There was a weak significant correlation between co-management and burnout (p = .010), and co-management and job satisfaction (p = .009), but not intention to leave current position. Construct validity testing is recommended. Future research using PCMI-RN may help to isolate factors that support or inhibit effective physician-nurse co-management.

Hospital nurse staffing and sepsis protocol compliance and outcomes among patients with sepsis in the USA: a multistate cross-sectional analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Sepsis is a serious inflammatory response to infection with a high death rate. Timely and effective treatment may improve sepsis outcomes resulting in mandatory sepsis care protocol adherence reporting. How the impact of patient-to-nurse staffing compares to sepsis protocol compliance and patient outcomes is not well understood. This study aimed to determine the association between hospital sepsis protocol compliance, patient-to-nurse staffing ratios and patient outcomes. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study examining hospital nurse staffing, sepsis protocol compliance and sepsis patient outcomes, using linked data from nurse (2015-2016, 2020) and hospital (2017) surveys, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare (2017) and corresponding MedPAR patient claims. SETTING: 537 hospitals across six US states (California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois and New Jersey). PARTICIPANTS: 252 699 Medicare inpatients with sepsis present on admission. MEASURES: The explanatory variables are nurse staffing and SEP-1 compliance. Outcomes are mortality (within 30 and 60 days of index admission), readmissions (within 7, 30, and 60 days of discharge), admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and lengths of stay (LOS). RESULTS: Sepsis protocol compliance and nurse staffing vary widely across hospitals. Each additional patient per nurse was associated with increased odds of 30-day and 60-day mortality (9% (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.13) and 10% (1.10, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.14)), 7-day, 30-day and 60-day readmission (8% (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.11, p<0.001), 7% (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.10, p<0.001), 7% (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.10, p<0.001)), ICU admission (12% (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.22, p=0.007)) and increased relative risk of longer LOS (10% (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.12, p<0.001)). Each 10% increase in sepsis protocol compliance was associated with shorter LOS (2% ([OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.97 to 0.99, p<0.001)) only. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes are more strongly associated with improved nurse staffing than with increased compliance with sepsis protocols.

The impact of California's staffing mandate and the economic recession on registered nurse staffing levels: A longitudinal analysis.

BACKGROUND: Despite the importance of adequate hospital nurse staffing, California is the only state with minimum nurse-to-patient ratio mandates. The health care workforce is historically "countercyclical"-exhibiting growth during economic recessions when employment in other sectors is shrinking. PURPOSE: This study was to examine how staffing mandates impact hospital nurse staffing during economic recessions. METHOD: We compared hospital nurse staffing in California and in other states over 20 years to examine differences before and after the California mandate and, within the postmandate period, before, during, and after the Great Recession of 2008. FINDINGS: Staffing differences increased during the postmandate period due to faster growth in California staffing compared to other states, except during the Great Recession, when staffing remained stable in California but declined in other states. DISCUSSION: State legislators deliberating staffing mandates should consider the protective factor such policies provide during economic recessions and the implications for the quality and safety of care.

Association of hospital nursing and postsurgical sepsis.

Despite concerted research and clinical efforts, sepsis remains a common, costly, and often fatal occurrence. Little evidence exists for the relationship between institutional nursing resources and the incidence and outcomes of sepsis after surgery. The objective of this study was to examine whether hospital nursing resource quality is associated with postsurgical sepsis incidence and survival. This cross-sectional, secondary data analysis used registered nurses' reports on hospital nursing resources-staffing, education, and work environment-and multivariate logistic regressions to model their association with risk-adjusted postsurgical sepsis and mortality in 568 hospitals across four states. Better work environment quality was associated with lower odds of sepsis. While the likelihood of death among septic patients was nearly seven times that of non-septic patients, better nursing resources were associated with reduced mortality for all patients. Whereas the preponderance of sepsis research has focused on clinical interventions to prevent and treat sepsis, this study describes organizational characteristics hospital administrators may modify through organizational change targeting nurse staffing, education, and work environments to improve patient outcomes.

The Association of Hospital Magnet® Status and Pay-for-Performance Penalties.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Pay-for-Performance (P4P) programs aim to improve hospital care through financial incentives for care quality and patient outcomes. Magnet® recognition-a potential pathway for improving nurse work environments-is associated with better patient outcomes and P4P program scores, but whether these indicators of higher quality are substantial enough to avoid penalties and thereby impact hospital reimbursements is unknown. This cross-sectional study used a national sample of 2,860 hospitals to examine the relationship between hospital Magnet® status and P4P penalties under P4P programs: Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HAC) Reduction Program, Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program. Magnet® hospitals were matched 1:1 with non-Magnet hospitals accounting for 13 organizational characteristics including hospital size and location. Post-match logistic regression models were used to compute a hospital's odds of penalties. In a national sample of hospitals, 77% of hospitals experienced P4P penalties. Magnet® hospitals were less likely to be penalized in the VBP program compared to their matched non-Magnet counterparts (40% vs. 48%). Magnet® status was associated with 30% lower odds of VBP penalties relative to non-Magnet hospitals. Lower P4P program penalties is one benefit associated with achieving Magnet® status or otherwise maintaining high-quality nurse work environments.

Why Some Nurses Obtain Specialty Certification and Others Do Not.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether there are modifiable characteristics of nurses and hospitals associated with nurse specialty certification. BACKGROUND: Hospitals, nurses, and patients benefit from nurse specialty certification, but little actionable evidence guides administrators seeking higher hospital certification rates. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, secondary data analysis of 20 454 nurses in 471 hospitals across 4 states. RESULTS: Rates of certified nurses varied significantly across hospitals. Higher odds of certification were associated with Magnet® recognition and better hospital work environments at the facility level, and with BSN education, unit type (most notably, oncology), older age, more years of experience, and full-time employment at the individual nurse level. CONCLUSION: Two strategies that hold promise for increasing nurse specialty certification are improving hospital work environments and preferentially hiring BSN nurses.

Association of Nurse Engagement and Nurse Staffing on Patient Safety.

BACKGROUND: Nurse engagement is a modifiable element of the work environment and has shown promise as a potential safety intervention. PURPOSE: Our study examined the relationship between the level of engagement, staffing, and assessments of patient safety among nurses working in hospital settings. METHODS: A secondary analysis of linked cross-sectional data was conducted using survey data of 26 960 nurses across 599 hospitals in 4 states. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between nurse engagement, staffing, and nurse assessments of patient safety. RESULTS: Thirty-two percent of nurses gave their hospital a poor or failing patient safety grade. In 25% of hospitals, nurses fell in the least or only somewhat engaged categories. A 1-unit increase in engagement lowered the odds of an unfavorable safety grade by 29% (P < .001). Hospitals where nurses reported higher levels of engagement were 19% (P < .001) less likely to report that mistakes were held against them. Nurses in poorly staffed hospitals were 6% more likely to report that important information about patients "fell through the cracks" when transferring patients across units (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to improve nurse engagement and adequate staffing serve as strategies to improve patient safety.

Nurse Engagement in Shared Governance and Patient and Nurse Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to examine differences in nurse engagement in shared governance across hospitals and to determine the relationship between nurse engagement and patient and nurse outcomes. BACKGROUND: There is little empirical evidence examining the relationship between shared governance and patient outcomes. METHODS: A secondary analysis of linked cross-sectional data was conducted using nurse, hospital, and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey data. RESULTS: Engagement varied widely across hospitals. In hospitals with greater levels of engagement, nurses were significantly less likely to report unfavorable job outcomes and poor ratings of quality and safety. Higher levels of nurse engagement were associated with higher HCAHPS scores. CONCLUSIONS: A professional practice environment that incorporates shared governance may serve as a valuable intervention for organizations to promote optimal patient and nurse outcomes.