Nursing staff reductions in Pennsylvania hospitals: Exploring the discrepancy between perceptions and data

    Authors

    L. Unruh

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Med. Care Res. Rev.

    Keywords

    CARE; NURSES; EMPLOYMENT; CALIFORNIA; MORTALITY; WORKFORCE; PERSONNEL; TRENDS; COST; Health Care Sciences & Services; Health Policy & Services

    Abstract

    Previous research has not confirmed public and practitioner perceptions of a decline in hospital nurse staffing. One reason for this discrepancy is that aggregate or mean values may not be an accurate description of the situation in a sizable percentage of hospitals. This article calculates the mean percentage change in various measures of nursing staff in Pennsylvania hospitals, 1991-1997, and the percentage of hospitals that experienced various degrees of this change. Major findings are that the means of changes in nursing staff understate the declines. When adjusted for patient severity and outpatient care, 50 percent of the hospitals experienced large decreases in RNs per patient days of care, 70 percent had large decreases in LPNs per patient days of care, and 56 percent had large declines in licensed nurses per patient days of care. Overall, the findings support perceptions of a decline in licensed nurse staffing. Policy implications are discussed.

    Journal Title

    Medical Care Research and Review

    Volume

    59

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2002

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    197

    Last Page

    214

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000175665100005

    ISSN

    1077-5587

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