Association Between Nurse Staffing Indicators, Patient Falls, and Hospital Acquired Pressure Ulcers in the Acute Care Setting

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> To determine if there is an association between nurse staffing indicators, direct care nurses' perceptions of staffing and resources adequacy, patient falls, and hospital acquired pressure ulcers.</p> <p><strong>Design:</strong> A non-experimental, descriptive, correlational design using secondary data was used.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> The study took place at a large metropolitan hospital located within the southeast United States. Unit level data for 11 medical-surgical nursing units from the hospital's National Database for Nursing Quality Indicators survey conducted in October 2011 were obtained.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> A statistically significant relationship was found between TNHPPD and RNNHPPD. No statistically significant relationship was found between nurses' perception of staffing and resource adequacy as it relates to patient falls and pressure ulcers. In addition, there was no statistically significant relationship between nurse staffing indicators and patient falls and HAPU among the 11 acute care hospital units studied.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Additional research at the unit level is indicated to focus on evidence based practices that promote a culture of patient safety and enhance quality outcomes. The nursing sensitive outcomes of patient falls and HAPU will be reported in the public domain. Therefore, it is important for hospitals to understand the dynamics associated with nurse characteristics, patient risk factors, and organizational framework that impact the patient care delivery models that produce quality outcomes.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) - Advanced Care Management and Leadership

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Nursing

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Moates, Cheryl Renee

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Patricia Hart
• Dr. Nancy Ballard

• nursing hours per patient day
• nursing process
• patient falls
• pressure ulcers
• patient outcomes
• patient care delivery models
• staffing and resource adequacy
• Nursing

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/643

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu:etd-1647