Browsing by Subject "Nursing Staff, Hospital"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Collaboration Between Infection Prevention and Clinical Education in Response to COVID-19.
    (Journal for nurses in professional development, 2021-01) Edwards, Pamela B; Green, Katrina; Sturdivant, Margaret H; Lobaugh-Jin, Erica; Oden, Mary; Reynolds, Staci S
    With the rapid escalation of COVID-19 educational needs within hospitals, it was imperative for content experts of the infection prevention departments to lean on the expertise of nursing professional development specialists. This article provides a brief overview of how a clinical education and professional development department was deployed to assist and support the COVID-19 response efforts.
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    Economic analysis of a tailored behavioral intervention to improve blood pressure control for primary care patients.
    (American heart journal, 2010-08) Datta, Santanu K; Oddone, Eugene Z; Olsen, Maren K; Orr, Melinda; McCant, Felicia; Gentry, Pam; Bosworth, Hayden B

    Background

    Few telemedicine programs have undergone cost analyses, impeding their implementation into practice. We report on the economic analysis of a nurse-administered intervention designed to improve blood pressure control among hypertensive veterans.

    Methods

    We randomized hypertensive patients at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center primary care clinic to behavioral (n = 294) or nonbehavioral (n = 294) interventions. Behavioral intervention patients received tailored information bimonthly for 2 years via telephone. To calculate intervention cost, we microcosted the nurse's labor cost and computer hardware and software costs, applied a direct-to-indirect cost ratio, and distributed the costs over an estimated cohort of patients. We analyzed data from the Veterans Affairs Decision Support System to assess whether the intervention impacted overall health care utilization and costs. We used life expectancy estimates from the literature to develop decision models to calculate cost per life-year saved.

    Results

    The mean annual intervention cost was $112 (range $61-$259). During 2 years of follow-up, patients in the intervention group incurred $7,800 in inpatient costs and $9,741 in outpatient costs; the nonintervention group incurred $6,866 in inpatient costs and $9,599 in outpatient costs. The total cost difference was not statistically significant (P = .56). Cost-effectiveness of the behavioral intervention ranged from $42,457 per life-year saved for normal-weight women to $87,300 per life-year saved for normal-weight men.

    Conclusions

    The study results suggest that a nurse-administered, tailored behavioral intervention can be implemented at nominal cost and be cost-effective; however, there was no apparent lowering of health care utilization and costs during the 2 years of follow-up.
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    Evaluation of lay health workers on quality of care in the inpatient setting.
    (PloS one, 2023-01) Basnight, Ramona; Berry, Peter; Capes, Kellie; Pearce, Sherri; Thompson, Julie; Allen, Deborah H; Granger, Bradi B; Reynolds, Staci S

    Aims

    To evaluate the impact of a lay health worker support role in the inpatient setting.

    Background

    Healthcare systems are facing critical nursing and nurse assistant staffing shortages. These disciplines can be challenging to recruit and retain, leading healthcare leaders to identify innovative staffing models. Whereas lay health workers have been used in the community and low-income setting, there is scant evidence of their use in the inpatient setting. We implemented a lay health worker role, called Patient Attendant Service Aides (PASAs), on two medical/surgical units at a community hospital.

    Methods

    A pre/post-implementation design was used for this study. An online survey was provided to nurses, nursing assistants, and PASAs on the two medical/surgical units to assess their satisfaction and perceptions of the role. Nursing quality metrics, patient satisfaction, and nursing and nursing assistant turnover were evaluated before and after implementing the role.

    Results

    The online survey showed that nurses and nursing assistants felt that PASAs helped offload their workload, allowing them to focus on nursing-related tasks. PASAs felt supported by the team and believed they were making a meaningful contribution to the unit. There were slight improvements in patient satisfaction, although not significant. There was a significant improvement in nursing turnover on Unit A, from 71.1% to 21.6% (p = 0.009).

    Conclusions

    This is one of the first studies to evaluate the use of lay health workers in the inpatient setting; we found this role to be a feasible way to offload tasks from clinical staff. This role may serve as a pathway for workforce development, as several PASAs are now enrolled in nursing assistant training. Nurse managers may consider using lay health workers in the inpatient setting as they face severe clinical staff shortages.
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    Implementation of an Evidence-Based Onboarding Program to Optimize Efficiency and Care Delivery in an Intensive Care Unit.
    (Journal for nurses in professional development, 2023-11) Pena, Heather; Kester, Kelly; Cadavero, Allen; O'Brien, Stacey
    Nationally, nurse turnover is 18.7%, and 24.1% of nurses leave their organization within a year of hire. Onboarding is a key component of a nurse's intent to stay and job satisfaction. This article describes the implementation and results of an onboarding program in a large intensive care unit.
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    Reductions in telemetry order duration do not reduce telemetry utilization.
    (J Hosp Med, 2014-12) Boggan, JC; Navar-Boggan, AM; Patel, V; Schulteis, RD; Simel, DL
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    The impact of nurse staffing on falls performance within a health care system: A descriptive study.
    (Journal of nursing management, 2022-04) Cooke, Melissa; de la Fuente, Margarita; Stringfield, Candice; Sullivan, Kelly; Brassil, Robert; Thompson, Julie; Allen, Deborah H; Granger, Bradi B; Reynolds, Staci S

    Aim

    The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of nurse staffing on inpatient falls performance across a multi-hospital system.

    Background

    Evidence to support which staffing variables influence fall performance so that health care organizations can better allocate resources is lacking.

    Method

    A descriptive study design was used to analyse the impact of nurse staffing and falls performance, with units dichotomized as either high or low performing based on national benchmarking data. The impact was evaluated using 10 nurse staffing variables.

    Results

    A total of nine units were included (five high and four low performing). Higher performing units showed less use of sitters and travellers, had fewer overtime hours worked by nurses, and employed more expert-level clinical nurses and combined nursing assistant/health unit coordinator positions, than lower performing units.

    Conclusion

    Findings provide evidence of how staffing variables affect a unit's falls performance. While significant relationships were found, further evaluation is needed to explore the relationship of staffing variables and quality outcomes.

    Implications for nursing management

    Nursing managers may consider trying to reduce use of sitters and travellers, and utilize innovative staffing models, such as using combined nursing assistant/health unit coordinator positions, to help improve their falls performance.