A new study published in JAMA Surgery showed that patients undergoing surgery at hospitals that are recognised for nursing excellence and good nurse staffing (Magned hospitals) have better outcomes as compared to other hospitals.
"We found that patients treated in hospitals with better nursing had significantly lower death rates after surgery," said lead author Jeffrey H. Silber, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Outcomes Research at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.
The improved outcomes in Magnet hospitals were evident in all patients, especially those who were sicker and had more complicated conditions. Study co-author Matthew McHugh, PhD, JD, MPH, RN, Associate Director, Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing points out that it is easy for patients to identify hospitals where they are likely to have improved outcomes by simply following the Magnet designation.
During this study, the authors compared 25,076 matched pairs of Medicare patients having surgery in 328 hospitals. The pairs of patients had the exact surgical procedure and were also similar in age, sex, severity of illness, demographics, and chronic illnesses.
The study also found that having better nurse staffing did not cost the hospitals anymore than usual. In fact, Magnet hospitals had lower mortality at the same or lower costs as they admitted 40 percent fewer patients to ICUs and were also able to achieve shorter hospital stays.
Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
