Nurse work environment affects patient outcome

(HealthDay)—Surgical patients in hospitals with good nurse work environments have lower odds of intensive care unit admission and mortality, according to a study published online Dec. 15 in AACN Advanced Critical Care.

Anna Krupp, Ph.D., R.N., from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and colleagues estimated the association between hospitals' nurse work environment and patient likelihood of intensive care unit admission and mortality after surgery. Data were analyzed in a cross-sectional study involving 269,764 adult surgical patients in 453 hospitals.

The researchers found that in the fully adjusted model accounting for patient and hospital factors, surgical patients in hospitals with good versus mixed or poor nurse work environments had 16 and 15 percent lower odds, respectively, of intensive care unit admission and of 30-day mortality or intensive care unit admission. Surgical patients in hospitals with good versus poor environments had 29 and 28 percent lower odds, respectively, of intensive care unit admission and of 30-day mortality or intensive care unit admission.

"Hospitals with better nurse work environments may be better equipped to provide complex patient care in a lower acuity setting without compromising a patient's odds of mortality," Krupp said in a statement.

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