Using Medication Pass Analysis to Examine Longitudinal Changes in VA Inpatient Nurse Staffing and Workload Before and Through the COVID-19 Pandemic: 2019-2022.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in extended disruption to the health care system. National-level data-driven comparisons of inpatient nurse staffing and workload before and during the pandemic have been limited.

Objectives

Assess the extent to which registered nurse (RN) staffing and workload changed from prepandemic levels in a national integrated health care system.

Research design

Longitudinal descriptive analysis. Medication pass analysis using bar code medication administration data for the peak-time medication pass (PTM) assessing year-over-year changes from 2019 to 2022. To assess significance of year-over-year changes in means we used the Welch 2-sample t test.

Subjects

Staff (N=42,999) administering PTM medications on Veterans Health Administ

SUBMITTER: Knox MK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12685309 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature