Longitudinal Study of the Variation in Patient Turnover and Patient-to-Nurse Ratio: Descriptive Analysis of a Swiss University Hospital.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Variations in patient demand increase the challenge of balancing high-quality nursing skill mixes against budgetary constraints. Developing staffing guidelines that allow high-quality care at minimal cost requires first exploring the dynamic changes in nursing workload over the course of a day.

Objective

Accordingly, this longitudinal study analyzed nursing care supply and demand in 30-minute increments over a period of 3 years. We assessed 5 care factors: patient count (care demand), nurse count (care supply), the patient-to-nurse ratio for each nurse group, extreme supply-demand mismatches, and patient turnover (ie, number of admissions, discharges, and transfers).

Methods

Our retrospective analysis of data from the Inselspital University Hospital Bern, S

SUBMITTER: Musy SN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7163415 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature