Vital Role Of Nurses In The Delivery Of Affordable Care [Infographic]

Evelyn Valle http://onlinemsn.usfca.edu 3m 748 #nurses

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

The Vitality Of Nurses

The U.S. healthcare sector will employ 3.2 million nurses by 2022. Presently, 6% of nurses care for one patient, whereas 11% care for three patients. Moreover, 13%, 16%, 17%, and 18% of nurses care for six, five, four, and two patients respectively. In spite of this, 66% of registered nurses (RNs) say that they have limited coverage and clinical support.

Duties and Job Satisfaction

Nursing has ranked as the leading profession in terms of honesty and ethical standards over the past 13 years. With this in mind, professional communication accounts for 17.3% of the time nurses spend at work. Additionally, nurses spend 16.2%, 11.3%, 10.3% and 9.6% of their time on medication-related tasks, indirect care, direct care and in transit respectively.

Patient Health Outcomes

In general, patient mortality at hospitals with high nurse-to-patient ratios are 60% lower compared to hospitals with low nurse-to-patient ratios. In terms of nurse-to-patient interactions, 86% of nurses have no time to comfort and care for patients, 81% are unable to educate patients, 61% report medication errors related to unsafe patient assignments, 56% report patient readmission due to unsafe patient assignments, 50% report injury to patients due to understaffing and 25% report fatalities related to understaffing.

The Benefits of Better Health Outcome

The benefits of better health outcomes include:

• Lower health care costs to the tune of $68 million annually due to fewer patient infections
• Fewer medical errors
• Lower hospital readmission rates
• Fewer days spent in hospital by patients

The Benefits of Investing in Nursing Education

Investing in nursing education improves patient health outcomes and care costs substantially. This is because better-educated nurses can implement evidence-based practices, coordinate patient care, compare supply and service costs, as well as oversee lab tests.

Conclusion

Nurses play an important role in the US healthcare sector because they handle medication-related tasks, communicate with patients and doctors and perform ward related activities.

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WHY NURSES ARE ESSENTIAL TO DELIVERING COST-EFFECTIVE CARE

HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS AND THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE

3.2 MILLION EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS FOR REGISTERED NURSES BY 2022

UP 19% SINCE 2012

66% OF RNs SAY THEY HAVE LIMITED COVERAGE AND CLINICAL SUPPORT

PATIENT-TO-REGISTERED NURSE RATIO

• 13% CARE FOR SIX PATIENTS
• 16% CARE FOR FIVE PATIENTS
• 17% CARE FOR FOUR PATIENTS
• 11% CARE FOR THREE PATIENTS
• 18% CARE FOR TWO PATIENTS
• 6% CARE FOR ONE PATIENT

NURSES AND PATIENT SATISFACTION

NURSES SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME CARING FOR PATIENTS

• PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION 17.3%
• MEDICATION-RELATED TASKS 16.2%
• INDIRECT CARE 11.3%
• DIRECT CARE 10.3%
• IN TRANSIT 9.6%
• PATIENT AND HOSPITAL DOCUMENTATION 4%
• WARD-RELATED ACTIVITIES 1.1%
• SUPERVISION 1.1%
• SOCIAL .9%
• OTHER .6%

NURSES HAVE BEEN RATED THE #1 PROFESSION FOR HONESTY AND ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR THE PAST 13 YEARS STRAIGHT

HOSPITALS WITH HIGHER NURSE STAFFING LEVELS HAD 25% LOWER INCIDENCE OF BEING PENALIZED FOR READMISSION RATES

NURSES AND PATIENT HEALTH OUTCOMES

LOWER NURSING STAFFING LEVELS CAN HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON PATIENTS’ HEALTH AND WELL-BEING DURING THEIR HOSPITAL STAY AND DIRECTLY AFTERWARDS

PATIENT MORALITY IN HOSPITALS THAT HAD HIGHER NURSE-TO-PATIENT RATIOS, MORTALITY RATES DECREASED BY APPROXIMATELY 60%

• 86% DON’T HAVE TIME TO PROPERLY COMFORT AND CARE FOR PATIENTS AND FAMILIES DUE TO UNSAFE PATIENT ASSIGNMENTS
• 81% REPORT THEY DON’T HAVE TIME TO EDUCATE PATIENTS AND PROVIDE ADEQUATE DISCHARGE PLANNING
• 61% REPORT MEDICATION ERRORS DUE TO UNSAFE PATIENT ASSIGNMENTS
• 56% REPORT READMISSION OF PATIENTS DUE TO UNSAFE PATIENT ASSIGNMENTS
• 50% REPORT INJURY AND HARM TO PATIENTS DUE TO UNDERSTAFFING
• 25% REPORT PATIENT DEATHS DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO HAVING TOO MANY PATIENTS TO CARE FOR AT ONE TIME

BENEFITS OF BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES

LOWER COSTS

HOSPITALS WITH LOWER PATIENT-TO-NURSE RATIOS HAD A TOTAL OF 6,239 FEWER INFECTIONS, FOR AN ANNUAL COST SAVING OF UP TO $68 MILLION

DECREASED HOSPITAL READMISSIONS

LOWER NURSE-TO-PATIENT RATIOS REDUCED THE FOLLOWING READMISSIONS:

• HEART FAILURE – 7%
• ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION – 6%
• PNEUMONIA – 10%

FEWER MEDICAL ERRORS

FOR EVERY 20% DECREASE IN STAFFING BELOW THE STAFFING MINIMUM, MEDICATION ERRORS AND SUBSEQUENT COSTLY LAWSUITS AND SETTLEMENTS INCREASED BY 18%

REDUCED PATIENT DAYS SPENT IN HOSPITALS

INCREASES IN RN STAFFING LEVELS RESULTED IN A 5.7% REDUCTION IN PATIENT DAYS SPENT IN FACILITIES

NURSING EDUCATION CAN REDUCE COSTS AND IMPROVE OUTCOMES

MORE EDUCATION FOR NURSES TRANSLATES TO HOSPITAL SAVINGS

PATIENTS WHO RECEIVED 80% OR MORE OF THEIR CARE FROM NURSES WITH BACHELOR’S DEGREES HAD 18.7% LOWER ODDS OF READMISSION AND 1.9% SHORTER LENGTHS OF STAY

NURSES CAN ALSO HELP REDUCE WASTE AND IMPROVE EFFICIENCY BY:

• ACTING AS A RESOURCE FOR STAFF, PATIENTS, AND FAMILIES
• IMPLEMENTING EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES AND PERFORMANCE AND IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES
• COORDINATING PATIENT CARE
• COMPARING SUPPLY AND SERVICE COSTS TO SELECT THE BEST CHOICE
• OVERSEEING LAB TESTS TO ENSURE CORRECT HANDLING AND LABELING
• RESTRICTING MEDICAL SUPPLY DELIVER TO SPECIFIC PATIENT NEEDS

UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO

School of Nursing and Health Professions

Source: http://onlinemsn.usfca.edu/news-resources/infographics/nurses-essential-to-delivering-cost-effective-care/

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