Abstract
Introduction
Patient experience ratings are important to health care organizations from both a
clinical and financial perspective. Studies examining the relationship between patient
experience and nurse staffing are prevalent in the inpatient setting, but not as much
is known about how staffing affects these ratings in the emergency department.
Methods
Using responses from 3,120 adult patients who visited the emergency department of
a large academic medical center in the southeastern United States between March 1,
2015, and November 30, 2015, this study examined the relationships between ED RN staffing
and patient experience ratings. Ordinal logistic regression models were used to examine
the relationship between 2 nurse staffing variables and patient ratings of care.
Results
Overall, higher levels of RN staffing in the emergency department were associated
with better patient ratings of their care experiences, but the strength and significance
of this relationship varied as a function of different factors (eg, how staffing is
measured, discharge status of the patient).
Discussion
Higher levels of ED RNs may enable nurses to better meet the expectations of patients
presenting to the emergency department, highlighting a number of opportunities for
allocating nursing resources.
Contribution to Emergency Nursing Practice
- •Outlines research that was conducted to examine the impact of ED RN staffing on ED patient experience scores.
- •Such research informs nursing management and hospital leadership about potential ways to best use staffing resources to ensure optimal patient experience.
Keywords
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Biography
Deana Nelson, Member, ENA, is Senior Vice President, Administration and Chief Strategy Officer, Lakeland Regional Health, Lakeland, FL.
Biography
Larry R. Hearld is Associate Professor, Department of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Biography
David Wein is Chief of Emergency Medicine, Tampa General Hospital, System Medical Director, Team Health, and Associate Professor, University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, FL.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 22, 2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
