Variations in Nurse Staffing in Adult and Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
10.4040/jkan.2006.36.5.691
- Author:
Sung Hyun CHO
1
;
Jeong Hae HWANG
;
Yun Mi KIM
;
Jae Sun KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Nursing, Hanyang University, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article ; English Abstract
- Keywords:
Intensive care unit;
Nurse staffing;
Policy
- MeSH:
Analysis of Variance;
Female;
Humans;
Intensive Care Units/economics/*manpower/statistics & numerical data;
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal/economics/*manpower/statistics & numerical data;
Nursing Staff, Hospital/economics/*supply & distribution;
Personnel Staffing and Scheduling/*economics;
Workload
- From:
Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
2006;36(5):691-700
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: This study was done to analyze variations in unit staffing and recommend policies to improve nursing staffing levels in intensive care units (ICUs). METHOD: A cross-sectional study design was used, employing survey data from the Health Insurance Review Agency conducted from June-July, 2003. Unitstaffing was measured using two indicators; bed-to-nurse (B/N) ratio (number of beds per nurse), and patient-to-nurse (P/N)ratio (number of average daily patients per nurse). Staffing levels were compared according to hospital and ICU characteristics. RESULT: A total of 414 institutions were operating 569 adult and 86 neonatal ICUs. Tertiary hospitals (n=42) had the lowest mean B/N (0.82) and P/N (0.76) ratios in adult ICUs, followed by general hospitals (B/N: 1.34, P/N: 0.97). Those ratios indicated that a nurse took care of 3 to 5 patients per shift. Neonatal ICUs had worse staffing and had greater variations in staffing ratios than adult ICUs. About 17% of adult and 26% of neonatal ICUs were staffed only by adjunct nurses who had responsibility for a general ward as well as the ICU. CONCLUSION: Stratification of nurse staffing levels and differentiation of ICU utilization fees based on staffing grades are recommended as a policy tool to improve nurse staffing in ICUs.
