Data can pinpoint which nurses improve care, patient outcomes

Data from EHRs and human resources databases can gauge individual nurse performance levels in the areas of care delivery and patient outcomes, according to a study published in Health Services Research.

Researchers from the University of Colorado, the University of Michigan and Marquette University extracted data on 1,203 staff nurses and matched them with 7,313 adult medical-surgical patients discharged between July 2001 and December 2001 from an urban Magnet-designated 853-bed teaching hospital. They conducted a retrospective observational longitudinal analysis using a covariate-adjustment value-added model with nurse fixed effects, according to the study.

In principal findings, nurse effects were jointly significant and explained 7.9 percent of variance in patient clinical condition change during hospitalization.

Nurses associated with the best patient outcomes or shorter length of stay and lower costs were positively associated with having a baccalaureate degree or high and expertise level, the researchers found.

“The ability to measure individual nurse relative value-added opens the possibility for development of performance metrics, performance-based rankings, and merit-based salary schemes to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs,” concluded the authors.

Read the study.