In hospitals with better nurse work environments, ischemic stroke patients experienced lower odds of 7‐ and 30‐day readmissions and lower lengths of stay, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s (Penn Nursing) Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR).
In the study, published in the journal Research in Nursing & Health, researchers evaluated the association between the nurse work environment and readmission and length of stay for close to 200,000 hospitalized adult ischemic stroke patients in more than 500 hospitals.
“The work environment is a modifiable feature of hospitals that should be considered when providing comprehensive stroke care and improving post‐stroke outcomes. Our findings have important implications for quality improvement initiatives for stroke care management.”
— Heather Brom, PhD, RN, NP-C, lecturer at Penn Nursing and lead author of the article
A Good Work Environment is Important
Creating good work environments for nurses is especially important so that they have adequate time to spend with stroke patients and can communicate effectively with all team members and feel supported by managers to make decisions about nursing care.
“All of these aspects of the nurse work environment facilitate an effective and efficient discharge planning process, which has the potential to decrease delays in discharge and avoidable readmissions.”
— J. Margo Brooks Carthon, PhD, RN, FAAN, Associate Professor of Nursing and one of the co-authors of the article
[Source(s): University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Newswise]
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