Improving Structural Empowerment and Job Satisfaction Among State Health Facility Surveyors.

Background: State survey agencies are experiencing an increase in work requirements and surveyor staffing instability thereby compromising organizational performance. No information has been published about surveyor perceptions of the work environment and job satisfaction to inform management interventions for improvement.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to evaluate state health facility surveyor perceptions of the work environment and to formulate management recommendations for improving recruitment and retention.

Nurse staffing is an important strategy to prevent medication error in community hospitals.

The prevalence of medication administration errors continues to be a problem requiring the attention of nurse leaders. In this study the relationship between nurse staffing and the occurrence of medication errors was examined. Using a retrospective design, researchers analyzed secondary data from administrative databases of one hospital containing 801 weekly staffing intervals and 31,080 patient observations.

Real-time monitoring of occupational stress of nurses.

Prolonged exposure to stress has been associated with chronic diseases, depression, and immune disorders. Stress perception is highly subjective. Assessment of occupational stress requires personalized physiological monitoring and timely collection of individual characterization of sources of stress.

Implementation of an evidence-based order set to impact initial antibiotic time intervals in adult febrile neutropenia.

Purpose/objectives: To evaluate the impact of the implementation of a standardized order set on the time interval in initiation of antibiotic therapy for adult patients with cancer and febrile neutropenia.

Design: Practice change.

Setting: The oncology unit of an urban hospital in the south-eastern United States.

Evidence-based design for a safer environment without construction.

This article explores the implementation of evidence-based design elements in the renovation of 1 patient room on a budget of $3500. The functional mock-up was evaluated through survey and focus groups by staff, visitors, and physicians to identify problematic features. Overall, participants perceived that design elements were effective with only minor modification needed before replication.

A case for measuring governance.

Shared governance is promoted as a management innovation designed to improve outcomes of quality patient care, nurse job satisfaction, productivity, and nurse retention. Reported studies have not measured the degree of governance. The Index of Profession Nurse Governance is a valid, reliable tool that can be used to measure the degree of governance, to assess the status and progress of implementation of governance, and in studies relating shared governance to outcomes.

Linking economics and quality: developing an evidence-based nurse staffing tool.

The evidence linking nurse staffing with patient outcomes has been established; however, incorporating the evidence into practice is lagging. This article describes a practice/academic collaborative initiated to promote the translation of staffing research into decision-making through the development of an evidence-based staffing tool. Reports of previous research on nurse staffing and patient and financial outcomes are summarized, and aspects of the 2 phases of the collaborative to date are discussed.

Effects of nurse staffing on hospital-acquired conditions and length of stay in community hospitals.

Background: Error-free care is the goal of health care professionals, consumers, and public policy makers. Because nurses can be the last barrier between a patient and an error, there is a need to examine this pressing nursing issue-nurse staffing.

Purpose: This research examined the predictive relationships between nurse staffing and patient outcomes in hospitals.

Assessing and selecting data for a nursing services dashboard.

Nurse leaders are held accountable for staffing decisions and quality outcomes, sometimes without proper decision support tools. A nursing services dashboard can provide information to guide staffing decisions for positive outcomes. The authors examine the sources, attributes, and uses of administrative data to assist nurse leaders to make informed decisions in selecting data for inclusion in their nursing services dashboard.