J Korean Acad Nurs.  2020 Jun;50(3):333-348. 10.4040/jkan.19203.

Nurse Staffing and Health Outcomes of Psychiatric Inpatients: A Secondary Analysis of National Health Insurance Claims Data

Affiliations
  • 1College of Nursing, Kosin University, Busan, Korea
  • 2Department of Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
  • 3College of Nursing, Daegu Catholic University, Daegu, Korea
  • 4Research Institute of Nursing Science, Daegu Catholic University, Daegu, Korea
  • 5Department of Quality Assessment Administration, Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, Wonju, Korea
  • 6Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
  • 7Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
  • 8College of Nursing, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
  • 9Mo-Im Kim Nursing Research Institute, College of Nursing, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Purpose
The present study investigated the association between nurse staffing and health outcomes among psychiatric inpatients in Koreaby assessing National Health Insurance claims data.
Methods
The dataset included 70,136 patients aged 19 years who were inpatientsin psychiatric wards for at least two days in 2016 and treated for mental and behavioral disorders due to use of alcohol; schizophrenia,schizotypal and delusional disorders; and mood disorders across 453 hospitals. Nurse staffing levels were measured in three ways: registerednurse-to-inpatient ratio, registered nurse-to-adjusted inpatient ratio, and nursing staff-to-adjusted inpatient ratio. Patient outcomesincluded length of stay, readmission within 30 days, psychiatric emergency treatment, use of injected psycholeptics for chemical restraint,and hypnotics use. Relationships between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes were analyzed considering both patient and systemcharacteristics using multilevel modeling.
Results
Multilevel analyses revealed that more inpatients per registered nurse, adjusted inpatientsper registered nurse, and adjusted inpatients per nursing staff were associated with longer lengths of stay as well as a higher risk of readmission.More adjusted inpatients per registered nurse and adjusted inpatients per nursing staff were also associated with increased hypnoticsuse but a lower risk of psychiatric emergency treatment. Nurse staffing levels were not significantly associated with the use of injectedpsycholeptics for chemical restraint.
Conclusion
Lower nurse staffing levels are associated with negative health outcomes of psychiatricinpatients. Policies for improving nurse staffing toward an optimal level should be enacted to facilitate better outcomes for psychiatricinpatients in Korea.

Keyword

Mental Disorders; Patient Outcome Assessment; Psychiatric Nursing
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