Nursing work environments linked to value

Editor's Note

Hospitals with better nursing work environments and above-average staffing levels were associated with better value (ie, lower mortality with similar costs), especially for higher risk patients, this study finds.

The study included 25,752 elderly Medicare general surgery patients treated at 35 focal hospitals (mean nurse-to-bed ratio, 1.51) and 62,882 patients treated at 293 control hospitals (mean nurse-to-bed ratio, 0.69).

Thirty-day mortality was 4.8% in focal hospitals and 5.8% in control hospitals, and costs per patient were similar, suggesting better value in the focal hospitals.