Nursing Article Evaluation

Nursing Article Evaluation

McHugh et al. (2021) researched to evaluate the importance of human dignity in nursing
care. Nurses have a duty to promote, provide, and preserve human dignity while being attentive
to variances in context as a caring profession that provides holistic care. A narrative research
design examines how patients perceive the elements that affect their sense of dignity. McHugh et
al. (2021) prospective panel study sought to determine if patient outcomes are better in hospitals
with more nurse employees.
The study design in this research was quasi-experimental. It equated variations in
measures of results in selected hospitals where there was policy intervention and hospitals where
there was no policy intervention (comparison hospitals). The government chose the intervention
hospitals to cover areas within the state. Accordingly, the design study represented pre-existing
variations between intervention facilities and comparison facilities via statistical measures.
On the research sample size, McHugh et al. (2021) used data they collected for the
baseline period and two years after the execution of ratios (effective from January 1 to December
31, 2018). The data had patient diagnosis, demographics, procedures, comorbidities, and
discharge situations. The focus of the study was on adult patients in the clinical section meant for
change in ratios (nursing staff). The study excluded patients experiencing labour and delivery
and patients under psychiatric conditions. The sample size was 26 878; only 8,278 were
received, representing a response rate of 27%. The main aim was to collect enough data to
provide reliable results. For the study’s objectives, the average number of medical-surgical nurse
responses in each facility was adequate. In total, there were 55 hospitals, where 27 were
intervention hospitals while 28 were comparison hospitals.

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The researchers produced a nursing staffing measure by asking each nurse about their
nurse-patient ratio during working hours. The mean nurse-to-patient ratio for all hospital units is
calculated using this metric. This method is relevant since it is consistent with the provision of
the legislation.
There were four major takeaways from the research. Nurse staffing gains at intervention
hospitals differed notably from those at comparison hospitals, where the staffing stayed virtually
the same as a rule on nurse-to-patient ratios. As a result, the changes we saw were not
included in a nationwide secular trend toward greater nurse staffing but were confined to the
hospitals where the policy was implemented. Second, patient outcomes improved much more in
institutions that implemented interventions. It was shown that even after accounting for
demographics, comorbidities, comorbidities, diagnostic-related groups, and size of the hospital,
the results of intervention hospitals were better than those of the comparison hospitals. For the
third time, we discovered an important role for staffing adjustments in intervention hospitals in
explaining why these facilities had better outcomes. This data was obtained from medical-
surgical ward nurses, who were the intended audience for the strategy. Finally, our estimations
show that the policy saved a lot of money.
This research also helps us understand better staffing and patient results. Cross-sectional
studies demonstrating better results in better-staffed hospitals are common, although this
research cannot always establish causation. The research determined if direct state involvement
results in greater staffing and better patient results. The policy implementation is a feasible
example for other nations to learn from Queensland, even if it is not the only policy design that
can increase staffing and results.

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References

McHugh, M. D., Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., Windsor, C., Douglas, C., & Yates, P. (2021).
Effects of nurse-to-patient ratio legislation on nurse staffing and patient mortality,
readmissions, and length of stay: a prospective study in a panel of hospitals. The
Lancet, 397(10288), 1905-1913.