By increasing the number of RNs without changing the number of hours of nursing care per day, hospitals could prevent 5,000 patient deaths per year, reduce number of hospital days by 1.5 million, and decrease complication rates, according to a study sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund and published in Health Affairs. The strategy would require hospitals to replace 37,000 LPNs with RNs at a cost of $811 million, but would result in savings of $242 million in the short term and $1.8 billion in the long term from shorter hospital stays, fewer deaths, and fewer complications. Adding nursing hours--whether using the existing mix of LPNs and RNs or increasing the number of RNs--would also result in improved quality, but the savings would not offset the increased staffing costs. “From a hospital’s perspective, increasing nurse staffing is costly,” write the authors. “Nevertheless, greater use of RNs in preference to LPNs appears to pay for itself.” Click here for more information.
