New Director for Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research
Matthew McHugh, PhD, JD, MPH, RN, FAAN, the Independence Chair for Nursing Education and Professor of Nursing, has been appointed the Director for the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR). The appointment was effective as of January 1, 2021. CHOPR was established in 1989 by Dr. Linda Aiken as one of the first centers to scale up rigorous research on the impact of nursing on patient outcomes. It uses evidence to inform policy and produces the next generation of nurse scientists.
Nurses Deserve Better. So Do Their Patients.
Hospitals, nursing homes, and schools in America are understaffed with nurses. In an invited commentary for the New York Times, Linda Aiken PHD RN FAAN FRCN, Professor of Nursing and founding director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, explains why, and how to fix the problem.
Wide Variation Across Hospitals in Nurse Staffing Is Threat to Public’s Health
According to a new study published today in BMJ Quality & Safety, many hospitals in New York and Illinois were understaffed right before the first surge of critically ill Covid-19 patients. The study, “Chronic Hospital Nurse Understaffing Meets Covid-19,” documented staffing ratios that varied from 3 to 10 patients for each nurse on general adult medical and surgical units. ICU nurse staffing was better but also varied significantly across hospitals.
Successful Medicare Initiative Increases the Supply of Nurse Practitioners to Address Primary Care Shortages
A new study recently published in Health Affairs shows that Medicare support for clinical training for nurse practitioners would increase their numbers and address the national shortage of primary care. The study, by researchers at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics shows that universities participating in the $200 million Graduate Nurse Education (GNE) Demonstration significantly increased the number of primary care NPs they graduated.
Illinois Nurse Staffing Legislation Predicted to Reduce Hospital Deaths and Improve Care
According to a new study published in the scientific journal BMJ Open, proposed state legislation in Illinois—HB 2604 Safe Staffing Limits Act– would significantly improve nurse staffing in hospitals and likely save thousands of lives. The cost of improving nurse staffing could be offset by cost savings achieved by the impact of better nurse staffing on shorter length of hospital stays.
Hospitals with More Inpatient Nurse Practitioners Linked to Better Outcomes, More Satisfied Patients
According to a new study published in Medical Care, hospitals that employ more inpatient nurse practitioners (NPs) have lower surgical mortality, higher patient satisfaction, and lower costs of care. Nurse practitioners are registered nurses (RNs) with advanced graduate education and expanded legal scope of practice to prescribe treatments including pain medications.