According to a study by Aiken (et al., 2017), there is a direct correlation between a more highly skilled nursing workforce and lower patient mortality, higher patient satisfaction, better quality of care, patient safety, and a reduced rate of other poor medical outcomes. To gather the quantitative data to establish this association, the researchers used representative samples from acute care hospitals in Belgium, Finland and Switzerland. They controlled for unrelated patient and hospital variables which could have impacted the results. In all of the wards, nurses were responsible for providing direct care to patients.

The findings are interesting, because despite the fact that different nations have different educational standards for their nurses, the link between quality of care and nursing skills was consistent. This is significant for the study of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) given that the United States as well as the United Kingdom have begun to explore shifting certain types of health-related services that can potentially be performed by nurses and other professionals away from physicians, as a way of reducing costs. The findings of the article suggest that higher skilled nurses are better equipped to provide healthcare, at least in the type of acute settings profiled in the study. These types of settings are more apt to have patients with chronic conditions like COPD suffering from acute episodes such as asthma attacks and difficulty breathing due to conditions like emphysema.

The need to maintain a high standard of safety and care to prevent further deterioration of the patient’s condition is paramount, and cost-cutting to employ less skilled nurses may ultimately result in a higher rate of errors and readmission. The study underlines the need to measure the outcomes of hospitals for patients with specific conditions like COPD and the types of skills and educational credentials associated with lower readmission rates, fewer acute episodes, and better patient management of the condition upon discharge.

Reference

Aiken, L.H., Sloane, D., Griffiths, P., Rafferty, A., Bruynee, L., McHugh, M. …Sermeus, W. (et al., 2017). Nursing skill mix in European hospitals: cross-sectional study of the association with mortality, patient ratings, and quality of care. BMJ Quality & Safety, 26:559-568.