Non-U.S. educated nurses and patient outcomes in U.S. hospitals

Educated Nurses

Matching nurses with the right situation is problematic for medical professionals in today's world where health care demands have taken over many segments of the culture and economy. The ability for quick and easy global travel has also created a new environment where foreigners are working in countries not of their native origin. These ideas meet in Neff et al. (2013) article that examined the utilization of non-U.S. educated nurses in U.S. hospitals and how these actions affected patient outcomes, and specifically hospital mortality as the primary outcome.

The problem associated with this research deals with determining how and under what circumstances U.S. hospital employment of non-U.S. educated nurses is associated with how that hospital performs. The problem is that there is little to no information regarding this immigrant workforce being employed in this scenario. According to the authors "concerns about the potential impact of non-U.S.-educated nurses on quality of hospital care arise from several factors. Many non-U.S.-educated nurses are from countries with transitional economies, such as the Philippines, where the health care system is substantially different from that of the U.S.A. Nurses from countries with transitional economies have RN licensure exam pass rates significantly lower than that of U.S. nursing school graduate."

Protection of Human Participants / Data Collection

The design of this study took place in the form of an observational study of primary data taken from three sources: (i) a 2006 -- 2007 survey of registered nurses who were employed by hospitals in the four states; (ii) patient discharge data that was available from state agencies and; (iii) the American Hospital Association Annual (AHA) Survey of hospitals. The data nor the data collection methods impinged upon the human participants, or nurses, who gave their data that was used in the analysis of this study.

Quality of Study Discussion

The authors of this article suggested that this type of inquiry was very important and new to the discussion on many certain subjects. They wrote "we provide the first empirical evidence demonstrating that hospital employment of non-U.S.-educated nurses in U.S. hospitals is associated with adverse patient outcomes under certain circumstances." This new approach to finding problems in the nursing and medical professions has demonstrated that the quality of this study has value to the novelty inherent in the approach. The authors found a new trend that was not empirically tested for value and created a convincing and valid argument that suggests that their methods and results should be considered in the larger scheme of things.

Implications

The information contained in this article suggests that due to the newness of the idea, it is necessary to further the line of inquiry to determine bigger results. This data when used with other types of research, perhaps in non-medical fields such as sociology or political science, can help predict trends not seen before. The importance of asking new and important question that have not been asked before in any formal matter can provide the necessary opening for even bigger breakthroughs and discoveries that can significantly impact the world at large.

The authors made it clear in their words about the future implications of this study when they wrote " if there are enough registered nurses at the hospital bedside, the outcomes for patients are better whether nurses are educated in the U.S.A. Or not. However, in the absence of good hospital nurse staffing, substantial hospital employment of non-U.S.-educated nurses is associated with higher mortality. Thus, creating opportunities for hospitals to achieve good registered nurse staffing and good work environments is a worthy policy goal likely to contribute to improved quality of hospital care."