The Effects of Medical Staffing Level on Length of Stay

Hanju Lee; Yu Kyung Ko; Mi-Won Kim

doi:10.11111/jkana.2011.17.3.327

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Lee, Ko, and Kim: The Effects of Medical Staffing Level on Length of Stay

Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration 2011; 17(3): 327-335.

Published online: 30 September 2011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11111/jkana.2011.17.3.327

The Effects of Medical Staffing Level on Length of Stay

Hanju Lee¹, Yu Kyung Ko², Mi-Won Kim³

¹Researcher, Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, Korea.

²Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing Science, College of Medical Science, Konyang University, Korea.

³Full-time Lecturer, Department of Nursing, Sangmyung University, Korea.

Correspondence: Ko, Yu Kyung. Department of Nursing Science, College of Medicine, Konyang University, 685 Gasuwon-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon 302-718, Korea. Tel: 82-42-600-6436, Fax: 82-42-545-5326, yukyko@konyang.ac.kr

Received 26 May 2011 Revised 21 June 2011 Accepted 21 June 2011

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of medical staffing level as bed-to-medical staff ratio on patient outcomes as length of stay (LOS) among hospitals in Korea.

Methods

Two hundred and fifty one hospitals participated in the study between January and March 2008. Data for the study was requested by an electronic data interchange from the Health Insurance Review Agency in 2008. In data analysis, SPSS WIN 15.0 program was utilized for descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression.

Results

The mean score for length of stay was 13.6 days. The mean of operating bed-to-nurse ratio was 7.93:1. The predicting factors for LOS were bed-to-nurse's aide ratio, bed-to doctor's ratio, severely ill patient rate, and hospital type. These factors explained 28.9% of the variance in patient outcomes.

Conclusion

This study results indicate that the relationship between medical staffing level and patient outcomes is important in the improvement of the quality of patient care. Thus, improvements in the quality of the nurse practice environment could improve patient outcomes for hospitalized patients.

Keywords: Staffing, Patient outcome, Length of stay

Figures and Tables

Table 1

General characteristics of the hospitals (N=259)

1) Tertiary Hospital - over 100 beds and designated by medical law, General Hospital - over 100 beds, Hospital - 30-99 beds

Table 2

Patient outcome (LOS) according to general characteristics (N=259)

1) Tertiary Hospital - over 100 beds and designated by medical law, General Hospital - over 100 beds, Hospital - 30-99 beds

Table 3

Correlations of study variables

X1= Number of operating beds; X2= Operating Bed-to-Nurse ratio; X3= Operating Bed-to-doctor ratio; X4= Operating Bed-to-nurse's aide; X5= Elderly patient rate; X6= Severely ill patient rate; X7= Length of Stay (days);

Table 4

Factors affecting LOS

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