Nurse???Patient Ratios
JONA The Journal of Nursing AdministrationPublished 1 January 2004
T. Lang, Margaret Hodge, Valerie Olson, Patrick S. Romano, Richard L. Kravitz
Citations424
SJR quartileQ2
SJR score0.65
SNIP0.83
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TL;DR
The literature offers no support for specific, minimum nurse–patient ratios for acute care hospitals, especially in the absence of adjustments for skill and patient mix, although total nursing hours and skill mix do appear to affect some important patient outcomes.
Abstract
The literature offers no support for specific, minimum nurse-patient ratios for acute care hospitals, especially in the absence of adjustments for skill and patient mix, although total nursing hours and skill mix do appear to affect some important patient outcomes.
Keywords
MedicineHealth Professions
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