Page 11 - 2013 Hospitals/Systems Digest US.NMH.13.02.007
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SANOFI / MANAGED CARE DIGEST SERIES
®
/ WHERE INFORMATION BECOMES INTELLIGENCE.
™
HOSPITALS/SYSTEMS DIGEST 2013
HOSPI TALS
RN Staffing Ratio Increase Helps Boost Overall Staffing Ratios
DEMOGRAPHICS
• After expanding by 5.5% between 2009 (9.94)
and 2010 (10.49), the total number of full-time
equivalent (FTE) staff per occupied bed grew
just 2.1% at hospitals overall in 2011, to 10.71.
• Even as staffing ratios went unchanged for
several hospital positions between 2010 and
2011, the number of registered nurses (RNs) per
occupied bed rose by 4.1%, to 2.77 from 2.66.
Data source: IMS Health © 2013
Key Takeaway
Evidence continues to suggest that increased RN staffing levels can correlate to better patient
outcomes (and higher retention rates for nurses). For example, the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quaity (AHRQ) reported in 2012 that California, which instituted minimum
RN-per-patient staffing levels in 2004, recorded lower 30-day mortality rates when compared
with states that had no such legislation.
3
• Every year between 2004 (2.12) and 2011 (2.77),
the number of FTE RNs per occupied bed
has grown; overall, this staffing ratio climbed by
more than 30% over this eight-year period.
• Much of this growth occurred between 2009
(2.46) and 2010 (2.66), when this RN staffing ratio
expanded by 8.1%. By 2011, this rate had slowed
considerably, but was still notable, at 4.1%.
Hospital staffing RATIOS
1
ftes per occupied bed
2009
2010
2011
Staff Physicians
0.34
0.38
0.38
Resident Physicians
0.32
0.34
0.35
Registered Nurses
2.46
2.66
2.77
Licensed Practical Nurses
0.64
0.66
0.66
Physician Assistants
0.19
0.19
0.20
Registered Pharmacists
0.12
0.13
0.14
Occupational Therapists
0.08
0.09
0.09
Inhalation Therapists
0.21
0.22
0.24
Physical Therapists
0.16
0.17
0.17
All Other Employees
6.65
6.98
7.13
Total FTE Staff
2
9.94
10.49
10.71
NUMBER of fte registered nurses per occupied beD, 2004–2011
1
1
Hospital data are based on all short-term, acute-care, nonfederal hospitals and are effective as of end-of-year 2011. Psychiatric, rehabilitation
and children’s hospitals are excluded.
2
Column totals represent the average of each facility’s total full-time equivalent employees. Therefore, the totals cannot be derived by adding the
numbers in the columns.
3
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2012). State-Mandated Nurse Staffing Levels Alleviate Workloads, Leading to Lower Patient Mortality
and Higher Nurse Satisfaction. Retrieved from
1.7
2.0
2.3
2.6
2.9
FTEs per Occupied Bed
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2.12
2.19
2.20
2.26
2.42
2.46
2.66
2.77
RN Staffing Ratio Growth Trend Reaches Seven Years
LONG-TERM TREND
