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A brand new Penn Nursing examine printed within the Annals of the American Thoracic Society challenges typical thought concerning the advantages of continuity in nursing care inside intensive care items (ICUs). The researchers discovered that elevated nurse continuity was not related to a discount in in-hospital mortality—in some shifts, it was even linked to a modest however statistically important improve in mortality.
Researchers outlined “cumulative nurse continuity” because the proportion of 12-hour shifts throughout which a affected person was cared for by a nurse who had beforehand attended to them. Though total continuity elevated over time, the info revealed that larger continuity was not related to improved affected person outcomes, prompting a re-examination of its presumed advantages. This retrospective cohort examine analyzed digital well being data from 47,564 ICU sufferers throughout 38 ICUs in 18 hospitals between 2018 and 2020.
“Nurse continuity is often valued in the ICU, but our findings suggest it does not necessarily translate into improved patient outcomes,” mentioned lead creator Kathryn Connell, Ph.D., RN, CCRN, Assistant Professor within the Division of Biobehavioral Well being Sciences; Core College on the Heart for Well being Outcomes and Coverage Analysis; Affiliated College on the Palliative and Superior Sickness Analysis Heart; Senior Fellow on the Leonard Davis Institute of Well being Economics; and Medical Nurse 2 at Pennsylvania Hospital.
“Our findings indicate that the relationship between nurse continuity and patient outcomes is more complex than previously assumed. Further research is essential to explore the underlying factors contributing to these unexpected results.”
The examine’s conclusions remained constant throughout a number of sensitivity analyses, together with analyses restricted to mechanically ventilated sufferers, excluding sufferers admitted through the COVID-19 pandemic, and utilizing various measures of continuity.
Extra data:
Kathryn A. Connell et al, Affiliation Between Nurse Care Continuity and Mortality within the Intensive Care Unit, Annals of the American Thoracic Society (2025). DOI: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202406-603OC
Offered by
College of Pennsylvania College of Nursing
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Research challenges typical thought on nurse continuity in ICUs (2025, March 5)
retrieved 5 March 2025
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