Eileen T. Lake, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, the Edith Clemmer Steinbright Professor in Gerontology; Professor of Nursing within the Division of Biobehavioral Well being Sciences; and Affiliate Director of CHOPR. Credit score: Penn Nursing
A brand new research—simply revealed in Nursing Analysis—has uncovered regarding disparities in affected person outcomes, particularly associated to nursing care, inside hospitals that predominantly serve Black communities. The analysis, which analyzed information from over 3,000 hospitals throughout the US, reveals that these Black-serving hospitals (BSHs) exhibit considerably increased charges of particular adversarial affected person occasions.
The research from Penn Nursing’s Middle for Well being Outcomes and Coverage Analysis (CHOPR), using information from 2019 to 2022, examined 4 key nursing-sensitive indicators: strain ulcers, perioperative pulmonary embolus/deep vein thrombosis, postoperative sepsis, and “failure to rescue,” which refers to dying following critical surgical problems. These distressing, uncomfortable, or grave situations are immediately influenced by nursing care. Their prevalence can have an effect on a affected person’s capability to go residence, their consolation throughout restoration, and their total therapeutic course of. Researchers categorized hospitals into excessive, medium, and low BSHs primarily based on the share of Black sufferers they served.
The findings painted a stark image. Whereas the general common charges for these indicators had been 0.59 for strain ulcers, 3.38 for perioperative pulmonary embolus/deep vein thrombosis, 4.12 for sepsis, and 143.58 for failure to rescue, the research revealed a big divergence when evaluating BSH classes.
“We observed a clear trend,” mentioned lead-author Eileen T. Lake, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, the Edith Clemmer Steinbright Professor in Gerontology; Professor of Nursing within the Division of Biobehavioral Well being Sciences; and Affiliate Director of CHOPR. “Hospitals serving a higher proportion of Black patients demonstrated significantly elevated rates of pressure ulcers, postoperative sepsis, and perioperative pulmonary embolus/deep vein thrombosis.” The failure-to-rescue charges didn’t present vital variations throughout the BSH classes.
The research, encompassing 3,101 predominantly city, non-teaching hospitals, additionally revealed a paradox: BSHs had been extra more likely to have Magnet designation, a recognition of nursing excellence, than different hospitals (14% vs. 12%). This implies that regardless of potential strengths in nursing infrastructure, affected person outcomes stay compromised in BSHs.
These findings underscore the pressing want to deal with systemic elements contributing to those disparities. Additional analysis is essential to grasp the underlying mechanisms, notably the connection between nursing sources, comparable to staffing and the work surroundings, and affected person outcomes in these hospitals. The researchers emphasised that the poorer nursing-sensitive indicators noticed in excessive BSHs and beforehand documented poorer nurse staffing necessitate quick coverage and administration interventions.
Extra data:
Eileen T. Lake et al, Worse Nursing-Delicate Indicators in Black-serving Hospitals, Nursing Analysis (2025). DOI: 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000819
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College of Pennsylvania College of Nursing
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Research finds worse outcomes in hospitals serving Black communities (2025, April 5)
retrieved 6 April 2025
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