40 percent of hospitals fail on nursing workforce safe practices
From Fierce Health Care, May 15, 2015
Just weeks after it issued a report that indicated hospitals have made little to no progress on patient safety outcomes, the Leapfrog Group released another report that found many hospitals also fail to adequately support their nurses.
In its latest report, Leapfrog found that 40 percent of participants in its annual hospital survey failed to meet the group’s national nursing workforce standard, which is composed of 21 nursing workforce safe practices that Leapfrog developed based on National Quality Forum standards. Some of the required practices include: policies that ensure adequate nurse staffing, inclusion of nurse leaders in the hospital’s senior management structure, and adequate funding for nursing services, including support in maintaining professional skills, according to the report.
Nurse leaders in particular can help hospitals improve patient outcomes and cut costs, a pilot program from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses has found, though training gaps and long-held perceptions still keep many nurses out of hospital C-suites, according to FierceHealthcare.