Graduate Research School

Louise Schreuders

Thesis

Nursing-sensitive outcomes in Western Australian public hospitals: adverse outcomes, nurse staffing and economic evaluation.

Summary

This study investigates how nursing processes influence patient health outcomes taking into account the contribution of hospital and patient characteristics to those health outcomes.

Why my research is important

Louise is conducting research in the area of nursing-sensitive outcomes.

Research about nursing-sensitive outcomes and nurse staffing provides evidence to support the role nurses have in facilitating patient recovery from illness. Research in this area has only recently emerged in Australia and the results of her study will contribute to this body of evidence.

Nursing-sensitive outcomes are changes in the health status of patients directly influenced by nursing care, in this context the definition refers to hospitalised patients. This study will describe the incidence rate of nursing-sensitive outcomes and ward-level nurse staffing profiles in Western Australian public hospitals between 2004 and 2008.

The incidence rate and staffing profile data will be
combined with healthcare costing data to present a comprehensive cost-effectiveness evaluation - from both the healthcare and societal perspective - of the costs associated with nursing-sensitive outcomes.

Funding

• Olive Anstey Nursing Research Scholarship