Nurse work environment linked to COVID-19 mortality rates

A higher-quality nurse work environment was associated with a 20% lower COVID-19 mortality rate among socially vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries, according to a recent study published in INQUIRY. The cross-sectional study included 105,560 Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis of COVID-19 in 238 acute care hospitals in New York and Illinois. The authors found mortality disparities lessened when patients from neighborhoods with high levels of poverty, housing insecurity and limited transportation received care in hospitals with the best care environments. If the most socially vulnerable patients had received care in hospitals with better nurse work environments, hundreds of patients would have lived, the authors write. They call for investments to strengthen the quality of nurse work environments, specifically in hospitals serving socially vulnerable communities. (Newswise news release, 10/7/24)