Penn study links hospital NPs to quality measures

Hospitals with more inpatient nurse practitioners (NPs) have lower surgical mortality, lower cost of care, and more satisfied patients. Researchers at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania studied the records of more than 1.4 million patients in 579 hospitals. RNs in hospitals with more NPs reported greater confidence their patients would successfully be able to manage their care after discharge. In addition, independent measures of actual hospital readmissions show patients were significantly less likely to experience a hospital readmission when their surgery took place in a hospital that employed more NPs. (Futurity article, 9/23/21)