A new Penn Nursing Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR) study, published in INQUIRY, finds a strong association between the quality of the nurse work environment and COVID-19 mortality rates among socially vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries. The study examines data from 238 acute care hospitals across New York and Illinois.
The study analyzes data from Medicare claims, American Hospital Association Annual Survey data, and the Social Vulnerability Index. The researchers found that patients in the highest quartile of social vulnerability were more likely to die from COVID-19 than those in the lowest quartile. However, this disparity was narrowed when patients from the most socially vulnerable communities were cared for in hospitals with high-quality nurse work environments.
The study highlights the importance of investing in nursing resources and improving the nurse work environment to ensure equitable access to high-quality care for all patients, especially those from socially vulnerable communities.
“Our findings suggest that the quality of the nurse work environment is a critical factor in determining outcomes for socially vulnerable patients with COVID-19,” says lead-author J. Margo Brooks Carthon, the Tyson Family Endowed Term Chair for Gerontological Research; professor of nursing in the Department of Family and Community Health; and associate director of CHOPR. “By investing in nursing resources and improving the nurse work environment, hospitals can help to reduce health disparities and save lives.”
Read more at Penn Nursing News.
