Improved nurse work environments associated with better stroke outcomes

Stroke remains the leading cause of death worldwide and one of the most common causes of disability. Although a wide variety of factors influence stroke outcomes, data show that there are benefits for patients and health care systems in avoiding recurrence and long stays among ischemic stroke patients. Although lower readmission rates among different medical patients have been associated with better nurse work environments, it is not known how the work environment might affect relapse and length of stay for patients. ischemic stroke.

In a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR)), researchers assessed the link between a nurse’s work environment and rehabilitation and length of stay for nearly 200,000 ischemic strokes an adult in hospital. patients in more than 500 hospitals. They found that, in hospitals with better nurse work environments, patients with ischemic stroke had a lower 7? and 30-day rewilding and lower waiting times.

Their research was published in the journal Research in Nursing & Health. The article “Better nurse work environments associated with less admission and shorter stay time among adults with ischemic stroke: a cross? A regional analysis of U.S. hospitals” is available at -line.

The work environment is a changing factor in hospitals that should be considered when providing holistic care for stroke and improving outcomes after a stroke. Our decisions have an important impact on quality improvement initiatives for stroke care management. “

Heather Brom, PhD, RN, NP-C, Penn Nursing Lecturer and Lead Author

Creating good working environments for nurses is particularly important so that they have enough time to spend with stroke patients and are able to communicate effectively with all team members and have the support of managers to make decisions. to do about foster care. “All of these aspects of a nurse’s work environment enable an efficient and effective discharge planning process, which has the potential to avoid delays in discharge and admission,” says J. Margo Brooks Carthon, PhD, RN, FAAN , Associate Professor of Nursing and one of the co-authors of the article.