Relationships between Alternative Nurse Staffing Level Measurements and Nurses’ Perceptions of Nurse Staffing Level Adequacy, Fatigue, and Care Quality
Table 1
Distributions of nursing personnel, patients, and nurses’ perceptions for four weeks (M ± SD).
Variables
Total (overall)
Weekday (n = 120 days)
Weekend (n = 48 days)
t ()
Nursing personnel (n = 90)
Average tenure of RNs in a day (year)
3.76 ± 0.85
3.78 ± 0.84
3.72 ± 0.89
0.43 (0.667)
Distributions of patients based on unit level (n = 5,536)
Number of inpatients per day in a ward
32.95 ± 8.40
34.83 ± 7.85
28.27 ± 7.95
4.87 (<0.001)
Group 1 (KPCS-GW score 1–5)
7.23 ± 7.02
7.24 ± 7.08
7.19 ± 6.96
0.05 (0.964)
Group 2 (KPCS-GW score 6–10)
8.64 ± 6.39
9.03 ± 6.59
7.69 ± 5.78
1.23 (0.221)
Group 3 (KPCS-GW score 11–15)
8.40 ± 4.81
9.34 ± 5.00
6.04 ± 3.29
4.22 (<0.001)
Group 4 (KPCS-GW score 16–20)
4.65 ± 4.72
5.16 ± 4.69
3.40 ± 4.59
2.21 (0.028)
Group 5 (KPCS-GW score ≥21)
4.03 ± 4.98
4.06 ± 4.87
3.96 ± 5.29
0.12 (0.907)
Average scores of the KPCS-GW (weighting coefficient)
11.56 ± 7.33
11.62 ± 7.14
11.40 ± 7.89
0.97 (0.334)
Group 1 (KPCS-GW score 1–5)
3.34 ± 1.32 (1)
3.36 ± 1.32 (1)
3.29 ± 1.30 (1)
0.92 (0.359)
Group 2 (KPCS-GW score 6–10)
7.80 ± 1.40 (2.34)
7.80 ± 1.41 (2.32)
7.83 ± 1.39 (2.38)
−0.39 (0.693)
Group 3 (KPCS-GW score 11–15)
12.78 ± 1.42 (3.82)
12.77 ± 1.43 (3.80)
12.80 ± 1.40 (3.90)
−0.32 (0.749)
Group 4 (KPCS-GW score 16–20)
17.61 ± 1.34 (5.27)
17.54 ± 1.33 (5.22)
17.88 ± 1.34 (5.44)
−2.92 (0.004)
Group 5 (KPCS-GW score ≥21)
24.86 ± 7.21 (7.44)
24.65 ± 7.13 (7.33)
25.39 ± 7.39 (7.73)
−1.20 (0.231)
Number of patient turnover per day
11.90 ± 5.83
14.28 ± 4.81
5.85 ± 3.27
11.03 (<0.001)
Admission/discharge
9.94 ± 5.59
11.98 ± 5.01
4.85 ± 3.27
9.09 (<0.001)
Transfer in/out
1.89 ± 1.95
2.30 ± 2.10
0.88 ± 0.89
4.53 (<0.001)
Perceptions of registered nurses
Perceived insufficient nurse staffing (−10 ≤ +10)
2.95 ± 2.72
3.43 ± 2.70
1.72 ± 2.36
3.80 (<0.001)
Fatigue at the end of shift (0 ≤ +10)
7.04 ± 1.44
7.40 ± 1.33
6.12 ± 1.30
5.66 (<0.001)
Perceived nursing care quality (1 ≤ 4)
2.12 ± 0.51
2.02 ± 0.43
2.38 ± 0.60
−4.28 (<0.001)
M, mean; SD, standard deviation; , level of statistical significance. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
