The association between nurse staffing level and length of stay in general ward and intensive care unit in Korea

Does improved nurse staffing impact patient outcomes in cancer? Association between chronic diseases and mortality among older adult patients with lung cancer in Korea

BACKGROUND

Evidence regarding the impact of nurse staffing on the health outcomes of older adult patients with cancer is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of nurse staffing on long-term and short-term mortality in elderly lung cancer patients.

METHODS

This study analyzed data from 5,832 patients with lung cancer in Korea from 2008 to 2018. Nursing grade was considered to assess the effect of nursing staff on mortality in older adult patients with lung cancer. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the effect of the initial treatment hospital's nursing grade on one- and five-year mortality. Additionally, economic status and treatment type of patients were analyzed.

RESULTS

Approximately 31% of older adult patients with lung cancer died within one year post-diagnosis. Patients in hospitals with superior nursing grades (lower nurse-to-bed ratios) exhibited lower mortality rates. Hospitals with nursing grades 2 and 3 exhibited approximately 1.242-1.289 times higher mortality than grade 1 hospitals. Further, the lower the nursing grade (higher nurse-to-bed ratio), the higher the five-year mortality rate.

CONCLUSION

Both short- and long-term mortality rates for older adult patients with lung cancer increased at inferior nursing grades. Treatment in hospitals having inferior nursing grades, upon initial hospitalization, may yield better outcomes. This study provides valuable insight into the quality of adequate staffing to improve the quality of care for elderly cancer patients.

Association between nurse staffing level in intensive care settings and hospital-acquired pneumonia among surgery patients: result from the Korea National Health Insurance cohort

This study examined the association between the number of nursing staff in intensive care units (ICUs) and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) among surgical patients in South Korea. Data were obtained between 2008 and 2019 from the Korean National Health Insurance Service Cohort Database; 37,706 surgical patients who received critical care services were included in the analysis. Patients with a history of pneumonia 1 year prior to surgery or those who had undergone lung-related surgery were excluded. The ICU nursing management fee is an admission fee that varies based on the grading determined by nurse-to-bed ratio. Using this grading system, we classified four groups from the highest to the lowest level based on the proportion of beds to nurses (high, high-mid, mid-low, and low group). HAP was defined by the International Classification of Disease, 10th revision (ICD-10) code. Multilevel logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between the level of ICU nurse staffing and pneumonia, controlling for variables at the individual and hospital levels. Lower levels of nurse staffing were associated with a greater incidence of HAP than higher levels of nurse staffing (mid-high, OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.12-1.57; mid-low, OR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.27-2.04; low, OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.67-2.71). The intraclass correlation coefficient value was 0.177, and 17.7% of the variability in HAP was accounted for by the hospital. Higher ICU nursing management fee grades (grade 5 and above) in general and hospital settings were significantly associated with an increased risk of HAP compared to grade 1 admissions. Similarly, in tertiary hospitals, grade 2 and higher ICU nursing management fees were significantly associated with an increased risk of HAP compared to grade 1 admissions. Especially, a lower level of nurse staffing was associated with bacterial pneumonia but not pneumonia due to aspiration. In conclusion, this study found an association between the level of ICU nurse staffing and HAP among surgical patients. A lower level of nurse staffing in the ICU was associated with increased rates of HAP among surgical patients. This indicates that having fewer beds assigned to nurses in the ICU setting is a significant factor in preventing HAP, regardless of the size of the hospital.

Cardiac intensive care unit: where we are in 2023

Cardiac intensive care has been a constantly evolving area of research and innovation since the beginning of the 21st century. The story began in 1961 with Desmond Julian's pioneering creation of a coronary intensive care unit to improve the prognosis of patients with myocardial infarction, considered the major cause of death in the world. These units have continued to progress over time, with the introduction of new therapeutic means such as fibrinolysis, invasive hemodynamic monitoring using the Swan-Ganz catheter, and mechanical circulatory assistance, with significant advances in percutaneous interventional coronary and structural procedures. Since acute cardiovascular disease is not limited to the management of acute coronary syndromes and includes other emergencies such as severe arrhythmias, acute heart failure, cardiogenic shock, high-risk pulmonary embolism, severe conduction disorders, and post-implantation monitoring of percutaneous valves, as well as other non-cardiac emergencies, such as septic shock, severe respiratory failure, severe renal failure and the management of cardiac arrest after resuscitation, the conversion of coronary intensive care units into cardiac intensive care units represented an important priority. Today, the cardiac intensive care units (CICU) concept is widely adopted by most healthcare systems, whatever the country's level of development. The main aim of these units remains to improve the overall morbidity and mortality of acute cardiovascular diseases, but also to manage other non-cardiac disorders, such as sepsis and respiratory failure. This diversity of tasks and responsibilities has enabled us to classify these CICUs according to several levels, depending on a variety of parameters, principally the level of care delivered, the staff assigned, the equipment and technologies available, the type of research projects carried out, and the type of connections and networking developed. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) have detailed this organization in guidelines published initially in 2005 and updated in 2018, with the aim of harmonizing the structure, organization, and care offered by the various CICUs. In this state-of-the-art report, we review the history of the CICUs from the creation of the very first unit in 1968 to the discussion of their current perspectives, with the main objective of knowing what the CICUs will have become by 2023.

Characteristics and prognostic factors of very elderly patients admitted to the intensive care unit

Background

Korea is rapidly becoming a super aging society and is facing the increased burden of critical care for the elderly people. Traditionally, far-advanced age has been regarded as a triage criterion for intensive care unit (ICU) admission. We evaluated how the characteristics and prognostic factors of very elderly patients (≥85 years) admitted to the ICU changed over the last decade.

Methods

We retrospectively evaluated the data of patients admitted to the ICU over 11 years (2007–2017). The clinical characteristics and outcomes of the very elderly-patients group were evaluated. Factors associated with mortality were assessed by a cox regression analysis.

Results

Comparing the first half (2007–2012) and the second half (2013–2017) of the study period, the proportion of very elderly group increased from 603/47,657 (1.3%), to 697/37,756 (1.8%) (P<0.001). Among 1,294 very elderly patients, 1,274 patients were analyzed excluding hopeless discharge (n=20). The non-surgical reasons for ICU admission (67.0% vs. 76.1%, P<0.001) and the percentage of patients with co-morbidities (78.3% vs. 82.7%, P=0.048) were increased. Nevertheless, the hospital mortality decreased (21.3% vs. 14.9%, P=0.001). High creatinine levels, use of vasopressors and ventilator weaning failure were associated with in-hospital mortality.

Conclusions

The proportion of very elderly people in the ICU increased over the last decade. The non-surgical causes of ICU admission increased compared with the surgical causes. Despite an increasement in ICU admissions of very elderly patients, in-hospital mortality of very elderly ICU patients decreased.