The study determined intrinsic factors which contributed to the falls of adults hospitalized in a general hospital during 1987-88. Two hundred and fourteen patients were studied in two groups. Group A consisted of 108 patients who fell during their hospitalization and control Group B consisted of 106 patients with the same characteristics also hospitalized during the same period who did not fall. Of the 23 variables which have been analyzed by the multivariate logistic regression method, seven present statistically significant incidence and increased risk of patients' falls: (1) gender: the number of accidents occurring among male patients was higher than that among females (p = 0.0022); (2) age: the majority of accidents occurred in the 65 greater than or equal to years old age group (p = 0.00426); (3) general pathological conditions: mostly patients with cardiac problems (p = 0.0062); (4) neoplasms (p = 0.0334); (5) anaemias (p = 0.0128); (6) post-operative conditions (p = 0.0063); and the taking of hypnotic/tranquilizer drugs (p = 0.0486). Other significant findings were: the highest incidence of falls occurred during the first 4 days of the patients' admission to hospital and most during the early morning hours (5-6 am). Injuries incurred were bruises (32.4%), minor injuries (24%), major injuries (16.7%) and fractures (10.2%). The high correlation between patients' falls and (1) specific diseases, namely neoplasms, anaemias, cardiac and post-operative conditions and (2) the taking of hypnotic/tranquilizer drugs are risk factors in relation to patients' falls in general hospitals.
There is a serious shortage of RNs in the Greek health services resulting in a downgrading of nursing care quality.
The purpose of the present study was to quantify factors which contribute to the absenteeism of nursing personnel and affect staffing patterns. Absenteeism in a general hospital was studied for the period 1975-1990 in relation to the number and level of nursing personnel, the number of discharged patients in the same period, and the existing relevant policy. The variables were analyzed by the multiple regression method having an initial estimator the existing situation in 1990 and what is expected for the year 2000. The results showed that the mean value days of absenteeism for each registered and assistant nurse in 1975 was 22.4 days and in 1990, 51.9 days, sickness raised from 12.6 days in 1975 to 16.6 in 1990, maternity from 9.1 in 1975 to 25.3 in 1990, educational leave for registered nurses was 0.02 in 1975 and 3.8 in 1990 and for assistants 2.1 in 1985 and 17.3 in 1990 due to the new policy, and social fringe benefits raised from 0.71 days in 1975 to 3.65 in 1990. The expected rate of absenteeism by the year 2000 will be 67 to 83 days per person, an increase by 56% in relation to 1990 data.
The purpose of this study was to examine the allocation of nursing time to various activities of registered and assistant nurses during the day shift. Twenty-three registered (RN) and eighteen assistant nurses (AN) working in medical and surgical wards of five large hospitals were studied. The findings have shown that the most frequent activities performed were; indirect care representing 35.6% of the time, direct care representing 23.8% of the time, personal activities representing 16.8% of the time, and direct nursing interventions representing 8.2% of the time. Cross-tabulation revealed that RNs provided direct care less frequently and indirect care more frequently than ANs (25.3 activities per RN and 27.5 per AN, 62.1 activities per RN and 32.6 per AN, respectively). Many indirect care activities were found to be the responsibility of the head nurse (64), secretary (465), and others (104). Less expected results were the minimal amounts of time spent on both education and research activities (1.3% and 0.0% respectively). Nurse managers have to free nurses from subsidiary work and to find mechanisms to distribute nursing valuable time more efficiently.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.