Patient safety in hospitals has improved since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic but has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to research published in Nursing Research.
The study analyzed data from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators spanning 2019 to 2022 and focused on five patient safety indicators: fall rates, central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia cases, and pressure injuries related to devices or immobility.
More than 2,300 hospitals contribute data on these patient safety events, commonly referred to as nursing-sensitive quality indicators, on a quarterly basis.
Considering the workforce shortage and market pressures affecting nurses, the researchers theorized that these quality indicators have declined since the pandemic.
The opposite trend emerged: All five indicators worsened significantly in 2020 and 2021 but showed improvement in 2022, the latest full year with available data.
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