Smart nurses - Short takes: news at deadline - Brief Article

Physician Executive, Nov-Dec, 2003 by James A. Hawkins

Surgery patients in hospitals with more highly educated nurses have lower death rates compared to similar patients in hospitals with less well-educated RNs.

A study conducted by University of Pennsylvania researchers found that the mortality rates for surgery patients were nearly twice as high when there were fewer nurses with bachelor's degrees. The researchers concluded that recruiting more BSNs and relatively fewer nurses with two- and three-year degrees could lead to a substantial improvement in the quality of care that patients receive.

According to the lead author of the study, University of Pennsylvania professor Linda Aiken, better educated nurses tend to be more proficient in critical thinking.

"In most university programs nurses are being reared alongside of physicians in medical schools so they have the opportunity early in their education to interact with physicians and develop those skills that are ever important in critical circum stances," Aiken says.

The study appeared in the journal of the American Medical Association. Other studies by the same group of researchers found that nurse staffing levels also have a direct impact on mortality rates.

--James A. Hawkins is a health care writer based in Aiken, S.C. He can be reached by phone at (803)414-2062 or by e-mail at hir@ix.netcom.com.