Table 2.

Mean and Standard Deviation of Hospital Inpatient Nurse Staffing Measures, 1997

	11-State Sample	AHA Data
RN proportion of licensed hours per patient day
Mean	0.87	0.83**
SD	0.10	0.11
Licensed nursing hours per patient day
Mean	8.99	10.22**
SD	2.05	3.22
Number of hospitals	799	3,297

Probability (Mean in AHA data=mean in 11-state sample):

^*p<.05

^**p<.01.

Licensed nursing hours is the sum of hours provided by registered nurses and licensed practical nurses.

Data for 11-state sample drawn from state financial reports or staffing surveys.

AHA data from American Hospital Association Annual Survey and used for national MedPAR analysis.