Table 2.
Nurse staffing and education in nine European countries
| Nurse staffing (patients to nurse) |
Nurse education (% of nurses with bachelor’s degrees) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) | Range | Mean (SD) | Range | |
| Belgium | 10·8 (2·0) | 7·5–15·9 | 55% (15) | 26–86% |
| England | 8·8 (1·5) | 5·5–11·5 | 28% (9) | 10–49% |
| Finland | 7·6 (1·4) | 5·3–10·6 | 50% (10) | 36–71% |
| Ireland | 6·9 (1·0) | 5·4–8·9 | 58% (12) | 35–81% |
| Netherlands | 7·0 (0·8) | 5·1–8·1 | 31% (12) | 16–68% |
| Norway | 5·2 (0·8) | 3·4–6·7 | 100% (0) | 100–100% |
| Spain | 12·7 (2·0) | 9·5–17·9 | 100% (0) | 100–100% |
| Sweden | 7·6 (1·1) | 5·4–9·8 | 54% (12) | 27–76% |
| Switzerland | 7·8 (1·3) | 4·6–9·8 | 10% (10) | 0–39% |
| Total | 8·3 (2·4) | 3·4–17·9 | 52% (27) | 0–100% |
Means, SDs, and ranges are estimated from hospital data—eg, the 59 hospitals in Belgium have a mean patient-to-nurse ratio of 10·8, and the patient-to-nurse ratio ranges across those 59 hospitals from 7·5 to 15·9. Similarly, the 31 hospitals in Switzerland have, on average, 10% bachelor’s nurses, and the percent of bachelor’s nurses ranges across those 31 hospitals from 0% to 39%.