Table 3.

Raw Data in HANDS and Operationalized Definitions for Patient Characteristics, Nurse Staffing, and Continuity Variables

Variable	Raw Data Found in HANDS	Operationalized Definition
Nurse Staffing Variables
Shift Length	Number of consecutive hours worked by each registered nurse (RN) during a care episode.	% of 8-hour RN care shifts in a patient episode.
RN Work Pattern (Shifts of Care by Part Time [PT]/Full Time [FT] vs. Very Part Time [VPT] Workers)	Fraction of time status (FT, PT, VPT) for each RN who cared for the patient during a care episode.	% of care shifts by very part time status RNs (0.3 [24 hours] or less]) in a patient episode.
Nurse Experience	Years of experience as an RN.	% of time cared for by RNs with ≥ to 2 years of experience in a patient episode.
Nurse Education	Diploma, ADN,a BSN,b BSN and some additional coursework, Master’s degree in nursing, or Doctoral degree in nursing.	% of time cared for by RNs with a BSN or greater in a patient episode.
Patient-to-Nurse Ratio	Actual number of patients cared for by a single RN during a shift.	The average patient-to-nurse ratio over the course of the patient care episode
Worked hours per patient day (whppd)	The total number of RN hours on a unit in a 24-hour period divided by the number of patients on that unit at the midnight census.	The average whppd over the course of the patient care episode
Nurse Continuity Variable
Number of consecutive days cared for by the same/single RNs	The total number of consecutive care days worked by each RN with the patient during a care episode.	% of consecutive care days by the same/single RNs in a patient episode.
Patient Characteristics
Nutrition	1 NANDA-I,c 5 NOC,d 5 NICe Nutrition labels	NNNf Nutrition label appearing on the admission POCg in the patient’s episode
Continence	3 NANDA-I, 4 NOC, 6 NIC Continence labels	NNN Continence label appearing on at the admission POC in the patient’s episode
Hydration	3 NANDA- I, 3 NOC, 9 NIC Hydration labels	NNN Hydration label appearing on the admission POC in the patient’s episode
Mobility	2 NANDA- I, 4 NOC, 5 NIC Mobility labels	NNN Mobility label appearing on the admission POC in the patient’s episode
Perfusion	2 NANDA-I, 4 NOC, 5 NIC Perfusion labels	NNN Perfusion label appearing on the admission POC in the patient’s episode
Cognition	4 NANDA-I, 9 NOC, 6 NIC Cognition labels	NNN Cognition label appearing on the admission POC in the patient’s episode
Skin	3 NANDA-I, 2 NIC Skin Labels	NNN Skin label appearing on the admission POC in the patient’s episode
Age	Age in years	Age in years

^aADN = Associate Degree in Nursing

^bBSN = Bachelor of Science in Nursing

^cNANDA-I = North American Nursing Diagnosis Association – International

^dNOC = Nursing Outcomes Classification

^eNIC = Nursing Interventions Classification

^fNNN = NANDA-I NOC NIC, POC

^gPOC = Plan of Care