. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Oct 1.

Published in final edited form as: Res Nurs Health. 2015 Aug 20;38(5):333–341. doi: 10.1002/nur.21674

Table 4.

Estimated NICU Nurse-to-Patient Ratios (Coefficients From Random Effects Linear Regression) as a Function of Infant Acuity

	Survey (N=6038)		Census (N=3871)
Infant Acuity	Ratio	95% CI	Ratio	95% CI
Level 1 (continuing care)	.34	.32–.35	.36	.34–.38
Level 2 (intermediate care)	.38	.36–.39	.41	.39–.43
Level 3 (intensive care)	.49	.48–.51	.52	.50–.53
Level 4 (multi-system support)	.66	.64–.68	.72	.69–.74
Level 5 (unstable/complex critical care)	.95	.93–.98	.96	.93–.99
R ²	.36	–	.35	–

Note. NICU= neonatal intensive care unit. Survey= nurse survey (2008); Census= all nurse assignments on shift, collected in 4 rounds (2009–2010). CI= confidence interval. Estimated nurse-to-patient ratios differed significantly across acuity levels (p< .001) and from zero (p< .001). Both R² values were significant (p< 0.01).