Table 1.
Characteristics of hospital-based units (n = 18) in the Penn State Hershey Medical Center
| Unit | Spatial Characteristics | Staffing/Service | Patient Characteristics | Nursing Perceptions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit Type a | No. of Beds | Sq. Ft per bed | Nurse-patient ratio | Admitting Services per bedb | Length of Stay | Severity of Illnessc | Collegialityd | Staffingd | Rounding Scripte | Support Scoref | |
| Pediatric Intensive Care | 3 | 18 | 878 | 1:1.5 | 0.22 | 8.95 | 2.83 | 2.99 | 1.95 | 7 | 21 |
| Neonatal Intensive Care | 3 | 31 | 303 | 1:2 | 0.03 | 25.27 | 2.79 | 2.49 | 2.66 | 5 | 17 |
| Surgical Intensive Care | 3 | 30 | 553 | 1:2 | 0.63 | 7.96 | 2.98 | 2.48 | 2.33 | 7 | 19 |
| Medical Intensive Care | 3 | 16 | 597 | 1:2 | 0.38 | 8.62 | 3.33 | 2.95 | 2.90 | 4 | 18 |
| Neurology | 1,2,3 | 35 | 672 | 1:2.5 | 0.17 | 5.75 | 2.47 | 3.11 | 2.73 | 3 | 16 |
| Heart and Vascular Cardiac Care | 3 | 15 | 666 | 1:2 | 0.47 | 7.84 | 2.73 | 2.87 | 3.00 | 2 | 13 |
| Cancer Institute | 1,2 | 39 | 435 | 1:4 | 0.33 | 5.15 | 2.28 | 2.91 | 2.64 | 3 | 17 |
| Heart and Vascular Progressive Care | 1,2 | 24 | 398 | 1:3.5 | 0.25 | 5.56 | 2.37 | 2.84 | 3.12 | 5 | 18 |
| Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Service | 1 | 16 | 987 | 1:2.5 | 0.38 | 6.18 | 2.19 | 3.15 | 2.88 | 6 | 17 |
| Women’s Health | 1 | 24 | 203 | 1:4.5 | 0.17 | 6.10 | 1.42 | 3.30 | 2.68 | 6 | 21 |
| Pediatric Intermediate Care | 2 | 17 | 872 | 1:2.5 | 0.59 | 3.97 | 2.20 | 3.01 | 2.53 | 4 | 15 |
| Pediatric Acute Care | 1 | 36 | 411 | 1:3.5 | 0.28 | 3.10 | 1.84 | 2.99 | 2.72 | 5 | 18 |
| Medical Intermediate Care | 2 | 20 | 470 | 1:3 | 0.30 | 7.09 | 2.74 | 2.81 | 2.42 | 1 | 16 |
| General Surgery | 1 | 18 | 496 | 1:4.5 | 0.61 | 3.54 | 2.11 | 3.10 | 2.54 | 3 | 19 |
| Internal/Family Medicine | 1 | 44 | 385 | 1:4 | 0.20 | 4.45 | 2.50 | 3.17 | 2.77 | 2 | 17 |
| General Surgery/Neurology | 1 | 44 | 385 | 1:4.5 | 0.34 | 4.02 | 2.21 | 2.87 | 2.48 | 1 | 12 |
| General Surgery | 1 | 42 | 404 | 1:4.5 | 0.50 | 4.60 | 2.36 | 2.78 | 2.55 | 4 | 16 |
| Flex/Observation | 1 | 14 | 765 | 1:4.5 | 0.93 | 5.01 | 2.44 | - | - | 3 | 16 |
a Unit Type: 3 = intensive care, 2 = intermediate care, 1 = general acute
b Number of different services admitting ≥5 patients to unit in one-year period/number of unit beds
c Derived from billing data (APR-DRG value)
d Scores obtained from Collegial Nurse-Physician Relations/Staffing/Resource Adequacy domain from Practice Environment of the Nursing Work Index; flex/observation had a “float” pool of nurses, thereby could not receive a survey; responses 4 = strongly agree, 3 = agree, 2 = disagree, 1 = strongly disagree
e Reported by units’ nursing leadership on a 1-7 scale (1 = not at all, 7 = a great extent)
f Summation score from 3 domains on a 1-7 scale (1 = not at all, 7 = a great extent), max score 21