Skip to main content
. 2021 Mar 15;56(5):885–907. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13647

TABLE 2.

Overview of aggregated nursing‐sensitive patient outcomes (NSPOs) and their strength of evidence a

# NSPO Sources Number of lit. reviews (out of 15) Primary studies considered b Strength of evidence
1 Length of stay

  • Chin (2013) 37

  • Donaldson and Shapiro (2010) 38

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Kane et al (2007) 6

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46 , c

7 15 [13] High
2 Patient dissatisfaction

  • Bae and Fabry (2014) 36 , c

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Recio‐Saucedo et al (2017) 44

  • Stalpers et al (2015) 1

  • Unruh (2008) 47

6 10 [8] High
3 Poor quality of nurse‐delivered care

  • Bae and Fabry (2014) 36 , c

  • Chin (2013) 37

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Min and Scott (2016) 42

  • Recio‐Saucedo et al (2017) 44

5 7 [4] High
4 Readmission

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Recio‐Saucedo et al (2017) 44 , c

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46

5 3 [2] High
5 Failure to rescue

  • Bae and Fabry (2014) 36

  • Chin (2013) 37

  • Donaldson and Shapiro (2010) 38

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Kane et al (2007) 6

  • Min and Scott (2016) 42

  • Shekelle (2013) 45

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46 , c

  • Unruh (2008) 47

11 39 [26] Moderate
6 Medication error

  • Bae and Fabry (2014) 36

  • Donaldson and Shapiro (2010) 38

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Recio‐Saucedo et al (2017) 44

  • Unruh (2008) 47

7 16 [15] Moderate
7 Mortality 13 58 [41] Moderate
8 Pneumonia

  • Bae and Fabry (2014) 36

  • Chin (2013) 37

  • Donaldson and Shapiro (2010) 38

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Kane et al (2007) 6

  • Min and Scott (2016) 42

  • Recio‐Saucedo et al (2017) 44

  • Shekelle (2013) 45

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46 , c

  • Unruh (2008) 47

12 23 [17] Moderate
9 Respiratory failure

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Kane et al (2007) 6

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46 , c

4 9 [9] Moderate
10 Central nervous system (CNS) complications

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17 , c

  • Griffith et al (2014) 39

2 1 Low
11 Deep venous thrombosis

  • Chin (2013) 37

  • Donaldson and Shapiro (2010) 38

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Kane et al (2007) 6 , c

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46 , c

  • Unruh (2008) 47

7 10 Low
12 Emergency Department visit

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46

2 2 Low
13 Infection with multi‐resistant germs

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

1 1 Low
14 Missed discharge preparation

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46

2 2 Low
15 Patient falls

  • Bae and Fabry (2014) 36

  • Chin (2013) 37

  • Donaldson and Shapiro (2010) 38

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Kane et al (2007) 6 , c

  • Min and Scott (2016) 42

  • Recio‐Saucedo et al (2017) 44

  • Shekelle (2013) 45

  • Stalpers et al (2015) 1

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46 , c

  • Unruh (2008) 47

13 40 Low
16 Physiological / metabolic derangement 3 2 Low
17 Pressure ulcer

  • Bae and Fabry (2014) 36 , c

  • Chin (2013) 37

  • Donaldson and Shapiro (2010) 38

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Kane et al (2007) 6 , c

  • Min and Scott (2016) 42

  • Recio‐Saucedo et al (2017) 44

  • Shekelle (2013) 45

  • Stalpers et al (2015) 1

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46 , c

  • Unruh (2008) 47

13 55 Low
18 Sepsis

  • Bae and Fabry (2014) 36

  • Chin (2013) 37

  • Donaldson and Shapiro (2010) 38

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Kane et al (2007) 6

  • Recio‐Saucedo et al (2017) 44

  • Shekelle (2013) 45

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46 , c

  • Unruh (2008) 47

11 23 Low
19 Shock or cardiac arrest 8 9 Low
20 (Surgical) wound infection 6 6 Low
21 Upper gastrointestinal bleeding 7 5 Low
22 Urinary tract infection

  • Bae and Fabry (2014) 36

  • Chin (2013) 37

  • Driscoll et al (2018) 17

  • Griffiths et al (2014) 39

  • Heslop (2014) 40 , c

  • Kane et al (2007) 6

  • Recio‐Saucedo et al (2017) 44

  • Twigg et al (2015) 46 , c

  • Unruh (2008) 47

9 19 Low
a

The following outcome indicators were not included in the list: “hypoglycemic events,” “errors or near misses,” “pneumonia deaths,” “abdominal aortic aneurysm postoperative deaths,” “surgical bleeding,” “unplanned extubation,” “cost,” “malnutrition,” “patient safety,” “adverse events / outcomes,” “presence of complication,” “critical incident,” “acuity level,” “transfer to ICU,” “life years gained based on differences in FTR pre‐ and postintervention,” “restraint use,” “hospital‐acquired infections,” “congestive heart failure,” “adverse drug event,” “pain,” “vital sign status,” “self‐care ability,” “symptom resolution,” “symptom reduction,” “pulmonary compromise,” “delirium.”

b

All 15 literature reviews combined cover a total number of 201 primary studies. Compare Appendix S6 in the supplement of this paper for a list of included primary studies for each literature review. Here we report the sum of primary studies considering each NSPO. The number covers only primary studies we used to calculate the strength of evidence. The number in parentheses represents the sum of unique primary studies (if more than one literature review reported results from the same primary study).

c

We did not include the results of this literature review when calculating the strength of evidence because the primary studies considered for this particular NSPO did not meet our inclusion criteria (eg, they were focused on intensive or pediatric care settings) or because the authors did not provide the information required for the calculations.