Patients want to know when they come to a hospital that there will be enough staff to care for them. We are committed to maintaining optimum staffing levels for our patient population. We participate in Patients First, a voluntary reporting program initiated by the Massachusetts Hospital Association. Among other information, it allows patients to compare staffing plans with actual hours worked per year, beginning in 2006. We are pleased to be a part of this important and groundbreaking program, which has been hailed by patient safety advocate Don Berwick as "a national model." Comparison with area hospitals shows that the NEBH staffing ratio is at or above the average for similar units providing orthopedic care.
However, this rate does not take into account the added attention that patients receive at the Baptist based on our focus on orthopedic surgery. For example, every orthopedic patient receives two physical therapy treatments per day in addition to the nursing care delivered (worked hours per patient day). Team members including physical therapists, physical therapy aides, occupational therapists, and our case management team are not included in the basic staffing ratio.
|
New England Baptist Hospital |
|
Type of Unit Category |
NEBH Units |
Planned WHPPD |
NEBH Actual Worked Hours WHPPD* |
|
Adult Med/Surg, Medical Surgical - Acute Community |
Jordan 4 East |
8.00 |
8.15 |
|
|
Jenks 5 West |
7.60 |
7.42 |
|
|
Jenks 5 East |
7.60 |
7.34 |
|
|
Jenks 4 West |
7.60 |
7.74 |
|
|
Lahey 5 |
7.60 |
7.29 |
|
Adult Critical Care - Acute Community |
ICU |
14.36 |
16.68 |
Worked hours per patient day are the number of hours of direct care a patient can expect to receive from an RN, along with licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and nursing assistants, in a 24-hour period. Figures are for June 2009. NEBH actual WHPPD (Worked Hours per Patient Day) are updated monthly.
How do we know our staffing plan is optimal?
The following indicators demonstrate the effectiveness of our staffing plan:
For more information about Patients First or the Hospital's nurse staffing plan, visit the Patients First website at www.patientsfirstma.org.