Higher Proportions of Baccalaureate-Prepared Nurses in Veterans Affairs Medical Centers Associated With Lower Surgical Mortality
Higher proportions of nurses with a BSN or higher in VA Medical Centers is associated with lower postsurgical mortality and FTR among Veterans receiving surgery. These findings confirm within the VA what has been shown in non-VA hospital settings for the last 20 years. Ongoing monitoring and improvements, which are both considered foundational to the tenets of learning health systems and high-reliability organizations, are needed to support staffing with higher proportions of frontline BSN-prepared nurses in VA Medical Centers.
Authors
- Patricia A. Patrician (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9608-1866)
- John Cashy
- Mary A. Dolansky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6472-1275)
- Tracey Dick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5383-2095)
- Sheila Cox Sullivan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0641-8822)
- Joshua M. Thorpe
- Ann Kutney-Lee
Institutions
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Veterans Health Administration (US)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center (US)
- Birmingham VA Medical Center (US)
- Office of Patient Care Services (US)
- Philadelphia VA Medical Center (US)
- VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (US)
- Case Western Reserve University (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Medical Care
- Published
- 2025-08-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1097/mlr.0000000000002190
- Primary Topic
- Sepsis Diagnosis and Treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00