[Special care needs of very low birthweight preterm infants calculated from routine data: A 5-year analysis]

The quality assurance directive for very low birthweight preterm infants (QFR-RL) by the German Federal Joint Committee calls for fixed nurse-to-patient ratios (NPRs) in neonatal intensive care, leading to considerable difficulties for staff planners, especially in smaller hospitals, as an extensive pool of nursing staff is required to ensure compliance with guidelines. Reliable parameters are therefore needed to provide a valid basis for staff planning.

To calculate the number of nurse full-time equivalents (FTE) required to meet the demands of the QFR-RL for individual diagnosis-related groups (FTE-debit) and in relation to relative caseweight (FTE-debit / RW); to compare the calculated estimates with real hospital expenses (FTE-real) with nurse-relevant DRG proportions calculated by the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (FTE-norm).

We included all very low birthweight infants (VLBW, <1,500 g) treated between 08/2013 and 07/2018. FTE-debit was determined on the basis of shifts with 1 : 1, 1 :2, and 1 : 4 NPR using the time infants underwent invasive or non-invasive mechanical ventilation, had a birthweight below 1,000 g, or with imminent death. FTE-real was extracted from hospital cost accounting, and FTE-norm was determined as nurse-relevant DRG proportions calculated by the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System.

856 (50.1 % female) VLBW preterm infants were analysed. Calculated FTEs varied from 0.02 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.02-0.02) to 1.16 (95%-CI 0.96-1.37) between individual DRGs. Calculated estimates (FTE-debit) were consistent with real expenses (FTE-real) and calculated nurse-relevant DRG-proportions (FTE-norm). In relation to the relative caseweight, an average demand of nurse FTE of about 0.02 FTE / relative weight point (FTE-debit / RW) was identified.

This approach facilitates prospective planning which is in line with the FTEs required by the QFR-RL and based on remunerated DRGs; however, it is not supposed to replace shift-specific documentation.