COVID-19 Pandemic Increases in Nursing-Sensitive Quality Indicators.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality
• Nursing Research
• Patient Safety

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic significantly stressed the nursing workforce.
• This stress may have impacted nursing-sensitive quality indicators (NSIs), which reflect patient health status changes due to nursing care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess if NSIs deteriorated during the pandemic.
• To determine if these indicators returned to prepandemic levels between 2019 and 2022.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional descriptive study analyzed annual trends of five NSIs from 2019-2022.
• Data from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) included rates of falls, CLABSI, CAUTI, HAPI, and VAE.
• Analysis of variance compared 2019 rates to subsequent years for adult medical-surgical and critical care units.

Main Results:

• All five NSIs significantly increased starting in 2020.
• The highest rates were observed in 2020 (falls) and 2021 (other indicators), with increases ranging from 12% (CAUTI) to 49% (CLABSI).
• Rates began to decline but had not returned to 2019 baseline levels by 2022.

Conclusions:

• NSIs worsened during the pandemic and are slowly returning to baseline.
• The pandemic highlighted the critical role of nursing practice in patient safety.
• Addressing the pandemic's impact on nurses is crucial for maintaining patient safety standards.