Enlightening Nursing Care: A Protocol for a Multicenter Observational Study Measuring Nursing Work in Hospital...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Economics
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Healthcare systems face rising costs and quality demands, straining resources.
• The Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) system manages expenditures but nursing costs within DRGs vary significantly.
• Understanding this variability is crucial for sustainable healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess nursing cost variability within and across DRGs in Italian acute care hospitals.
• To determine the extent to which DRGs explain nursing care variability.
• To develop a protocol for systematic national data collection on nursing costs.

Main Methods:

• Multicenter retrospective cross-sectional study in five Italian public hospitals.
• Data collected from hospital discharge and nursing records for patients discharged in 2022.
• Nursing costs calculated based on time spent on activities, nursing staff wages, and cost per patient per day.

Main Results:

• Variability in nursing time and costs across different hospitals and DRGs will be assessed using inferential statistics.
• Factors influencing nursing costs, such as time allocation and staff wages, will be quantified.
• The study will provide data on the cost per patient per day of hospitalization.

Conclusions:

• The study will illuminate variations in nursing care delivery across different DRGs.
• Results will guide recommendations for optimizing healthcare resource allocation.
• Findings aim to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the DRG reimbursement system in Italy.