Changes in Nurse Staffing Grades of Korean Hospitals during COVID-19 Pandemic

Young-Taek Park, JeongYun Park, Ji Soo Jeon, Young Jae Kim and Kwang Gi Kim
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Young-Taek Park: HIRA Research Institute, Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA), Wonju-si 26465, Korea
JeongYun Park: Department of Clinical Nursing, University of Ulsan, Seoul 05505, Korea
Ji Soo Jeon: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Gachon University, Gil Medical Center, Incheon 21565, Korea
Young Jae Kim: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Gachon University, Gil Medical Center, Incheon 21565, Korea
Kwang Gi Kim: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Gachon University, Gil Medical Center, Incheon 21565, Korea

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-11

Abstract: The global COVID-19 pandemic is creating challenges to manage staff ratios in clinical units. Nurse staffing level is an important indicator of the quality of care. This study aimed to identify any changes in the nurse staffing levels in the general wards of hospitals in Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. The unit of analysis was the hospitals. This longitudinal study observed the quarterly change of the nurse staffing grades in 969 hospitals in 2020. The nurse staffing grades ranged from 1 to 7 according to the nurse–patient ratio measured by the number of patients (or beds) per nurse. The major dependent and independent variables were the change of nurse staffing grades and three quarterly observation points being compared with those during the 1st quarter (1Q) of 2020, respectively. A generalized linear model was used. Unexpectedly, the nurse staffing grades significantly improved (2Q: RR, 27.2%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 15.1–27.6; p < 0.001; 3Q: RR, 95% CI, 20.2%; 16.9–21.6; p < 0.001; 4Q: RR, 26.6%; 95% CI, 17.8–39.6; p < 0.001) quarterly, indicating that the nurse staffing levels increased. In the comparison of grades at 2Q, 3Q, and 4Q with those at 1Q, most figures improved in tertiary, general, and small hospitals ( p < 0.05), except at 3Q and 4Q of general hospitals. In conclusion, the nurse staffing levels did not decrease, but nursing shortage might occur.

Keywords: nurse staffing; nurse staffing level; nurse staffing grades; nurse–patient ratio; nursing shortage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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