Here are five things to know:
1. The cross-sectional study analyzed data of more than 112,000 Medicare patients in nearly 500 U.S. hospitals.
2. The study found that the most common reason for patient readmissions was postoperative infection. Hospital nurses are essential to the prevention of infection.
3. Every additional patient in a nurse’s workload was associated with an 8 percent increase in the likelihood of a patient being readmitted within 30 days of discharge.
4. Patients who underwent surgery in hospitals where nurses reported having supportive environments — including strong collegial relationships with physicians and autonomy in clinical practice — were 12 percent less likely to be readmitted.
5. The study will be published in the International Journal for Quality in Health Care.
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