November 14, 2017 – Educated Nurses

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Anchor lead: More educated nurses help insure good outcomes, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Do you know what the education level of the nurses taking care of you if you’re hospitalized is? Turns out that the more educated a nurse is, the better the outcomes for patients in the hospital, a recent study found. Patricia Davidson, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, says in the midst of the nursing shortage, enticing registered nurses back to the workforce may help.

Davidson: What many countries have done is to try and look at nurses who are already licensed and have just chosen not to be active in the nursing workforce. We need to look at flexibility of scheduling, at the moment too there are so many more opportunities available for nursing, particularly in ambulatory and primary care, where the hours are more appealing, so I think trying to provide choice, to individuals to try to make them feel that they have some autonomy in planning their life.  :30

Davidson notes that such metrics as nursing education levels are increasingly available publically. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.