2007 Resolution - Number 6-07

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SUBJECT: Quantifying RN Value

Introduced by: Mildred Taylor, RN, Illinois Nurses Association

Action: Passed 3/22/07

WHEREAS, nursing again faces a divergence between supply and demand that is evidenced in insufficient nurse staffing with significant implications for patient safety; and

WHEREAS, many believe this shortage of registered nurses is entrenched in long-standing problems related to the value and image of nursing and the limited role nursing has in identifying priorities within health care delivery systems; and

WHEREAS, the fact that little to no nursing services are identifiable on hospital bills renders nursing invisible in all the important financial arenas; and

WHEREAS, nursing has historically been seen as an expense, rather than a revenue-generator; and

WHEREAS, nurses are pivotal in demonstrating their economic value as evidenced by decreased hospital stays, as well as decreases in morbidity and mortality; and

WHEREAS, the value of professional worth comes from an economic stand point, a language that legislators and employers understand; and

WHEREAS, in the IOM 1996 Report “Nursing Staff in Hospitals and Nursing Homes: Is it Adequate?” the empirical foundation to support the nursing staff to patient outcome relationship now provides a solid springboard from which further research can be undertaken;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that there is a growing body of evidence suggesting one way to improve quality is to increase nurse staffing; and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the UAN examine the issue of quantifying the value of adequate nurse staffing in providing cost saving economic benefits and the improvements in the quality of patient outcomes.

Resources:

Kany, K. (May 31, 2004) “Nursing in the Next Decade: Implications for Health Care and for Patient Safety” Online Journal of Issues In Nursing. Vol. #9 No. #2, Manuscript 3
www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic24/tpc24_3.htm

Economic Value of Nursing, The AAACN Viewpoint, Jul/Aug 2006 by Hnatiuk, Cynthia Nowicki.