Publications

In a March 1998 Journal of Nursing Administration article, I reported that nurse staffing did not, in fact, decline through 1996 in California, where concerns about nurse staffing have been prominent. In this article, I provide a data update indicating an increase in the number of hours worked by nursing personnel in California hospitals through 1998, mostly because of an increase in the number of hours worked by registered nurses. The hours worked by nursing personnel and registered nurses per case-mix adjusted discharge and per adjusted patient day have remained stable since 1996. Thus, the most recent data indicate no decline in nurse staffing in the 1990s.