Nonlinear association of nurse staffing and readmissions uncovered in machine learning analysis.
Olga YakushevaJames T BangRonda G HughesKathleen L BobayLinda CostaMarianne E WeissPublished in: Health services research (2021)
The U-shaped association was consistent with diminishing returns to nurse staffing suggesting that incremental gains in readmission reduction from additional nurse staffing taper off and could reverse at high staffing levels. If confirmed in future causal analyses across multiple outcomes, accompanying investments in infrastructure and human resources may be needed to maximize nursing performance outcomes at higher levels of nurse staffing.