Hospital nurse productivity enhancement.

Nurse staffing patterns have come under increased scrutiny as hospital managers attempt to control costs without harming service quality or staff morale. This study presents production function results from a study of nurse output from 2002 to 2005. The results suggest that productivity varies widely among the 39 hospitals as a function of staffing patterns, methods of organization, and the degree of reliance on nurse extender technicians. Nurse extenders can enhance the marginal value product of the most educated nurses as the RNs concentrate their workday around patient care activities. The results suggest that nurse extenders free RNs from the burden of nonnursing tasks. Incentive pay for nurses based on productivity gains is associated with enhanced productivity. One should get the greatest output for the least input effort, better balancing all factors of service delivery to achieve the most with the smallest resource effort.