Does what nurses do affect clinical outcomes for hospitalized patients? A review of the literature

Objective. Through a review of the literature, to identify and describe (1) empirical studies of inpatient nursing care quality that evaluate links be tween nursing care processes and health-related patient outcomes, (2) nursi ng care processes for which process-outcome links have been established, an d (3) important nursing care processes that have not yet been evaluated. Data Sources/Study Setting. Published empirical studies of inpatient nursin g care quality that evaluated links between processes of nursing care and h ealth-related patient outcomes. Study Design/Data Collection/Extraction Methods. This literature review use d a five-step article search and review method. Principal Findings. Of 257 data-based studies of nursing care quality ident ified, 135 investigated a process-outcome link but only 17 met study inclus ion criteria. The literature provides evidence that the quality of nursing care processes affects health-related patient outcomes during and after hos pitalization. Gaps in the literature that evaluates nursing quality are ide ntified. Conclusions. Although some nursing care processes affect health-related pat ient outcomes, the full extent of nursing process-outcome links is relative ly understudied. Further evaluation of the interrelationships between nursi ng care processes and outcomes is critical.