This article examines the literature on cost-effectiveness in nursing, and considers
the relationship between this literature and decision-making in health care systems.
Researchers have attempted to examine costs and benefits of nurse staffing and nursing
interventions for decades. There are strong literatures for some topics, such as advanced
practice nursing, clinical practices, occupational health nursing, and workplace training.
However, there are gaps in the literature on the cost-effectiveness of nurse staffing
patterns, the use of agency personnel, and changes in organizational structure. A
review of 6 major health care management textbooks finds few references to cost-effectiveness
analysis, suggesting that health care leaders have little education regarding how
to conduct or evaluate economic studies. The agenda for nursing research on cost-effectiveness
is daunting. Research must be based on large, representative samples; provide clear,
compelling results; discuss the importance of both costs and benefits in decision-making;
and be published in highly-visible journals.
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Biography
Dr. Joanne Spetz is an Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, CA.
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© 2005 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
