Analysis of the correlation between ICU nursing human resource allocation and nursing outcome indicators: A multicenter observational study

This study aims to analyze the correlation between nursing manpower structure index and outcome index data in intensive care unit (ICU), so as to provide a basis for reasonable allocation of nursing manpower and improvement of nursing quality. This retrospective multicenter observational study used data on ICU nursing manpower structure and nursing outcome indicators from 49 ICUs in 43 tertiary hospitals reported to the National Nursing Quality Data Platform between 2019 and 2023. Descriptive statistics, rank-sum tests were used to assess annual trends, and Spearman correlation analysis was performed to examine the associations between nursing manpower structure indicators and nursing-sensitive outcome indicators. The average daily nurse–patient ratio was negatively correlated with the unplanned extubation rate of gastric tube, the incidence rate of central related blood stream infections, and the incidence rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections. The proportion of nurses with ≥ 10 years of experience and the proportion of nurses in charge or above was negatively correlated with the incidence rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia, central related blood stream infections, and catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Rational allocation of nursing human resources in ICU may contribute to improved nursing quality and patient outcomes; however, as a retrospective ecological analysis based on aggregated data from a single province, the findings are subject to residual confounding and cannot establish causality.