Key result
PD nurse-patient ratios lack association with peritonitis or mortality but moderately correlate with HD transfers.
Why the study?
It was unclear whether nursing staff-to-patient ratios at different peritoneal dialysis centres affect peritonitis and other patient outcomes.
Do full-time equivalent (FTE) PD nurse-patient ratios affect centre-level outcomes of patients on peritoneal dialysis?
Cross-Sectional (n=28)
Yes
Do full-time equivalent (FTE) PD nurse-patient ratios affect centre-level outcomes of patients on peritoneal dialysis?
Full-time equivalent PD nurse-patient ratios are not significantly associated with clinically meaningful centre-level outcomes in peritoneal dialysis patients.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
PD centers should not adjust staffing based on these data; leaves open prospective evaluation of ratios on technique survival.
Centre-related factors, in addition to patient-related factors, are known to influence the outcomes of patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). It is unclear if the nursing staff-to-patient ratios at different PD centres affect peritonitis outcomes. Our study aimed to examine whether full-time equivalent (FTE) PD nurse–patient ratios in individual PD centres were associated with centre-level outcomes of patients on PD. We used a cross-sectional survey of nursing leads of PD units across Australia and multi-centre registry data linkage. Of the 38 PD units in Australia, 28 (73.7%) nursing leads responded to the survey. The overall FTE PD nurse–patient ratio was 1 nurse to 12.7 patients (median; interquartile range 9.8–16.5), with substantial variability between PD units. There was no significant association between the FTE PD nurse–patient ratios and unit-specific peritonitis rates, overnight hospitalisation rates for peritonitis, mortality rates within 30 days of infection, or haemodialysis (HD) transfer rates. However, there was a moderate positive correlation between nurse FTE and transfer to HD rates ( r = 0.476, p < 0.01). While our study revealed large variability in FTE PD nurse–patient ratios between PD units across the country, it was not associated with clinically significant PD outcomes between centres. Therefore, PD nurse–patient ratios may not be an important centre-related factor to explain variability in clinically meaningful PD outcomes between centres.
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Ling et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Peritoneal dialysis (n=28). Full-time equivalent (FTE) PD nurse-patient ratios was evaluated on Unit-specific peritonitis rates, overnight hospitalisation rates for peritonitis, mortality rates within 30 days of infection, or haemodialysis (HD) transfer rates (r = 0.476, p=<0.01). Full-time equivalent PD nurse-patient ratios were not associated with peritonitis rates or mortality, though a moderate positive correlation existed with transfer to hemodialysis rates.
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