Improving the quality of care for hospitalized socially at-risk patients

Nurses play a vital role in the management of inpatients with social risk factors and in their preparation for discharge. A new study from the University of Pennsylvania Nursing School (Penn Nursing) shows how certain health system constraints hinder the effectiveness of care and have an impact on patients at high social risk.

"Few studies have looked at whether acute care nurses have enough support in their workplace to meet the unique needs of socially at-risk patients when they return to community settings," J said. Margo Brooks Carthon, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Associate Professor of Nursing, Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, and Principal Investigator of the study. "Our findings suggest that prioritizing medical needs during acute care hospitalization and lack of organizational support may deter nurses from fully addressing social concerns."

The results of the qualitative study are included in an article titled "You have too much time in 12 hours – Unmet social needs of hospitalized patients: a qualitative study of acute care nurses", published online in the Journal of Clinical Nursing. The article suggests that, while the development of new initiatives to combat social risks is helpful, care must be taken not to burden the burden on nurses or the health care team.

"Nurses regularly include badessments of social risk factors in patient badessments, however, tailoring care to meet these additional needs may require changes to the nursing workflow and traditional clinical roles," Brooks said. Carthon. The study concludes with recommendations for hospital initiatives aimed at meeting the needs of socially at-risk patients in order to "take into account the views of patients and healthcare providers as collaborators in the design of patients. 'intervention".