3 Factors Limiting a Business Case for Nursing Investment

The methods of current studies on a business case for nursing investments fail to capture long-term and external cost savings, according to a study published in a supplement to Medical Care's April issue.

Researchers examined research funded by the Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program, to identify factors limiting a business case for nursing investments. The authors identified three challenges to transferring a business case for nursing investments into clinical practice:


1. Long-term effects. Most studies don't measure "spillover and long-run dynamic effects," which may dissuade investments in nursing that would save money in the long run, according to the study.

2. Generalizability. Most studies fail to examine the content and the organization-specific contextual factors, which limits generalizability, according to the study.

3. External benefits.
Cost savings from nursing investments may occur outside the investing organization due to the healthcare system's fragmentation, "making potentially quality-improving and cost-saving interventions financially unattractive from the organization's perspective," the authors wrote.

The authors suggest that payment reform and its focus on high-quality, low-cost care may bolster the business case for investing in nursing. In addition, studies should adopt methods that look at "broader societal implications of investments in nursing care, combined with a thorough understanding of potential barriers and facilitators of nursing change," the authors wrote.

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