Licensed Nurse Retention and Rehospitalization Rates Linked

​A 10% increase in licensed nurse retention rates effectively results in two fewer rehospitalizations per nurse annually, reports a study in the April 2, 2013, issue of the Gerontologist. The researchers point to existing literature regarding licensed nurses’ importance to resident assessment, monitoring, contact with family members, care coordination, and residents’ activities of daily living. For this analysis, they drew data from the Shaping Long Term Care in America project and controlled for such variables as resident welfare, facility resources, and financial factors. The study examined eight years of data for 681 nursing homes and found an average annual retention rate of 64% and a turnover rate of 35%.