Study finds worse outcomes in hospitals serving Black communities

A recently published study in Nursing Research has uncovered troubling disparities in patient outcomes, particularly related to nursing care, in hospitals that primarily serve Black communities. The research, based on data from over 3,000 hospitals in the United States, shows that these Black-serving hospitals (BSHs) have significantly higher rates of specific adverse patient events.

The study, conducted by Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR) using data from 2019 to 2022, focused on four key nursing-sensitive indicators: pressure ulcers, perioperative pulmonary embolus/deep vein thrombosis, postoperative sepsis, and “failure to rescue,” which refers to death following serious surgical complications. These conditions are directly impacted by nursing care and can affect a patient’s recovery and overall healing process. Hospitals were categorized into high, medium, and low BSHs based on the percentage of Black patients they serve.

The results revealed significant disparities across BSH categories, with higher rates of pressure ulcers, postoperative sepsis, and perioperative pulmonary embolus/deep vein thrombosis in hospitals serving a larger proportion of Black patients. However, failure-to-rescue rates did not show significant differences.

Despite BSHs being more likely to have Magnet designation for nursing excellence compared to other hospitals (14% vs. 12%), patient outcomes in BSHs remain compromised. This emphasizes the need to address systemic issues contributing to these disparities through further research on the relationship between nursing resources, staffing, work environment, and patient outcomes in these hospitals. Immediate policy and management interventions are crucial to improve nursing-sensitive indicators in BSHs.