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Table 1 Study variables and their measurement

From: Relationship between the presence of baccalaureate-educated RNs and quality of care: a cross-sectional study in Dutch long-term care facilities

Variable

Measurement

Resident characteristics

 Gender

Man/woman

 Age

Age in years

 Length of stay

Number of days

 Comorbidities

Number of comorbidities (0-24a): Infectious illness; cancer; endocrine, nutritional or metabolic illness/disease; diabetes mellitus; disease of blood or blood related organs; psychological disorders; dementia; nervous system disorder (excluding cerebrovascular accident (CVA)); spinal cord lesion/paraplegia; cardio vascular disease; CVA/hemiparesis; respiratory disorder/diseases, including nose and tonsils; disorder/disease of the digestive tract, including intestinal obstruction, peritonitis, hernia, liver, gallbladder, pancreas; disorder/disease of kidney/urinary tract, sexual organs; skin disorder/disease; motor disorder/disease; congenital disorders; injury resulting from accident (s), undesirable consequences of accident (s); symptoms and abnormal clinical or lab findings, not elsewhere classified; overdose/substance abuse/addiction; disease of the eye; disease of the ear; pregnancy, child birth; external factors for disease

 Care dependency

Care Dependency Scale [39]:

For each of the following 15 activities, the degree to which the resident is dependent upon care provided by others is indicated on a 5-point scale (completely dependent (1) – completely independent (5)a): eating and drinking, incontinence, body posture, mobility, day/night pattern, getting dressed and undressed, body temperature, hygiene, avoiding danger, communication, contact with others, sense of rules and values, daily activities, recreational activities, learning ability [13]. For each resident, the total score (sum of 15 items) was divided by 15 to obtain a mean score.

Presence of BRN

 Presence of BRN

At least one BRN present in ward

Quality of care outcomes

 Nosocomial pressure ulcers

Resident suffers from at least one nosocomial pressure ulcer category 2–4 (European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) & National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) [13, 41]):

- Category 2: Partial thickness

- Category 3: Full thickness skin loss

- Category 4: Full thickness tissue loss

 Medication incidents

Resident had at least one medication incident during the last 30 days b:

- Omitted dose

- Wrong dose

- Wrong time taken

- Wrong drug

- Wrong drug administration

 Falls

Resident has fallen at least once during last 30 days b

 Antipsychotic drug use

Antipsychotic drug use during last 7 days b

 Indwelling urinary catheter use

Resident has an indwelling urinary catheter in place at the time

Ward characteristics

 Ward type

Psychogeriatric/somatic nursing care ward

 Ward size

Number of residents living on ward

  1. aunderlined score is the most favorable score
  2. banswered by resident or responsible nurse and/or indicated in resident file [13]