CWI Survey
The CWI, a program of the UCSF Center for the Health Professions, conducted a survey in 2000 to learn about nurse staffing in preparation for California's minimum nurse-to-patient ratios. A 16-item survey was mailed to all 410 acute care hospitals in California with a follow-up mailing to non-responders one month after the original mailing. Responses were received from 115 hospitals for a return rate of 28 percent, and the sample was generally representative of hospitals in California (Seago et al. 2003).
The survey requested that hospitals provide data for a representative medical–surgical unit in the hospital. Survey questions focused on nursing hours worked on that unit, discharges and patient days on the unit, nurse-to-patient ratios, number of vacancies, and average time to recruit a RN to the unit. Both hours per patient day and the nurse-to-patient ratio were reported directly by unit managers, enabling a direct comparison of these methods of measuring nurse staffing.