Nurse practitioner coverage is associated with a decrease in length of stay in a pediatric chronic ventilator dependent unit

Table 1 Comparison of admissions: 5 years before and after nurse practitioner coverage

	Pre NP coverage	Post NP coverage
Total number of admission	158	311
Average annual patient days	10493	8812
Median length of stay	55 d	12 d
	(IQR: 9.8-108.3)	(IQR: 4.0-41.0)

NP: Nurse practitioner; IQR: Interquartile range.

Table 2 Number of admissions and median length of stay with interquartile range for each diagnosis over the 10 year study period, comparing pre and post nurse practitioner

Diagnosis	Total admissions	Admissions pre-NP	Admissions post-NP	Length of stay (d) pre-NP	Length of stay (d) post-NP	P value for length of stay
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia	140	61	79	68.0 (11.0-111.0)	18.0 (3.0-67.0)	P < 0.001
Neurologic disorder	119	35	84	19.0 (4.0-50.0)	12.0 (4.0-28.5)	P = 0.246
Multiple congenital anomalies	94	28	66	62.5 (16.0-126.5)	10.5 (5-32.8)	P = 0.005
Congenital heart disease	50	18	32	72.0 (47.5-138.8)	9.0 (2.3-18)	P < 0.001
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia	15	5	10	3.0 (1.0-107.0)	22.5 (8.5-37.8)	P = 0.902
Trauma	10	1	9	2.0 (2.0-2.0)	23.0 (4.0-40.0)	Could not be assessed
Miscellaneous	41	10	31	45.5 (13.8-98.3)	11.0 (5.0-39.0)	P = 0.017

Values are displayed as medians and interquartile ranges. P values obtained from Kruskal-Wallis test. NP: Nurse practitioner.

Table 3 Disposition at discharge from the pediatric chronic ventilator dependent unit

Disposition	Total number of admissions	No. of admissions pre-NP	No. of admissions post-NP	Length of stay (d) pre-NP	Length of stay (d)post-NP	P value
Home	339	105	234	68 (14.0-112.5)	14 (4.0-48.0)	P < 0.0001
General ward	32	14	18	13.5 (2.5-124.3)	4 (1.8-7.3)	P = 0.05
Extended care facility	19	4	15	37.5 (2.0-148.0)	5 (3.0-24.0)	P = 0.84
General rehabilitation facility	3	1	2	27 (27.0-27.0)	29 (25.0-29.0)	Could not be assessed
Outside hospital	6	4	2	74 (15.0-105.3)	19 (16.0-19.0)	P = 0.36
PICU	60	25	35	19 (9.5-49.5)	12 (5.0-43.0)	P = 0.35
Death	10	5	5	35 (22.0-62.0)	13 (2.0-23.0)	P = 0.05

A comparison of admissions and length of stay pre and post implementation of the start NP coverage. Values displayed are Medians with interquartile ranges. P values obtained from Kruskal Wallis test. NP: Nurse practitioner; PICU: Pediatric intensive care unit.