Relationships Between Nursing Professional Development Department Structures in Hospital Systems and Patient Outcomes.

Although positive correlations between nursing professional development (NPD) staffing and organizational outcomes have been demonstrated, no evidence of optimal NPD department structures was found. Using an organizational participatory research method, NPD department structures in acute care hospital systems and their relationships to publicly reported patient outcomes and satisfaction were explored. Hospitals with centralized NPD departments had significantly fewer unplanned readmissions for pneumonia than hospitals with hybrid structures. No other significant differences were found.