Nurses offer insight on providing care to the poor

Insight from hospital nurses on critical factors helping or hindering them in providing quality care to socially disadvantaged populations can inform strategies for advancing high-quality, equitable care, a study concludes. Published in JAMA Network Open, the researchers’ analyzed open-text responses from 1,084 direct care hospital nurses across 58 New York and Illinois hospitals. To facilitate high-quality care to marginalized populations, hospitals should align financial incentives with equitable patient care. They should use social workers and leverage community partnerships to connect patients with needed support. In addition, hospitals should maintain adequate nursing staffing levels to enable nurses to have adequate time with patients and use technology to address language barriers. Cultural competency training and workforce diversity also can facilitate hospitals in providing high-quality equitable care. (Newswise news release, 6/6/25)