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Key Points Question What is the effect of adding structured nurse assessment of patient readiness for discharge to standard medical-surgical unit discharge practices on 30-day return to hospital? Findings In this multisite cluster randomized clinical trial, when patient self-assessments were combined with readiness assessment by nurses, high-readmission units showed a reduction in 30-day hospital returns. Mixed results were observed for nurse assessments only and for low-readmission units. Meaning Adding a structured discharge readiness assessment by the discharging nurse that includes patient self-assessment to standard practice for hospital discharge may reduce readmissions and emergency department or observation visits.

We use a fixed effects panel data model to investigate the impact of institutions of governance on the educational attainment of immigrants to the United States over the period 1988-2000. Distinguishing between the quality and stability of political institutions in the countries of origin, we find that the two characteristics of institutional structure have conflicting impacts on the nature of brain drain. Immigrants from countries with a higher quality of political institutions tend to be better educated, on the average, than immigrants from countries with institutions of lower quality. However, immigrants from countries with greater political instability tend to be better educated than immigrants from countries with more stable governments.

This article explores the impact of gender equality on economic growth. In particular, we focus on the multidimensional nature of gender equality with the object of identifying the relative salience of different aspects of equality. Using exploratory factor analysis on five measures of gender equality, we identify two distinct dimensions: equality of economic opportunities and equality in economic and political outcomes. Regression analysis conducted on an unbalanced panel of 101 countries taken over nonoverlapping five-year periods from 1990 to 2000 reveals that a standard deviation improvement in equality in economic opportunity increases growth by 1.3 percentage points and a corresponding improvement in participatory equality improves growth by an average of about 1.2 percentage points. However, this impact is contingent on a country's stage of development: while developing economies experience significant improvements in growth from greater equality in opportunity, developed societies see significant improvements resulting from greater equality in outcomes.

We investigate the impact of civil war on high skilled emigration rates to the OECD over the period 1985-2000. Controlling for economic and institutional characteristics of source countries, we find that civil war increases high skilled emigration by about 5 percent on the average. However, the nature of conflict matters: While brain drain from countries with ethnic conflict is about 6-8 percent greater on average than it is from countries without conflict, brain drain from countries with nonethnic conflict is less, and statistically insignificant. Duration also matters: Each additional year of ethnic conflict worsens the brain drain by between 0.4 and 1 percent, whereas the effect of an additional year of nonethnic conflict is small and insignificant.