Health care facility policy on nurse staffing levels has been a flashpoint within the health care industry. Hospitals are looking to balance patient care with cost control when they derive a formula for staffing levels. The nursing profession understandably has their own set of opinions on this question, both as a matter of employment related self interest and also concerning the impact that staffing levels have on every nurse’s ability to do the job adequately. To an important degree, nurses working a shift on a single unit together work as a team. Advocates of healthcare and some government agencies have approached the issue prioritizing quality care for the patient.
Conclusions from the Public Sector
In 2001, four separate agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sponsored a study on the issue, conducted under contract by the Harvard School of Medicine. Among the study highlights was the conclusion that “Viewing nursing care as an integral part of the clinical care process rather than an isolated or separate component, the study found strong and consistent relationships between nurse staffing variables and important patient outcomes in acute care hospital inpatient units in the following :
Medical Patients
urinary tract infection
pneumonia
shock
upper gastrointestinal bleeding
length of stay
Major Surgical Patients
Failure to rescue (defined as the death rate among patients with sepsis, pneumonia, shock, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, or deep vein thrombosis)
In other words, patients in hospitals with inadequate nurse staffing levels are at substantially more risk than those in hospitals with a full complement of personnel. This particular example is referencing acutely ill patients, with the result of inadequate nurse staffing being a higher rate of mortality, additional medical complications, and extended stays as inpatients.
The same conclusion can be drawn for patients in for routine surgical procedures or less acute illnesses. Fewer nurses lead to poor treatment which leads to either aborted recovery or increased illness.
