Nurses are the backbone of any hospital. They provide care for patients and ensure that they are safe from harm. Nurses also help to uphold a clean environment, which is important in preventing infections. However, nurses have become overworked due to short staffing and it has been shown that this can lead to patient-safety issues such as hospital-acquired infection or even death. With more nursing staff at hospitals, there would be less risk of these problems occurring because nurses could spend more time with each patient instead of being pulled away for other duties like cleaning up messes or helping out other departments in need during busy times. The statistics show that one nurse per ten patients is not enough; according to research by the American Association of Colleges Nursing (AACN), "the average number needed is 1:6". In order to keep patients safe and healthy, we must increase the amount of available nursing staff so they may take on their full responsibilities without interruption."
Nurse staffing is a problem because it has been shown to be linked with higher rates of hospital-acquired infections and other complications. The article states that “Linear regression showed significant associations between the number of nurses on duty at night and the risk for hospital-acquired infection,” meaning that as more nurses are present, there is less chance for patients to contract an infection. This could be due to a correlation between low nurse staffing levels and increased patient mortality rates. A study found that hospitals with high numbers of registered nurses had lower death rates than those with few RNs per bed (Hospital Staffing Study). In addition, studies have also shown connections between low nursing staff levels in hospitals and increases in hypertension among patients (Linear Regression Analysis). There are many negative effects associated with having too few nurses working at one time which can lead to poor quality care or even worse: death.
Nurse staffing is linked to financial performance in a variety of ways. Low nurse staffing can lead to increased patient falls, hospital-acquired infections, and mortality rates. This not only increases the cost of care for patients but also leads to higher insurance premiums for all members of society due to the increase in health care costs.
In addition, low nurse staffing has been shown through linear regression analysis that it decreases quality scores as well as length-of-stay (LOS) which leads hospitals with lower staff levels have less revenue per adjusted discharge than those with higher staff levels. Furthermore, there is a correlation between high nursing turnover rates and lower quality scores on patient satisfaction surveys which means that nurses are more likely to leave when they feel overworked or underappreciated by their employer; this would then mean an even greater shortage of nurses at the facility leading back into a cycle where there will be decreased LOSs because there aren’t enough nurses available during shift changes or breaks from work.
The bottom line is that if you want your hospital stay experience better - hire more nurses!
The consequences of understaffing nurses can be seen in a variety of ways. One way is through hospital-acquired infections, which have been shown to increase by as much as 50% when nurse staffing levels are low. Another consequence is that patients who need assistance with activities such as eating and bathing will not receive this care due to lack of staff available for these tasks. The increased risk for falls and injuries also increases without adequate nursing supervision or help from other family members (Linear regression).
Nursing shortages lead to higher costs because hospitals must hire more expensive substitutes like physicians, physician assistants, or certified nurse practitioners instead. There has also been an increase in hypertension among those who work long hours on their feet all day (Correlation).
The article claims that there is no direct correlation. However, the author does mention that hospital-acquired infections are more likely to happen when nurses have too many patients to care for at one time. This can be because of the increased risk of infection from having inadequate hand washing or other safety measures in place due to being overworked. The author also mentions how low nurse staffing has been linked with higher rates of patient mortality and readmission rates as well as poorer quality care overall (Linear regression). In addition, they state how hospitals with high levels of nursing vacancies were found to have lower Medicare reimbursement than those without them (Correlation).
The Cost of Low Nurse Staffing
Nursing is a profession that has been around for centuries, but in recent decades there have been many changes to the field. The number of nurses per hospital bed has decreased due to budget cuts and increased patient load. Nurses are now more likely than ever before to be overworked and understaffed which can lead to mistakes being made on patients' charts or even worse, mistakes during care. When hospitals don’t hire enough nurses they rely heavily on temporary workers who may not know the hospital's procedures as well as permanent staff members do. Hospitals should invest in hiring more qualified nursing staff so that this problem will no longer exist.