Nurses' Workload Linked to Patient Safety

When nurses' workload exceed "optimal" levels, the possibilities of a patient safety incident are inflated by up to roughly 30% and therefore the chances of patient mortality are spiked by around 40% according to a recent study.

The analysis is the first of its kind which explores the connection between nurse workload and patient outcomes on a day to day basis. The researchers gathered primary data from thirty-six units in four Finnish hospitals which included data on nursing workload, staffing, patient safety incidents and mortality rates. The info was collected daily for over one year.

Depending on the kind of patient safety incident, once nursing work exceeded the "optimal" level, the chance of a patient safety incident increased by 8% to 32%! The risk of patient mortality saw a hike of around 43% as and when workload exceeded this level.

The study discovered once workload languishes below that level, leaving nurses with longer periods to treat patients, the risks of a safety incident was around 25% lower.

Although various studies demonstrate the possibly harmful result that inadequate nurse staffing has on patient care, the authors argued some results are "inconsistent" and therefore the association between staffing and rates of mortality and patient safety factors isn’t always easy to figure out.

However, through the analysis of daily data on nurse staffing and safety, the researchers claim that it would be much easier to see figure out the connections with certainty.

Still, the authors emphasized how it remained unclear which method was able to best avoid patient safety incidents and deaths. To determine this, the authors said larger studies over a longer period of time are necessary.

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