Nurse staffing levels and patient complications linked - Brief Article

AORN Journal, July, 2002

A recent data analysis confirms a link between the number of RNs and the amount of time they have to spend with patients and whether patients develop serious complications or die while in the hospital, according to a May 29, 2002, news release from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Investigators reexamined their previous analysis, which was released in April 2001 by the Health Resources and Services Administration. These agencies, along with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the National Institute for Nursing Research, are working together to improve nursing care in US hospitals.

The original report and the updated analysis, which is printed in the May 30, 2002, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, were conducted by investigators from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville. Investigators reviewed discharge and staffing data from 799 hospitals in 11 states to estimate nurse staffing levels and frequency of complications including death in patients during their hospital stay. These data represent six million medical and surgical patients who were discharged in 1997.

During the second analysis, investigators confirmed their original finding that lower RN staffing levels are linked to higher rates of serious patient complications; however, they did not find an association between nurse staffing and overall death rates among medical or surgical patients. They also discovered that complications occur 3% to 9% more frequently in hospitals with a lower number of RNs on staff.

New Analysis Confirms Direct Link Between Nurse Staffing and Patient Complications and Deaths in Hospitals (news release, Rockville, Md: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, May 29, 2002).