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Surgical patients at higher risk as RN caseloads increase

A study of 1998 and 1999 data from 168 Pennsylvania hospitals has found that for each additional patient more than four in an RN's workload, the risk of surgical patient death increases by 7%, according to an Oct 22, 2002, news release from the National Institutes of Health. Patients in hospitals with the lowest nurse staffing levels (ie, eight patients per nurse) have a 31% greater risk of death than patients in hospitals with a staffing level of four patients per nurse. Nationally, these staffing differences could result in as many as 20,000 deaths annually.

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Each additional patient more than four per nurse also represents a 15% increase in risk of job dissatisfaction for nurses and a 23% increase in risk for burnout, according to the study. Of nurses who experience dissatisfaction and burnout, 43% plan to leave their jobs within the next year compared to 11% who plan to leave their jobs for other reasons. The estimated cost to health care facilities for replacing a specialty nurse can amount to $64,000.

The study included 10,000 nurses and more than 232,000 surgical patients undergoing common surgeries, including appendectomies and orthopedic and vascular surgeries. The findings emphasize the relationship between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes and indicate that adequate nurse staffing levels can save lives and money, as well as help retain staff members.

More Surgical Patients Die When Nurses' Caseloads Increase (news release, Bethesda, Md: National Institutes of Health, Oct 22, 2002) http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/ oct2002/ninr-22.htm (accessed 22 Oct 2002).

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Surgical patients at higher risk as RN caseloads increase

AORN Journal, Dec, 2002

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