Nurse Staffing Ratios

Issue
Need for Research
PICO Question
Possible Research Approach
Potential Problems
Importance of Research
Nurse staffing ratios differ depending on
the facility. A facility may have a staffing
grid based on numbers alone, while others
may take patient acuity into consideration
.
Nurse staffing ratios affect :
Safety
Patient falls
Medication errors
Patient Outcomes
Hospital acquired infections
Readmission rates
Patient mortality
It is necessary to provide research results
so nursing staff is able to ensure positive
patient outcomes and patient safety
during admission. Nurses are responsible to
advocate for each of their patients and
to make sure they are safe. Nurse staffing
ratios make a difference in patient care
on a day to day basis as well provided
education prior to discharge.
How do low patient-nurse ratios
compared to high patient-nurse ratios
affect inpatient outcomes and
safety?
A quantitative approach for this research will be
used. Patient safety numbers and patient
outcomes will be tracked from different facilities.
Information will be compared from facilities
having a lower patient-nurse ratio than the
others. Most hospitals routinely gather
information regarding patient falls, medication
errors, hospital acquired infections readmissions
and patient mortality. There will only be a need
to record nurse-patient ratio to report with the
information listed above.
Among many other reasons, it is financially
crucial that hospitals are providing safe
care and have positive patient outcomes.
The 1999 Institute of Medicine study To
Err is Human estimated the total
medical costs for treating inpatient
preventable adverse medication events
at $2 billion annually. (Frith, 2012)
The Affordable Care Acts Hospital
Readmissions Reduction Program
(HRRP) penalizes hospitals based on
excess readmission rates among
Medicare beneficiaries. (McHugh, 2013)
The results from this research may
enhance nursing care for patients if it is
decided to lower nurse-patient ratio. Research may be impacted by the choice of
facilities used. For instance, if a rehabilitation
hospital, acute care hospital and a long term
care facility are used, results are not going to
give an accurate account for numbers
obtained. Also, some facilities may have
systems in place to closely monitor areas where
information will be obtained, and others may
not.
References:
Frith, K., Anderson, E., Tseng, F., and Fong, E. Nurse Staffing Is an Important Strategy to Prevent Medication Errors in
Community Hospitals. (2012). Retrieved from:
https://www.nursingeconomics.net/necfiles/specialissue/2012/Frith_Staffing.pdf

McHugh, M., Berez, J., and Small, D. Hospitals With Higher Nurse Staffing Had Lower Odds Of Readmissions Penalties
Than Hospitals With Lower Staffing. (2013). Retrieved from:
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/10/1740.abstract

Patricia Beemer