On 10/4/06, David B. Shemano <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
What is the evidence that nurses are in short supply? That more nurses are needed after the nurses passed legislation requiring the employment of more nurses? Another government created shortage. What a joke. David Shemano
http://www.icn.ch/matters_rnptratio.htm Recently conducted large scale research found that: In a given unit the optimal workload for a nurse was four patients. Increasing the workload to 6 resulted in patients being 14% more likely to die within 30 days of admission. A workload of 8 patients versus 4 was associated with a 31% increase in mortality.[ 4] Higher nurse staffing levels resulted in reduced numbers of urinary track infections, pneumonia, upper gastrointestinal bleeding and shock in medical patients and lower rates of "failure to rescue" and urinary track infections in major surgery patients. [5] Low registered nurse (RN) staffing levels and poor organizational climates have been found to put nurses at greater risk of needle stick injuries. [6] 4. Aiken, Linda; Clarke, Sean; Sloane, Douglas; Sochalski, Julie; Silber, Jeffrey; Hospital Nurse Staffing and Patient Mortality, Nurse Burnout, and Job Dissatisfaction, JAMA. 2002; 288: 1987-1993 5. Needlemann, Jack; Buerhaus, Peter; Mattke, Soeren; Steward, Maureen; Zelevinsky, Katya; Nurse-Staffing Levels and the Quality of Care in Hospitals, N Engl J Med. 2002; 346 (22): 1715 – 1722 6. Clarke, Sean P.; Sloane, Douglas M.; Aiken, Linda H.; Effects of Hospital Staffing and Organizational Climate on Needlestick Injuries to Nurses, American Journal of Public Health, 2002; 92 (7): 1115 – 1119 These and other recent studies show a significant association between higher nurse: patient ratios and better patient outcomes.
