Low nursing staff levels lead to higher risk of death for patients

MONDAY, Aug. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The risk of patient death associated with a shortage of nursing staff is only partially mitigated by using temporary workers to cover the shortage, according to a study published online Aug. 19 in JAMA network opened.

Peter Griffiths, RN, Ph.D., of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the association between care team composition and patient risk of death. The analysis included data from 185 wards in four acute hospitals in England between April 2015 and March 2020 (626,313 admissions).

The researchers found that the risk of death was higher when patients were exposed to understaffing with registered nurses (RNs; adjusted hazard ratio). [aHR]1.08) and nursing assistants (aHR, 1.07). For every 10 percent increase in the proportion of nursing staff employed on a temporary basis, the risk of death increased, with no difference between agency workers (aHR, 1.023) and bank employees (aHR, 1.02). For every 10 percent increase in the proportion of nursing assistants employed by agency workers, the risk of death increased (aHR, 1.04). The evidence on staff seniority was mixed.

“These findings demonstrate that while the benefits of avoiding staff shortages may outweigh the harms associated with the use of temporary workers, particularly for nurses, the risk remains elevated when temporary workers are used to fill staff shortages, challenging the assumption that temporary workers are a cost-effective long-term solution to maintaining patient safety,” the authors write.

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