Adverse Patient Outcomes

Some adverse patient outcomes potentially sensitive to nursing care are urinary tract infections (UTIs), pneumonia, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, shock, longer hospital stays, failure to rescue, and 30-day mortality. Most research has focused on adverse rather than positive patient outcomes for the simple reason that adverse outcomes are much more likely to be documented in the medical record (http://archive.ahrq.gov/research/findings/factsheets/services/nursestaffing/nursestf2.html#note) . When nurses are forced to work with a high volume of patients, there are greater risks for patient mortality, infections, and injuries. Also, patients tend to be released too early without proper education on how to take care of their illness or injury.

Therefore, patients return right back to the hospital, but this time, they are even sicker than they were before. When nurses have fewer patients, they can provide better patient care. Furthermore, nurses will have more time to educate patients on their health so that patients are more likely to understand how to manage their diseases/illnesses, walk with crutches, and watch for signs of infection or brain injury. This can help prevent further patients' illnesses or deterioration and patients will have a better idea on when to seek help. When nurses have fewer patients, they are more likely to intercept and prevent errors, so fewer patients die or get injured. Ultimately, patients are more likely to thrive when nurses have more time to communicate with physicians, insurance companies or others about the patient's treatment plan to make sure the patient gets everything he/she needs (http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/faq/short-staffed.html#icn_report).