Nurse Staffing Ratio

Abstract/Purpose: (please refer to separate file)

The worsening problem of hospital nursing shortage has resulted to inadequate nurse staffing, which affects our nursing care to our patients and our satisfaction towards our job. Understanding how nursing staffing levels affect both patient and nurse outcomes prompted these researchers to conduct a study on hospital nurse staffing levels (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Sochalski, & Silber, 2002). The purpose of their study was to examine the relationship between the nurse-to-patient ratio and surgical patient outcomes, specifically patient mortality and mortality following complications nurse retention as well as the factors that influence nurse retention (Aiken et al., 2002). The study was conducted

They collated the information about hospital characteristics from the 1999 American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey and the 1999 Pennsylvania Department of Health Hospital Survey (Aiken et al., 2002). They used a nurse staffing measure to calculate the mean patient load of all staff registered nurse assigned to at least 1, but fewer than 20 patients regardless of the specialty and shift across the entire study hospitals (Aiken et al., 2002).

The researchers utilized survey questionnaires in 1999 during the spring season. They mailed the questionnaires to registered nurses randomly, who were on the list of the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing and were a resident of the state (Aiken et al., 2002). The questionnaire consisted of demographic information, current and previous work experience, workload, job satisfaction, and feelings of job-related burnout (Aiken et al., 2002). Furthermore, the researchers used a 4-point scale (from very dissatisfied to very satisfied) for job satisfaction and an Emotional Exhaustion scale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory for job-related burnout (Aiken et al.,

Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between nurse-patient ratio to nurse staffing, job satisfaction, and job-related burnout. Studies had shown that nurses experienced a higher emotional exhaustion and increased job dissatisfaction with a higher nurse-to-patient ratio (Aiken et al., 2002). In addition, the study revealed that 43% of the nurse respondents, who reported job-related burnout and job dissatisfaction, intended to leave their present nursing jobs within the next 12 months (Aiken et al., 2002). The study also showed that an increased of registered nurse staffing decreased both patient mortality and mortality following complications (Aiken et al.,