Link proved between nurse numbers and patient mortality - 25th October 2006

Source RCN

Patients staying in hospitals where there are fewer nurses on the wards are more likely to die or experience complications, according to a major new study launched at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

The independent study which has not been performed in the UK before confirmed that in the Trusts that participated, the number of fatalities increased when staff numbers were reduced.

The research also finds that nurses working on wards where nurse to patient ratio are lower are much more likely to experience 'burn out'.

Anyone who has been the victim of deteriorating care or further problems whilst in hospital may be able to claim for medical negligence compensation.

For her research Professor Anne Marie Rafferty surveyed nearly four thousand nurses and looked at 118,752 patient episodes of care in 30 hospital trusts in England. She found that wards with lower nurse to patient ratios had a 26% higher patient mortality rate.

Professor Rafferty concluded that had there been more nurses on the wards, 246 lives could have been saved. Prof Rafferty's other major finding is that nurses in the hospitals with the heaviest workloads are between 71% and 92% more likely to experience burn out and become dissatisfied with their jobs. They are also more likely to report low or deteriorating quality of care on their wards and hospitals. Conversely, hospitals where the number of nurses per patient are greatest, experience significantly lower surgical mortality rates.

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