Study of Nursing Shortage Impact on Patient Care

A recent study of the nursing shortage shows that views on the shortage's affects on hospital patient care vary widely.  The study was conducted by Vanderbilt University Medical Center ’s Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies and Massachusetts General Hospital .  The researchers analyzed the results of three national surveys of registered nurses, physicians, and hospital executives.  

The results of the study show that the nursing shortage has negatively impacted communication, nurse-patient relationships and timeliness of care and overall efficiency. The study further shows that there are broad differences among various health care professionals regarding approaches to improving patient care safety.  

According to a majority of the Registered Nurses and Chief Nursing Officers surveyed, there were deep concerns about the impact of the shortage on prompt detection of patient complications as well as patient safety.   However, most of the surveyed physicians and Chief Executive Officers did not believe nursing shortages were closely linked to failure to detect patient complications or overall worsened patient safety.   

According to the authors, the study proves that hospital health care staff need to have better communication in order to improve patient care safety.

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