Exploring the association between nurse workload and nurse-sensitive patient safety outcome indicators

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Patient Safety Research
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Nurse staffing levels are recognized as a factor influencing patient safety.
• Taiwan's Department of Health currently does not mandate changes to nurse workforce standards in medical institutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the workload experienced by nurses in medical institutions.
• To determine the correlation between nurse workload and nurse-sensitive patient safety outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional quantitative study utilizing a self-designed logbook for data collection.
• 1,358 valid responses from nurses across various acute care medical institutions in Taiwan.
• Data analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman rho correlation, and odds ratios.

Main Results:

• Positive association found between nurse overtime and adverse patient safety outcomes: patient falls, pressure ulcers, medication errors, unplanned extubation, hospital-acquired pneumonia, and urinary tract infections.
• Risk of falls, pressure ulcers, unplanned extubation, hospital-acquired pneumonia, and urinary tract infections significantly increased when the patient-nurse ratio exceeded 7:1.

Conclusions:

• A significant positive correlation exists between nurse workforce levels and nurse-sensitive patient outcome indicators.
• Findings support the development of evidence-based nursing workforce standards for medical institutions.