Improving Patient Outcomes: A Case Study

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Recommended: Impacts of shortages in nursing

Many studies demonstrate that decreased nursing staff results in reduced patient outcomes. For example, one study from two random national surveys of registered nurses (RNs) and chief nursing officers (CNOs) found that the majority of RNs and CNOs observed the nursing shortage in hospitals and believed it to be a key issue for the overall safety and quality of patient care (Buerhaus et al., 2005). This study determined that the nursing shortage caused significant problems in four major areas of nursing practice, which include collaboration with teams, early detection of patient complications, ability to maintain patient safety, and time spent with patients. First, short staffing negatively affects staff communication, collaboration, and

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