Nursing staffing, nursing workload, the work environment and patient outcomes

Christine Duffield; Donna Diers; Linda O'Brien-Pallas; Chris Aisbett; Michael Roche; Madeleine King; Kate Aisbett

doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2009.12.004

Nursing staffing, nursing workload, the work environment and patient outcomes

Appl Nurs Res. 2011 Nov;24(4):244-55. doi: 10.1016/j.apnr.2009.12.004. Epub 2010 Feb 10.

Authors

Christine Duffield¹, Donna Diers, Linda O'Brien-Pallas, Chris Aisbett, Michael Roche, Madeleine King, Kate Aisbett

Affiliation

¹ Centre for Health Services Management, Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway, NSW, Australia. christine.duffield@uts.edu.au

PMID: 20974086
DOI: 10.1016/j.apnr.2009.12.004

Abstract

Nurse staffing (fewer RNs), increased workload, and unstable nursing unit environments were linked to negative patient outcomes including falls and medication errors on medical/surgical units in a mixed method study combining longitudinal data (5 years) and primary data collection.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Humans
New South Wales
Outcome Assessment, Health Care*
Personnel Staffing and Scheduling*
Workload*