Nursing Staff Levels

Term Paper # 99316

Medical and Health > Medical Studies
Medical and Health > Nursing

An analysis of the study "Registered Nurse Hours Worked per Patient Day: The Key to Assessing Staffing Effectiveness and Ensuring Patient Safety", by Joanne Ritter-Teitel.

921 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper reveals that the majority of preventable medical errors are due to inadequate staffing of registered nurses. This paper provides a critique of the study performed by Joanne Ritter-Teitel that sought to demonstrate that an increase in patient safety levels corresponded to an increase in the nurse:patient ratio.

From the Paper:

"The majority of preventable medical errors are due to inadequate staffing of Registered Nurses. Wilson (2004) believes that adequate RN staffing, versus nursing support services, is necessary in order to maintain quality patient care. Wilson (2004) cites statistics as high as a 7% increased mortality rate for each patient above the 4 to 1 ratio and that preventable medical errors cost an average of $17 billion per year. With this problem in mind, and the growing number of state legislative bodies either enacting mandatory nurse:patient ratios or currently debating the topic, the current study sought to contribute to the body of existing literature demonstrating an increase in patient safety levels with a corresponding increase in the nurse:patient ratio."

Sample of Sources Used:

Ritter-Teitel, J. (2004). Registered nurse hours worked per patient day: The key to assessing staffing effectiveness ad ensuring patient safety. Journal of Nursing Administration, 34, 167-169.
Sovie, M. J. (2001). A hospital restructuring and its impact on outcomes. Journal of Nursing Administration, 31, 588-600.
Trochim, M. (2006). Internal validity. Research Methods Knowledge Base. Cornell University. Retrieved on August 26, 2006 from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/ intval.htm
Wilson, P. (2004). The costs and benefits of safe staffing ratios. AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees Fact Sheet. Retrieved on July 16, 2006 from http://www.dpeaflcio.org/policy/factsheets/fs_2004_staffratio.htm