Nursing is a soft target for budget reductions. This statement was made by Professor Linda Aiken, a researcher from the University of Pennsylvania, at the recent Queensland Nurses Union symposium in Brisbane.

Prof Aiken was one of the investigators in a study which concluded that registered nurses in Europe working shifts of greater than or equal to 12 hours and those working overtime report lower quality and safety and more care left undone.

Based on recently published research about nurses’ shift length and overtime associated with perceived quality of care and patient safety, she showed that being overworked and doing overtime have a real direct impact on patient outcomes:

• Each one patient increase in a nurse’s workload is associated with a 7 per cent increase in hospital death after common surgery.
• The greater the number of bachelor-educated nurses, the lower the number of deaths.
• Lower patient satisfaction in hospitals that used more overseas-educated nurses.

Professor Aiken added that the improvement of patient safety is hampered because we are ignoring the foundational contribution of adequate nurse staffing and good work environments.

Click here for the ABC story and here for the full text of the study Nurses’ Shift Length and Overtime Working in 12 European Countries.

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