Dive Brief:
- A new study published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies has concluded that higher numbers of doctors and nurses in the ICU could increase survival rates of high-risk patients.
- To do the study, researchers looked at information on 38,168 patients from 65 different ICUs around the United Kingdom.
- Higher numbers of nurses per bed and consultants were associated with higher survival rates, the study found. The number of nurses had the greatest impact on patients at high risk of death.
Dive Insight:
Everywhere you look, nurses are fighting for lower patient-to-staff ratios, which they say are necessary to provide the kind of care appropriate to patients' needs. This study seems to underscore their point, at least when it comes to ICU patients. Future studies need to look at clinical outcomes relative to staffing in other areas of the hospital as well. Perhaps science can resolve what politics has not.