Relationships between nurse staffing and patient outcomes.

Nursing studies have shown that nursing care delivery changes affect staff and organizational outcomes, but the effects on client outcomes have not been studied sufficiently. The purpose of this study was thus to examine the effect of nurse staffing variables- daily average hours of care, ratio of RNs to average patient census, workload, and skill mix- on patient outcomes as measured by five adverse occurrences. The adverse patient occurrences included unit rates of patient falls, pressure ulcers, respiratory and urinary tract infections, and patient/family complaints.