Nursing Shortage Contributes to Increased Death Rates

The BBC News recently reported that scientists discovered mortality was 26% higher for the hospitals with the worst staffing levels compared with those with more nurses per patient. Professor Anne Marie Rafferty, lead researcher on the study and a health services researcher from Kings College London, said: "We calculate that some 246 fewer deaths would have occurred in these 30 trusts had all the patients been treated in hospitals with the most favorable staffing levels. "The number of lives that could potentially be saved through investments in nursing throughout NHS hospitals could be thousands every year."

The percentage increase in mortality is staggering considering how many qualified nurse applicants there are but cannot begin their studies due to the nurse educator staffing shortage. These patients could've been saved if only there were enough nurses to attend to them. Dr Beverly Malone, general secretary for the Royal College of Nursing, said: "This new independent research backs up what nurses have always known: that nurse numbers really do matter and that nurses make a life and death difference to how well their patients recover. The scientists said the findings in England closely mirror those of the US and Canadian components, which were published recently.

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