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Nursing Shortage Facts

Projected RN Supply & Demand
http://www.health-force.com/Hospitals/ProjectedRNSupplyandDemand.pdf

The Impact of the National Nursing Shortage on Quality Cancer Care
Oncology Nursing Society
http://www.ons.org/publications/positions/documents/pdfs/NursingShortage.pdf

AACN Nursing Shortage Facts
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/Backgrounders/shortagefacts.htm

Impact of Nurse Staffing on Patient Care

Many recent studies point to the connection between adequate levels of registered nurse staffing and safe patient care. 

Of note:

According to a study published in the October 23/30, 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, more nurses at the bedside could save thousands of patient lives each year. Nurse researchers at the University of Pennsylvania determined that patients who have common surgeries in hospitals with high nurse-to-patient ratios have an up to 31% increased chance of dying. Funded by the National Institute for Nursing Research, the study found that every additional patient in an average hospital nurse's workload increased the risk of death in surgical patients by 7%. Having too few nurses may actually cost more money given the high costs of replacing burnt-out nurses and caring for patients with poor outcomes.
 www.nursing.upenn.edu/news/detail.asp?t=2&id=23

In Health Care at the Crossroads: Strategies for Addressing the Evolving Nursing Crisis, a report released in August 2002 by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the authors found that a shortage of nurses in America's hospitals is putting patient lives in danger. JCAHO examined 1609 hospital reports of patient deaths and injuries since 1996 and found that low nursing staff levels were a contributing factor in 24% of the cases. www.jcaho.org