Using temporary nurses can increase risk of patients dying, warns new study

Patients are more likely to die on wards staffed by a high number of temporary nurses, a study has found.

Researchers say the findings, published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, are a warning sign that the common practice by many hospitals of relying on agency nurses is not a risk-free option for patients.

The University of Southampton study found that risk of death increased by 12 per cent for every day a patient experienced a high level of temporary staffing – defined as 1.5 hours of agency nursing a day per patient. For an average ward, this increased risk could apply when between a third and a half of the staff on each shift are temporary staff, according to Professor Peter Griffiths, one of the study’s authors.

He told The Independent: “We know that patients are put at risk of harm when nurse staffing is lower than it should be.

“One of the responses to that is to fill the gaps with temporary nursing staff, and that is an absolutely understandable thing to do, but when using a higher number of temporary staff there is an increased risk of harm.

“It is not a solution to the problem.”

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Source: The Independent, 10 December 2019