Temporary staffing and patient death in acute care hospitals: A retrospective longitudinal study

Summary

This study from Dall'Ora et al., published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, explores the association between the levels of temporary nurse staffing and patient mortality. They found that heavy reliance on temporary staff is associated with higher risk for patients dying. The risk of death increased by 12% 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. However, there is no evidence of harm associated with modest use of temporary registered nurses so that required staffing levels can be maintained.