Replacing professional nurses with nursing assistants linked to heightened death risk

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/b-rpn111116.php

Public Release: 15-Nov-2016
Replacing professional nurses with nursing assistants linked to heightened death risk
Odds rise by 21 percent for each substitution per 25 patients, large European study reveals
BMJ

Replacing professionally qualified nurses with lower skilled nursing assistants is linked to a heightened risk of patient death, as well as other indicators of poor quality care, reveals a large European study, published online in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety.

For every 25 patients, just one professional nurse substitution was associated with a 21% rise in the odds of dying in a hospital with average nurse staffing levels and skill mix, the findings show, prompting the researchers to conclude that "diluting" the hospital nurse skill mix "is not in the public interest."

Financial pressures, healthcare reforms, and staff shortages are forcing hospitals to look at their nursing skill mix, which varies considerably within and between countries.

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