Make the Case
Recent studies have demonstrated what most health care consumers already know: nursing care and quality patient care are inextricably linked. Massive reductions in nursing budgets, combined with the challenges presented by a growing nursing shortage have resulted in fewer nurses working longer hours and caring for sicker patients. This situation compromises care and contributes to the nursing shortage by creating an environment that drives nurses from the bedside.
Resources
- Key Findings from Research Studies
- Reference List on Safe Staffing
- Charting the Nurse's Future [pdf]
- The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators™ (NDNQI®)
- When Care Becomes a Burden: Diminishing Access to Adequate Nursing
- Position Statement: Assuring Patient Safety: The Employers' Role In Promoting Healthy Nursing Work Hours for Registered Nurses in All Roles and Settings - 12/08/06 [pdf]
- ANA Position: Given the well-documented relationship between nurse fatigue and an increased
risk of nurse error with the potential for compromising patient care and safety, it is the position of
the American Nurses Association that all employers of registered nurses should ensure
sufficient system resources to provide the individual registered nurse in all roles and settings
with:
1. a work schedule that provides for adequate rest and recuperation between scheduled
work; and
2. sufficient compensation and appropriate staffing systems that foster a safe and healthful
environment in which the registered nurse does not feel compelled to seek supplemental
income through overtime, extra shifts, and other practices that contribute to worker
fatigue.
- Position Statement: Assuring Patient Safety: Registered Nurses' Responsibility in All Roles and Settings to Guard Against Working When Fatigued - 12/08/06 [pdf]
- ANA Position: The American Nurses Association (ANA) takes the position that,
regardless of the number of hours worked, each registered nurse has an ethical
responsibility to carefully consider her/his level of fatigue when deciding whether to
accept any assignment extending beyond the regularly scheduled work day or week,
including a mandatory or voluntary overtime assignment.