Hospital Nurses in RI Say Patients Suffer Due to Unsafe Staffing Practices
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Nurses working in Rhode Island hospitals think that patient care is adversely impacted by unsafe staffing practices, compelling RNs to take care of too many patients at one time, according to a recent poll released by the United Nurses and Allied Professionals (UNAP) on Wednesday.
“This poll confirms what nurses and bedside caregivers have been saying for years: Hospital administrators are unequivocally and unabashedly ignoring dangerously low staffing levels in Rhode Island hospitals and patients are feeling the impact,” said Linda McDonald, RN, UNAP president.
The poll was conducted over a seven day period in December by Anderson Robbins Research and showed that only one third of responding RNs feel they have time to give needed care and attention to patients and their families.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Nurses and health professionals are being pushed beyond the limit and it’s led to a crisis of care in our hospitals. Because hospitals refuse to act, it’s time for the General Assembly to take action and ensure that patients are afforded the proper level of care and protection,” McDonald added.
Poll's Key Findings
• By a two-to-one margin, RNs are more likely to think that the quality of patient care in the state’s hospitals has gotten worse than better in the past two years. Among those who think care is worse, understaffing is cited as the main reason.
• More than eight-in-ten RNs believe that the quality of patient care is suffering due to over-assignment of patients, and more than six-in-ten feel that they do not have enough time to provide patients with the necessary care.
• Over half of RNs believe that the staffing situation has gotten worse over the past four years, and two-thirds say that staffing decisions are made based on hospital finances and profit margins, rather than patient acuity and staff workloads.
• Nurses are highly aware of a range of specific negative patient outcomes as a result of inadequate staffing, including longer hospital stays and complications or readmissions. One-in-ten reported awareness of a patient’s death having resulted from unsafe staffing.
• Both UNAP members and non-members overwhelmingly favor passing a law to establish a limit on the number of patients a nurse is assigned at one time. More than eight-in-ten RNs agree that the proposed law will improve the quality of patient care.
Legislation Introduced
Legislation has been introduced by Rep. Eileen Naughton and Senator Joshua Miller that would establish safe and responsible limits on the number of patients a nurse or caregiver may be compelled to treat at one time, with the appropriate nurse/patient ratio being determined by care unit.
“We are very grateful to Rep. Naughton and Sen. Miller for leading on this important issue and look forward to working with them and other stakeholders as their bills hopefully advance through the legislative process,” McDonald said.
The bill is expected to be heard on Wednesday afternoon in the House Committee on Health Education and Welfare, at the rise of the House.
The Poll
A total of 300 interviews with Rhode Island Registered Nurses were conducted by trained professionals working from a central, monitored location. Respondents were randomly selected from a list registered nurses licensed in Rhode Island and screened to identify those currently working in hospitals.
Of the 300 respondents, 264 work in hospital providing direct patient care and the remaining work in a hospital but do not provide acute care.
Additionally, 126 respondents are members of UNAP and the remainder are not members.
UNAP was not revealed to respondents as the sponsor of the research until after interviews were complete.
Related Slideshow: Check Out The Grades: Rhode Island Hospitals Report Card
A recent survey released by The Leapfrog Group assigns a Hospital Safety Score, using the report card system of A to F to each of the hospitals in Rhode Island. These grades are based on expert analysis of injuries, infections and errors that cause harm or death during a hospital stay.
Let's see how each of Rhode Island's hospitals were graded from highest to lowest:
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