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. 2019 May;49(5):260-265.
doi: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000000748.

Nurse Staffing and Healthcare-Associated Infection, Unit-Level Analysis

Jingjing Shang  1 , Jack Needleman, Jianfang Liu, Elaine Larson, Patricia W Stone
Affiliations

Nurse Staffing and Healthcare-Associated Infection, Unit-Level Analysis

Jingjing Shang et al. J Nurs Adm. 2019 May.

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and nurse staffing are associated using unit-level staffing data.

Background: Previous studies of the association between HAIs and nurse staffing are inconsistent and limited by methodological weaknesses.

Methods: Cross-sectional data between 2007 and 2012 from a large urban hospital system were analyzed. HAIs were diagnosed using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network definitions. We used Cox proportional-hazards regression model to examine the association of nurse staffing (2 days before HAI onset) with HAIs after adjusting for individual risks.

Results: Fifteen percent of patient-days had 1 shift understaffed, defined as staffing below 80% of the unit median for a shift, and 6.2% had both day and night shifts understaffed. Patients on units with both shifts understaffed were significantly more likely to develop HAIs 2 days later.

Conclusions: Understaffing is associated with increased risk of HAIs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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