Introduction The problems of nurse shortages and inadequate staffing remain to be serious in the healthcare institutions in the United States and globally. The issue requires further discussion because researchers point to the relationship between the workforce size and mortality of patients in hospitals, and this problem is one of the most challenging questions in nursing. In their article “Nurse Staffing, Medical Staffing and Mortality in Intensive Care: An Observational Study”, West et al. (2014) described the results of the quantitative observational study aimed at exploring the above-mentioned issue. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the article with a focus on its effectiveness and significance to the field of nursing. Research Problem and Purpose Patients with severe diseases and those who have no assistance from the family are often treated in intensive care units (ICUs). However, the problem is in the fact that ICUs should be well-staffed to provide high-quality care, but the costs of hiring an adequate number of staff are high. Focusing on the aspect of the disparity between the required staff-patient ratio and ICUs’ actual staff policies, West et al. (2014) concentrated on the problem of the relationship between the staffing approach in ICUs and patient outcomes or mortality. The researchers noted that the previous studies were mainly qualitative, and they did not demonstrate the actual relationship, or they argued that ICUs had no problems with staffing. West et al. (2014) observed the situation in discussing the problem with the focus on possible gaps. They formulated the purpose of the research that was to explore the relationship between the staff number in ICUs and the level of mortality or patients’ “survival chances” (West et al., 2014, p. 782). The rationale for the research was also supported by the statement that the main evidence on the topic was presented in the studies by only a few investigators from the United States. Therefore, the study aimed at contributing to the existing knowledge in the area of nursing. Research Questions and Hypotheses Instead of presenting the research questions, West et al. (2014) focused on formulating hypotheses based on the literature review. In order to discuss the contribution of different types of personnel to the survival of patients in ICUs, the researchers provided different hypotheses for the relationship between the number of nurses and rates of patient mortality, the number of consultants and rates of mortality, and the number of support staff and mortality. The hypotheses were based on the assumption that the higher number of different specialists working in an ICU is related to the lower rates of mortality among severely ill patients. The final hypothesis was formulated to explore the relationship between the workload and the survival rates. The decision to investigate the studied relationship separately for different groups of the staff can be discussed as effective to assist in understanding the role of nurses in influencing the patient mortality rates when the staffing policy is not appropriate. Theoretical Framework and Study Variables The researchers identified the pat