The study was published in the fourth quarter 1998 issue of the nursing journal, Image. M.D. According to Christine Kovner, PhD, RN, one of the study s authors, the finding of a strong inverse relationship between registered nurse staffing and adverse patient events should be considered when developing strategies to reduce costs. Cutting costs by cutting the number of nurses at the bedside is a false economy today. Almost every patient admitted to the hospital is seriously ill. When patients already have serious or life-threatening illnesses, they don t need additional serious complications on top of them.
Nurses are patients first line of defense.
The ANA believes hospitals should disclose to the public data on their staffing mix of health care providers and on patient outcomes. Patient safety protection legislation which did not pass during the current session of Congress would have mandated such disclosure. ANA will continue to press for the passage of this key patient protection in the coming year. Health care professional whistleblower protection legislation supported by ANA would accomplish this goal. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.