One in four registered nurses in Massachusetts has reported that excessive patient case loads have directly contributed to patient deaths, according to a Massachusetts Nurses Association survey.
The survey, which was conducted between April 10 and April 16, includes responses from a representative sample of 322 Massachusetts nurses, 61 percent of whom have no affiliation with MNA.
Highlighted below are nine findings from the survey:
- Eighty-six percent of RNs report they don't have the time to properly comfort and care for patients and families due to unsafe patient assignments.
- Eighty-one percent say they don't have the time to educate patients and provide adequate discharge planning.
- Sixty-one percent report complications for patients and medication errors due to unsafe patient assignments.
- Fifty-six percent report unsafe patient assignments contributed to a patient readmission.
- Half of the RNs surveyed said understaffing has lead to injury and harm to patients.
- A quarter of nurses report they wouldn't feel safe admitting their own family member to the unit on which they work.
- Additionally, 59 percent of nurses report staffing level decisions are more often based on financial concerns and profit margins than assessments of patient needs, up from 48 percent last year.
- Forty percent of nurses (including 53 percent of those working in community hospitals) say their administrators are not responsive to their concerns about excessive patient assignments; and
- Thirty-seven percent of nurses report that their administrators rarely or never adjust patient assignments based on the needs of their patients, up from 25 percent last year.
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