Relationship between the number of nurses on staff and the outcomes of nurse-sensitive patients in acute specialized units: A systematic review

<div><strong>Background</strong>: The relationship between hospital acquired infections, patient outcomes, adverse events and death, and nursing workloads has been shown in several research. In order to examine the relationship between patient outcomes and the number of nurses on an acute specialty unit, we conducted this systematic review.</div> <div><strong>Method</strong>: To enhance the quality of the systematic review, we followed the PRISMA declaration. We searched electronic sources; Pubmed, Google Scholar, and CINAHL to find research publications that looked into the relationship between patient outcomes and the number of nurses on acute specialty units. The search was limited to the English language and published between 2014 and 2023.</div> <div><strong>Result</strong>: Six cross-sectional studies were considered in this systematic review. The majority of the research focused on two outcomes: morality and length of ICU hospitalization. Two studies do not include the typical NPR definition. One comprised 69 ICUs, found that a lower bed-to-nurse ratio and a daily plan of care review were both associated with a lower yearly ICU mortality. Instead than focusing on ICU personnel, improving communication is a low-cost, process-specific intervention strategy that may improve clinical outcomes in patients receiving ICU care.</div> <div><strong>Conclusion</strong>: A negative association was seen in the majority of the included studies between hospital mortality, length of stay in the intensive care unit, and a rise of nurses in relation to the number of hospital beds or admitted patients.</div>