Hospital Nurse Understaffing and Patient Mortality, Readmission, and Length of Stay
In this cohort study, nurse understaffing during the 24-hour period (specifically during the day shift) was associated with increased risk of in-hospital mortality, hospital readmission, and longer LOS. These findings suggest that close attention to daily staffing levels and prompt action to address understaffing may help improve patient outcomes. Nurse managers should routinely monitor deviations from this benchmark to address immediate needs and enable rapid adjustments through feasible strategies.
Authors
- Mutsuko Moriwaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4222-0891)
- Atsushi Miyawaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6126-1464)
- Noriko Morioka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9355-4173)
- Christina Saville (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7718-5689)
- Peter Griffiths (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2439-2857)
- Kiyohide Fushimi
Institutions
- University of Tsukuba (JP)
- Tsukuba University of Technology (JP)
- National Institute of Public Health (JP)
- Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry (JP)
- University of Southampton (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- JAMA Network Open
- Published
- 2026-02-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.58235
- Primary Topic
- Hospital Admissions and Outcomes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- European Commission
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Janssen Pharmaceuticals