Hospitals with better nurse staffing levels had lower average emergency department boarding times than hospitals with high patient-to-nurse ratios, a recent study found.
The study, published in the November issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing, analyzed nurse staffing data and ED boarding times from 335 hospitals in Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
In hospitals with patient-to-nurse ratios of four or fewer, the average ED boarding time was about 20 minutes shorter than in hospitals where nurses cared for five or more patients. The study authors said improving nurse staffing levels is “often overlooked as a strategy” to cut boarding times and improve patient throughput.
“Safe and appropriate staffing is critical to improving outcomes for emergency nurses and the communities they serve,” JEN Editor Anna Valdez, PhD, RN, said in a Nov. 9 journal news release. “This study demonstrates that boarding times, which the evidence has established negatively impact patients, can be reduced by appropriately staffing emergency departments.”
