Nurse staffing levels and burnout could increase the risk of healthcare-associated infection rates, according to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
Researchers from the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing analyzed data previously collected by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey and a 2006 survey of more than 7,000 registered nurses from 161 hospitals in Pennsylvania to study the effect of nurse staffing and burnout on catheter-associated urinary tract infections and surgical site infections.
The 2006 survey revealed than one-third of survey respondents got an emotional exhaustion score of 27 or greater, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey definition for healthcare personnel burnout. The researchers also found that for each additional patient assigned to a nurse (5.7 patients per nurse was the average), there was roughly one additional CAUTI infection per 1,000 patients. Also, each 10 percent increase in nurse burnout was linked to one additional CAUTI and two additional SSIs per 1,000 patients annually.
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Researchers from the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing analyzed data previously collected by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey and a 2006 survey of more than 7,000 registered nurses from 161 hospitals in Pennsylvania to study the effect of nurse staffing and burnout on catheter-associated urinary tract infections and surgical site infections.
The 2006 survey revealed than one-third of survey respondents got an emotional exhaustion score of 27 or greater, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey definition for healthcare personnel burnout. The researchers also found that for each additional patient assigned to a nurse (5.7 patients per nurse was the average), there was roughly one additional CAUTI infection per 1,000 patients. Also, each 10 percent increase in nurse burnout was linked to one additional CAUTI and two additional SSIs per 1,000 patients annually.
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