Implications for practice and research

• The number of nurses, as well as doctors, working in intensive care units (ICUs) is associated with patient mortality.

• Patients at high risk of death are more vulnerable if they are admitted to ICUs with lower nurse staffing, while higher unit workload in ICUs is associated with higher patient mortality.

• Future research would be aided by the establishment of standardised national electronic databases.

Context

Evidence for the relationship between nurse staffing and patient outcomes has been shown in the literature, mostly based on findings from US medical and surgical settings. However, there are relatively …