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Lower levels of nursing staff are associated with delayed care and serious adverse outcomes for patients in emergency departments
  1. Elizabeth Elder1,2,3,
  2. Rachel Muir1,2,4
  1. 1School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
  2. 2Emergency Department, Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, Southport, Queensland, Australia
  3. 3Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, Griffith University Faculty of Health, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
  4. 4Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing Midwifery and Palliative Care, Kings College, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Elizabeth Elder; e.elder{at}griffith.edu.au

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2024-104051

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    Commentary on: Drennan J, Murphey A, McCarthy VJC, Ball J, Duffield C, Crouch R, Kelly G, Loughnane C, Murphey A, Hegarty J, Brady N, Scott A & Griffiths P. The association between nurse staffing and quality of care in emergency departments: A systematic review. Int J Nurs Stud 2024 153, 104 706.

    Implications for practice and research

    • Healthcare leaders should place high importance on ensuring adequate levels of nursing staff in emergency departments to reduce serious adverse outcomes.

    • Further research is needed to ascertain safe nurse staffing levels in emergency departments.

    Context

    There is a substantial body of international evidence, which demonstrates that inadequate nurse staffing is associated with increased mortality and poor patient outcomes in medical and surgical settings.1 However, there is less certainty about the link between nurse staffing levels, quality of care and patient outcomes in emergency departments (EDs). Recent evidence suggests that demands …

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    Footnotes

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.