As the front-line caregivers, nurses are critically important to the health of patients and the success of hospitals. And the goal of most hospitals is to ensure that every unit has an appropriate number of nurses to care for patients during each shift. However, as one of the top medical staffing agencies in Sacramento, we know that sometimes due to budgetary constraints, this doesn’t happen – and the results can be devastating.

In fact, according to a 2011 study by the UCLA School of Public Health, Mayo Clinic and Vanderbilt University, patients’ mortality risk rises when nursing shifts aren’t adequately staffed. Specifically, an examination of nearly 200,000 nursing shifts showed that staffing of “RNs below target levels” is directly and causally related to increased patient mortality. Likewise, the study showed that when nurses’ workloads increase during shifts because of high patient turnover, mortality risk also increased.

And besides having a negative impact on patients, understaffing can also produce many other undesirable consequences in the form of:

• Increased stress.
  As nurses are stretched to meet their job requirements, their stress levels will rise and it may begin to impact their health, their quality of life, and their ability to maximize their performance.
• Increased personnel costs.
  High stress levels lead to increased personnel costs in the form of absenteeism, workers compensation claims, and the need for more management.
• Increased turnover.
  Even the best compensation packages may not entice burned out nurses to stick around for the long haul.
• Patient dissatisfaction.
  Issues with quality of care due to understaffing will result in increased patient dissatisfaction, which may compound the problem and impact your hospital’s reputation.
• Increase in errors.
  When nurse and hospital staff are continually forced to do more with less, attention to detail can suffer, resulting in a rise in mistakes.

If the risks above sound familiar and you’re concerned that your hospital is understaffed, let us know. Pacific Staffing is one of the top medical staffing agencies in Sacramento – and we can be your source for nurses, medical specialists and medical administrative staff. We can also work with you to develop a flexible staffing strategy that ensures your facility is staffed with the medical professionals you need, when you need them.