Nurse staffing and patient falls on acute care hospital units

Changes in health care financing, beginning in the 1980's, resulted in reduced nurse staffing and skill levels in acute care hospitals. Research has shown that reduced nurse staffing has endangered some aspects of patient safety. This study estimated the relationship between three aspects of nurse staffing and the patient fall rate for four types of acute care units. The association was estimated using a generalized linear mixed model with data for 2002 from 1751 hospital units in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators. Higher fall rates were associated with fewer nursing hours per patient day and a lower percentage of registered nurses, although the relationship varied by unit type. Smaller hospitals also had higher fall rates. Information on unit type and different aspects of nurse staffing, with advanced statistical modeling, resulted in a more precise understanding of the relationship between nurse staffing and falls.