The Impact of
Short-Staffed Shifts

When nurses spend less time with each patient, the patients themselves may attempt to do more if their call lights are not answered. Falls are extremely costly. Facilities can not chance delayed responses to ‘fall risk’ bed alarms because of understaffing.

Proper nursing hinges on details. When nurses are rushed, they are more likely to miss aspects they otherwise would have noticed. Despite a number of fail safes in hospitals, the final one is the nurse. When nurses are exhausted from yet another short-staffed shift, this fail safe can fail, and med errors can be devastating.

Patients who are immobile must be moved at specific times throughout the day to avoid developing bed sores. Turning patients requires two staff members at a minimum; however, nurses often turn patients by themselves because other staff are busy – a quick way to injure one’s backs. Another impossible decision for the ever-empathetic nurse: sacrifice personal safety or risk patient bed sores?

Nursing is emotionally and physically exhausting with proper patient ratios. The more understaffed shifts nurses are forced to endure, the faster they will experience burnout. Burnout costs nurses their careers and facilities an average of $60k to replace RNs.

A facility’s potential to attract and retain patients is directly connected to customer feedback. The longer patients wait for pain medication or assessments, the more likely they are to rate their hospital experience poorly. Therefore, a hospital’s actual revenue potential lies in the