Burnout among nurses leads to higher healthcare-associated infection rates and costs hospitals millions of dollars annually, according to a study.
Reporting in the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, researchers studied the effect of nurse staffing and burnout on catheter-associated urinary tract infections and surgical site infections, two of the most common HAIs.
Comparing CAUTI rates with nurses’ patient loads (5.7 patients on average), the researchers found each additional patient assigned to a nurse correlated with roughly one additional infection per 1,000 patients (or 1,351 additional infections per year as calculated across the study population of more than 7,000 RNs from 161 hospitals in Pennsylvania).
Effects of burnout
Data on nurse burnout came from a 2006 survey of 7,076 RNs. In that survey, more than a third of respondents tallied an emotional exhaustion score of 27 or greater on the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey, thus meeting the MBI-HSS definition for healthcare personnel burnout.
Each 10% increase in a hospital’s high-burnout nurses corresponded with nearly one additional CAUTI and two additional SSIs per 1,000 patients annually (the average rates across hospitals were nine CAUTIs and five SSIs per 1,000 patients). The data regarding infections came from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.
Using the per-patient average costs associated with CAUTIs ($749 to $832 each) and SSIs ($11,087 to $29,443 each), researchers estimated that if nursing burnout rates were reduced to 10%, Pennsylvania hospitals could prevent an estimated 4,160 infections and save $41 million annually.
"Healthcare facilities can improve nurse staffing and other elements of the care environment and alleviate job-related burnout in nurses at a much lower cost than those associated with healthcare-associated infections," wrote the researchers, who are affiliated with the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
"By reducing nurse burnout, we can improve the well-being of nurses while improving the quality of patient care."
"Nurse staffing, burnout and healthcare-associated infection," by Jeannie P. Cimiotti, RN, DNSc, Linda H. Aiken, PhD, Douglas M. Sloane, PhD, and Evan S. Wu, BS, appears in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.
Reporting in the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, researchers studied the effect of nurse staffing and burnout on catheter-associated urinary tract infections and surgical site infections, two of the most common HAIs.
Comparing CAUTI rates with nurses’ patient loads (5.7 patients on average), the researchers found each additional patient assigned to a nurse correlated with roughly one additional infection per 1,000 patients (or 1,351 additional infections per year as calculated across the study population of more than 7,000 RNs from 161 hospitals in Pennsylvania).
Effects of burnout
Data on nurse burnout came from a 2006 survey of 7,076 RNs. In that survey, more than a third of respondents tallied an emotional exhaustion score of 27 or greater on the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey, thus meeting the MBI-HSS definition for healthcare personnel burnout.
Each 10% increase in a hospital’s high-burnout nurses corresponded with nearly one additional CAUTI and two additional SSIs per 1,000 patients annually (the average rates across hospitals were nine CAUTIs and five SSIs per 1,000 patients). The data regarding infections came from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.
Using the per-patient average costs associated with CAUTIs ($749 to $832 each) and SSIs ($11,087 to $29,443 each), researchers estimated that if nursing burnout rates were reduced to 10%, Pennsylvania hospitals could prevent an estimated 4,160 infections and save $41 million annually.
"Healthcare facilities can improve nurse staffing and other elements of the care environment and alleviate job-related burnout in nurses at a much lower cost than those associated with healthcare-associated infections," wrote the researchers, who are affiliated with the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
"By reducing nurse burnout, we can improve the well-being of nurses while improving the quality of patient care."
"Nurse staffing, burnout and healthcare-associated infection," by Jeannie P. Cimiotti, RN, DNSc, Linda H. Aiken, PhD, Douglas M. Sloane, PhD, and Evan S. Wu, BS, appears in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.
Send comments to editor@nurse.com or post comments below.
