Objective: Review the evidence about the relationship between nursing staff characteristics and patient care results.
Methods: Systematic Review Research at CENTRAL, the Cochrane Plus library MEDLINE CINAHL, EMBASE and PsycINFO until June 2009. Original studies on adult patients checked into hospitals in acute care sections of whatever design have been included, these studies were published either in Spanish or English. Two independent reviewers evaluated the quality of these studies under the GRDAE system and extracted data.
Results: 55 studies were included. Patient-nurse ratio has repercussions on costs, mortality and the appearance of complications. Controversy on the repercussion regarding care quality. The relationship of nursing hours per patient has repercussions on satisfaction, infection, cardiac alterations, bleeding, average hospital stay net costs, sepsis, and ulcers. Controversy on repercussions regarding falls, medication errors and life quality decreases the complications, and promotes self-care. Nurses-emotional states bears an influence on falls and medication errors.
Conclusion: There is a relationship between the nursing staff and patient care results. This review's results have to be considered with caution and evaluated as a tendency since quality conditions their interpretation. Nursing staffs acquire a special relevance in the Spanish health system context due to changes produced in the population and type of patient, the deficit of professionals, and the modification of nursing study plans.