Temporary Nurses May Save Patient Lives During Hospital Shortages, Says New Study

Supplemental nurses could be “lifesavers” during times of critical nurse shortages in U.S. hospitals, according to a new study by University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing researchers. Published in Health Services Research, the study, “Hospital Use of Agency-Employed Supplemental Nurses and Patient Mortality and Failure to Rescue,” examined controlled data from more than 1.3 million patients and 40,000 nurses in more than 600 U.S. hospitals to reach its conclusions. “Our study showed these nurses could be lifesavers,” says the lead researcher of the study.