"
Failure-to-Rescue: Comparing Definitions to Measure Quality of Care." Medical Care 45 (10): 918-25.
the higher the percentage of BSN nurses the lower the odds on patient deaths and
failure-to-rescue (p.
Outcome variables were a 30-day inpatient mortality and
failure-to-rescue events.
(3,4) Other research has shown a significant association between higher proportions of RNs on medical and surgical units, lower lengths of stay, and Lower "
failure-to-rescue" indicators in 799 United States (US) hospitals.
For every 10% increase in RNs there is a 27% decrease in
failure-to-rescue and we have wards in NSW where the percentage of RNs is already below 50%.
The patients studied did not include all patients but were limited to risk-adjusted patient mortality and
failure-to-rescue within 30 days of admission.
What remains unknown is whether racial disparities also extend to major complications and
failure-to-rescue (death after a major complication) (Silber et al.
A review of current and emerging approaches to address
failure-to-rescue. Anesthesiology,, 115(2), 421-431.
Linda Aiken, PhD, RN, was able to demonstrate in her 1993 study published in JAMA that in hospitals with high patient-to-nurse ratios, surgical patients experienced higher risk-adjusted 30-day mortality and
failure-to-rescue rates, and nurses were more likely to experience burnout and job dissatisfaction.
Failure-to-rescue (FR) refers to the inability to save a patient's life after the development of a complication (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Sochalski, & Silber, 2002; Clarke & Aiken, 2003; Needleman, Buerhaus, Mattke, Stewart, & Zelevinsky, 2002; Silber, Rosenbaum, Schwartz, Ross, & Williams, 1995; Silber, Williams, Krakauer, & Schwartz, 1992).
However, the low- and medium-volume tertiles were combined and then compared with the high-volume category after preliminary analyses revealed no differences in mortality and
failure-to-rescue rates between the low- and medium-volume groups.