The shift: Staffing Solutions and Virtual Victories

Editors welcome: Happy Sunday! This is Noah & Hector, students at the University of Michigan driving forward Altrix, an applied lab with a focus on addressing nursing’s most pressing problems of today through research & cutting-edge innovation. We’re starting to write this newsletter as a part of those efforts, and we wanted to share this first edition with you.

We hope you like it, please feel free to shoot us any feedback!

Excessive Overtime and Agency Staffing Linked to Increased Pressure Ulcers

A study published in JAMA Network Open last week analyzed data from 70 U.S. hospitals between 2019 and 2022, revealing that over-reliance on overtime and agency nurses correlates with higher rates of pressure ulcers.

Why it matters: Pressure ulcers are a key indicator of nursing care quality. Their prevalence suggests that excessive use of non-regular staffing may compromise patient safety.​

Key findings:

• Hospitals exceeded safe thresholds for agency nurse hours by an average of 140%, leading to a 6.44% increase in pressure ulcers.

• Overtime hours surpassed safe limits by 63.6%, associated with a 2.09% rise in pressure ulcers.

• Agency hours were also significantly linked to increased rates of perioperative hemorrhage or hematoma.​

Actionable takeaway: Hospitals should monitor and manage the use of overtime and agency nurses, aiming to stay within identified safe thresholds to minimize patient risk.

Virtual Nursing Enhances ED Efficiency and Documentation Quality

A study from February that was conducted across six hospitals evaluated the impact of virtual nursing on emergency department (ED) admissions, finding improvements in efficiency and documentation.

Why it matters: Virtual nursing can alleviate staffing shortages and enhance patient care by streamlining admission processes.

Key findings:

• Median ED wait times decreased from 525.5 minutes with in-person assessments to 429.5 minutes with virtual nursing.

• Virtual assessments had fewer incomplete documentation fields (0.2 vs. 0.4 on average).

• Nurses experienced fewer interruptions during virtual assessments (1.4 vs. 1.8 on average).

Bottom line: Implementing virtual nursing can improve ED throughput and documentation completeness, potentially reducing nurse burnout and enhancing patient care.

Additional stories we’re reading this week…

Adequate L&D Staffing Reduces C-Sections: Proper nurse staffing in labor units is linked to an 11% reduction in cesarean delivery rates.

AI Predicts Patient Deterioration: An AI tool analyzing nursing documentation predicted patient decline nearly two days earlier, reducing mortality risk by 35%.

Leadership and Work-Life Balance Boost Retention: Transformational leadership and balanced workloads account for approximately 23% of nurse retention variability.

Full NP Practice Authority Improves Outcomes: States allowing nurse practitioners full practice authority show better health outcomes and increased care access.

Team Training Reduces Missed Care: ICU teamwork training significantly decreased instances of missed care and improved patient-centered outcomes.

Editors P.S: Thank you for checking it out! We’re excited to continue our journey to develop cutting edge technology grounded on front-line collaborations with nurses and nurse leaders from across the US. Our north star is impact, and we hope to one day make your life 2x better through our efforts.

Godspeed, Noah & Hector.