Hospital RNs' and CNOs' perceptions of the impact of the nursing shortage on the quality of care

The results of analyses of the 2002 and 2004 National Sample Surveys of RNs and the 2004 National Sample of CNOs document the widespread perception that the shortage of nurses is a major problem for the overall quality of patient care in hospitals. In the eyes of the majority of hospital RNs and CNOs surveyed, care processes involving communication, timely response to pages and telephone calls, delays in patient discharges, and the time patients had to wait for tests and procedures were all affected negatively by the nursing shortage. These results are not encouraging.