Background: Adequate nurse staffing is essential for ensuring workforce well-being and patient safety. Imbalanced nurse-to-patient ratios contribute to burnout, job dissatisfaction, and turnover, which compromise care quality. Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the impact of nurse-to-patient ratios on nurse burnout, job dissatisfaction, intention-to-leave, and patient outcomes. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science identified cross-sectional studies examining nurse-to-patient ratios and related outcomes. Results: Eighteen studies involving 183 876 nurses from 4085 hospitals were included. Higher nurse-to-patient ratios increased the odds of burnout (OR: 1.08), job dissatisfaction (OR: 1.10), and intention-to-leave (OR: 1.09). Each additional patient per nurse increased mortality and readmission risks by 7% to 8%, with decreased perceived care quality. Conclusion: Higher nurse-to-patient ratios adversely affect nurses and patients. Ensuring adequate staffing is critical to prevent burnout and maintain safe, high-quality care.
Alhazmi et al. (Mon,) studied this question.