Hospitals with higher levels of nurse staff yield better patient perceptions of pain management, patient satisfaction, research shows

Adequate nurse staffing is integral to pain management and patient satisfaction, according to researchers from the Connell School of Nursing at Boston College. The study assessed patient satisfaction and pain management within the context of staffing levels for nurses, hospitalists, physicians and residents. The analysis showed that patient perceptions of better pain management were tied with higher levels of nurse and hospitalist staffing. Perceptions of pain management suffered when there were high levels of resident staffing. The researchers identified four predictors that led patients to report that their pain was poorly managed:

1. Patients didn't receive help as soon as they needed;
2. Poor nursing communication;
3. Poor medication education; and
4. Receiving care in a teaching hospital.