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The study, published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, revealed that for each additional patient assigned to a nurse (5.7 patients per nurse was the average), there was roughly one additional catheter-associated urinary tract infection per 1,000 patients. Also, each 10 percent increase in nurse burnout was linked to one additional CAUTI and two additional surgical site infections per 1,000 patients annually.
“We must ask ourselves, what happens when nurses suffer from high emotional exhaustion? It’s simple — they begin to feel like they lack control. Then, they psychologically and cognitively detach from the care environment. The result is less than optimal nursing care,” Ms. Cimiotti said. “Reducing burnout rates of nurses is a win-win. By reducing nurse workload we can protect our nurses from burnout and we may be protecting patients from infections.”
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