The impact of research on staffing: an interview with Linda Aiken--Part 2

Evidence-Based Benchmarks Karlene Kerfoot (KK): What difference has the growing body of evidence on staffing made on prac tice? Linda Aiken (LA): Most re search has had little impact on practice in general, but I would say that 20 years of research on the impact of nurse staffing on patient outcomes has made a big difference on the outcomes for patients and nurses, and managerial and clinical practice. A really good example is the California nurse staffing ratio legislation that was passed as a result of research, and the pro cess that followed which used research to set the minimum staffing ratios that California actually implemented. The legislation improved nurse staffing in hospitals across the state and improved care outcomes of millions of patients and job satisfaction of tens of thousands of nurses. Be yond the very positive effect of the legislation on improving staffing in California, it was also influential in ending a nurse shortage in California. Additionally, the use of re search by the California Depart ment of Health to determine the ratios was very important in establishing, for the first time, an evidence-based benchmark for safe staffing that could serve as a guide for what constitutes reasonable Karlene M. Kerfoot Kathy S. Douglas