8 | Impact Cost and Quality with Workforce Strategies
Is overtime causing patient
dissatisfaction at your hospital?
By Pat Ball
I
recently presented a webinar titled, "How
Overtime May Be Harming Your Business
and Patients," where I had the opportunity to
share research findings that connect overtime to
patient dissatisfaction. Polling during the webinar
revealed that there may be a major disconnect
between what the research shows and how
healthcare leaders feel overtime impacts their
hospital. Let's walk through the research and
examine the disconnect.
Overtime leads to nurse dissatisfaction.
Both common sense and the research point to a
simple truth: long shifts lead to nurse burnout and
staff dissatisfaction. For example, nurses who work
shifts of 13+ hours are 2.7 times more likely to be
burnt out, 2.38 times more likely to be dissatisfied
with their jobs and 2.57 times more likely to leave
their job in the next year compared to nurses who
work 8-9 hours.
1
Overtime that leads to nurse dissatisfaction
leads to patient dissatisfaction.
Research also tells us there is a direct link between
OT and patient satisfaction. For example, when
nurses work more than 13 hours, patients are more
likely to score a hospital 6 or lower out of 10 on the
HCAHPS survey.
2
And, another study shows that
the percentage of patients who would "definitely
recommend" a hospital to their loved ones
decreased 2 percent for every 10 percent of nurses
who expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs.
3
Not everyone has made the connection for their
hospital, their employees and their patients.
Before I presented the research findings about
the connection between overtime and patient
dissatisfaction, we polled the webinar attendees.
Here's what those results look like:
Clearly, these polling results are very different from
the research. So, what's next?
While patient satisfaction has always been an
important part of healthcare delivery, it's gaining
in importance. The move from fee-for-service to
pay-for-performance, as well as an increased ability
for patients to comparison shop, is putting patient
satisfaction in the spotlight.
With patient satisfaction a top priority for the
majority of health systems, it's important to
ask more questions and dig a little deeper to
determine how overtime is impacting your health
system. To learn more about the potential negative
effects of overtime, please read the white paper,
"Unveiling Overtime's Total Costs: How OT May Be
Harming Your Business and Your Patients."
1
Stimpfl, Amy, et al. The Longer the Shifts for Hospital Nurses, The
Higher the Levels of Burnout and Patient Dissatisfaction. Health
Affairs, 31, no.11 (2012): 2501-2509.
2
Ibid.
3
McHugh, Matthew et al. "Nurses' Widespread Job
Dissatisfaction, Burnout and Frustration with Health Benefits
Percent of
Respondents
Number of
Respondents
Response
Yes
No
Unsure
Has overtime been identified as a root cause of
patient dissatisfaction in your hospital?
9%
47%
45%
10
54
52
Source: webinar participant poll responses
