The results of the RN4CAST study in Italy.

Background The Nurse Forecasting Project in Europe (RN4CAST) [1] has already been conducted in 12 European countries, and it has shown that each additional surgical patient per nurse results in a 7% increase in the likelihood of dying within 30 days of admission, a 23% increase in burnout, and a 15% increase of job dissatisfaction [2]. Since Italy has 6.6 nurses per 1000 inhabitants in Italy, which is lower than the European average (11 nurses per 1000 inhabitants), we conducted the RN4CAST project also in Italy [3]. The main purpose of this study was to measure the impact of nurse staffing on patient outcomes, healthcare outcomes, and job satisfaction. Materials and methods RN4CAST survey including nurses, patients, and hospitals across Italy. Results The results will be officially presented at the RN4CAST@IT Dissemination Conference, which will be held on the 10th June 2016 at the University of Genoa in Italy. Conclusions The RN4CAST project will bring about a significant change in Italy in terms of producing data that measure the impact of nurse staffing on patient outcomes, healthcare outcomes, and job satisfaction. In this way, health policy decision makers will have the information necessary to make informed decisions on nurse staffing levels, by considering nurses not just in terms of numbers, but also in relation to what type of patient outcomes nurse staffing levels are able to ensure in terms of reduced adverse events, complications, readmissions, and mortality, achieving the best cost-benefit ratio. The RN4CAST project will enable to produce a database that can be used to measure the impact of nurse staffing and on patient outcomes, healthcare outcomes, and nurses' job satisfaction. These results can be used to improve the accuracy of health workforce forecasting models and generate new approaches to ensure a more effective management of the nursing workforce across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]