EFFECTS OF NURSE’S WORKLOAD ON PATIENT ADVERSE EVENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF LAHORE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Abstract

Background:

Nurses play a critical role in patient safety, and increasing workload pressures in hospital settings have raised concerns about their impact on the occurrence of adverse patient events.

Materials and Methods:

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 66 registered female nurses at the University of Lahore Teaching Hospital to examine the relationship between nursing workload and adverse patient events. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and statistical methods through SPSS version 21.

Results: Most nurses reported high workload levels, with more than half agreeing or strongly agreeing that they experienced time pressure, emotional exhaustion (54.5% agree; 34.8% strongly agree), and inadequate support for patient handling (37.9% agree; 19.7% strongly agree). Adverse events were generally low, as the majority of nurses disagreed about occurrences such as late or missed medication doses (51.5% disagree), IV fluid administration errors (50% strongly disagree), and patient falls (34.8% strongly disagree), although some events like pressure ulcers (28.8% strongly agree) and wound infections (51.5% agree) were noted more frequently.

Conclusion: The study concludes that high nursing workload significantly contributes to increased adverse patient events, underscoring the need for improved staffing and workload management to enhance patient safety.