NEW YORK NURSE: May 2009
Linda Aiken, a national authority on nurse staffing and its impact on patient outcomes, will be the keynote speaker at the NYSNA Annual Convention, Oct. 8-11, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The Convention theme, “New Challenges, New Opportunities,” summarizes Aiken’s prolific research over the past decade. She was the principal author of the landmark study, “Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction,” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002.
That research produced the startling statistic that for each additional patient assigned to a registered nurse, 30-day patient mortality increased by 7% and failure-to-rescue rates increased by 7%. Aiken and her colleagues also found that increased patient workloads also had a significant effect on job dissatisfaction and burnout among nurses.
Aiken has researched other aspects of the impact of nursing care on patient outcomes. In 2003, she conducted a study on the impact of education levels on patient care, finding better patient outcomes when nurses had bachelor’s degrees. Her work is one of the founding principles of proposed legislation in New York that would require RNs to earn bachelor’s degrees in nursing within 10 years of licensure.
Aiken is the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and director of the school’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research.
Aiken co-directs the National Council on Physician and Nurse Supply, which addresses national and global shortages of health professionals. She has won numerous awards for her work demonstrating relationships between nursing care and patient outcomes.
Aiken leads the International Hospital Outcomes Consortium, which studies the impact of nursing shortages in 16 countries, and is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel guiding the World Alliance for Patient Safety, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in the United Kingdom.
“We are honored to have a leader like Dr. Linda Aiken speak at our convention,” said Renée Gecsedi, director of NYSNA’s Education, Practice & Research Program. “Her contributions to the nursing profession are immeasurable.”
Network with colleagues, earn contact hours, and enjoy autumn in Saratoga Springs at the annual New York State Nurses Association Convention on Oct. 8-11.
This year’s theme, “New Challenges, New Opportunities,” emphasizes the response of the nursing profession to challenges such as the shortage of nurses and the need for healthcare reform.
As usual, the four days of Convention will be filled with activities. Four tracks of continuing education sessions will cover clinical, contemporary, legislative and professional development issues. Meetings of the Voting Body, plus sessions of the Delegate Assembly and Congress of Bargaining Unit Leaders (for LBU members only) also will provide opportunities to earn contact hours.
Convention-goers will enjoy perennial favorites such as the awards ceremony and banquet, exhibit hall, and poster show. Watch your mailbox for more information about this year’s Convention – if you don’t receive registration materials by mid-July, contact the Convention Information Line at 800.724.NYRN(6976), ext. 303.