During preceptorship I have experienced a nursing shortage and the float pool set in place to help was not helpful because of the inability to provide a nurse. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing and other peer reviewed articles have continuously assembled an evidence based association between nurse staffing and patient outcomes. However, in the literature that I have read there were no clear pathways to a worthwhile improvement in patient outcomes. In addition research has shown adverse patient outcomes that are related to nurse understaffing include patient falls, urinary tract infections, medication errors, patient morality, and skin breakdown (Costa,
