The Critical Relationship Between Nursing Staffing and Hospital-Acquired InfectionsNursing is an “in-demand” profession that strives for excellence in patient care and outcomes positive. The care provided by a nurse is always patient-centered with the goal of helping patients achieve maximum medical improvement. A nurse's job can sometimes be physically, mentally and emotionally challenging. This can lead to burnout related to suboptimal medical care (Cimiotti, Aiken, Sloane, & Wu, 2012). The impact of poor healthcare results in higher numbers of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and poor patient outcomes. Implementation of infection control practices and HAI prevention programs are two of the most important aspects of nursing used to improve patient outcomes. The effect of nursing staff configurations and nurse-patient ratios has also been shown to play an important role in the relationship between nurses and HPNs. Literature review The review article by Cimiotti et al. (2012) used data from nursing surveys and annual reports. on Pennsylvania HAIs to detail the relationship between nurse burnout, case/patient load, and infection rate. As a result, "if the proportion of nurses experiencing high levels of burnout could be reduced by 10 percent from an average of 30 percent, some 4,160 infections would be avoided in Pennsylvania hospitals, resulting in savings estimated at $41 million” (Cimiotti et al., 2012). Nurse burnout, number of patients, and number of HAIs have all been found to be factors correlated with patient infection rates. "Our results confirm an association between nurses and health care-associated infection rates, with fewer infections observed in hospitals in which nurses...... middle of article.... .. gain advanced knowledge of infection control practices and are able to identify key risk factors in HAI prevention. Conclusion HAI rates, nursing staff, patient length of stay, and patient outcomes. Patients must be assessed collaboratively Nurses play a critical role within the health care system, and the effects of nurse staffing on patient stay, outcomes, and HAIs are an essential part of healthcare. health requiring immediate attention A positive increase in the nurse-to-patient ratio, even adding one additional nurse per shift, will reduce HAIs, patient length of stay, and patient mortality. Stronger educational programs within hospitals regarding infection control are also needed. A more informed and educated nursing staff will likely result in a better educated patient. Overall, nurses prove to be a critical link between patients and HAI rates.