Increasing the ratio of nurses to patients improves the perceived quality of care, reports a new study.

Researchers at King's College London and Southampton University conducted a survey of 400 wards across more than 46 hospitals, showing the impact of reduced numbers of nurses at hospitals across the UK.

According to the results, the number of patients per nurse on day shifts varied from five to 10. Those in nurse manager jobs may be interested to hear that nurses who had nine patients on average rated their wards as 'poor' whereas those who had seven on average rated them as 'excellent'.

In addition, the research found that three quarters of nurses surveyed said that on their last shift they "lacked time to comfort or talk with patients, while 40 per cent said patient surveillance had suffered."

Southampton University professor of health services Peter Griffiths told Nursing Times that the amount of nurses to patients directly affects care: "This shows there are consequences for reducing the registered nurse workforce. It strongly suggests that the push to substitute nursing aides for registered nurses as a cost saving measure is unlikely to achieve adequate quality of care."

Furthermore, Nursing Advocacy states that hospital units with higher nurse-to-patient staffing ratios had "significantly lower incidence of central line IV bloodstream infections, pneumonia associated with ventilators, deaths within 30 days and bedsores."