Response to "Hospital Staffing and Hospital Harm Trends Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic" by Campbell et al. (2024).

Abstract

Patients for Patient Safety Canada (PFPSC), a national volunteer organization with a vision of "Every Patient Safe" (Patients for Patient Safety Canada n.d.) commends the Canadian Institute for Health Information for collecting and publishing data that clearly demonstrate that the "[r]ates of harm to patients increased along with rates of staff absenteeism, overtime and use of agency staff" (Campbell et al. 2024: 11). It is important to acknowledge and recognize that these data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic and clearly show the correlation between staffing challenges and patient safety. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, this trend remains valid today.