Many negative outcomes arise from nurse burnout. The greatest of these negative outcomes can be seen in patient mortality rates. There is a correlation between poorly staffed nursing shifts and nurse burnout. A study that examined "197,961 admissions and 176,696 nursing shifts of 8 hours each across 43 hospital units to examine the association between mortality and patient exposure to nursing shifts in which nursing staff was 8 hours or more short of the target” (Needleman et al., 2011, p. 1037). The researchers found a strong link "between increased mortality and shifts in units in which authorized personnel were 8 hours or more below the target level (risk ratio per shift 8 hours or more below target, 1.02; 95% confidence interval > 1.01 to 1.03;.