I'm writing in response to the article, "Weekend ICU Admission Associated with Higher Mortality" (In the News, October 2010). In a society in which people are fixated on receiving services as soon as they wish, one would hope that life-sustaining care would be as accessible.

According to Hamilton and colleagues, "64% of the time, nurses work in off-peak environments."1 This means that more than half of all care is provided to patients when nurses may be short-staffed and have little or no access to the assistance of other health care providers.

It's important that any patient walking into any hospital receive the best and safest care possible, no matter the day of the week or time of day.

Lindsay N. Mockmore-Bennett

Nursing student

Rockford, IL

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