Hawkins, T. Charlotte., Flynn, L., & Clarke, P. S. (2008). Relationships between registered nurse staffing, process of nursing care, and nurse-reported patient outcomes in chronic hemodialysis units. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 35(2), 123- 145.
Cho, S. H., June, J. K., Kim, M. Y., Yoo, C. S., Yun, C. S., & Sung. H. Y. (2009). Nurse staffing, quality of nursing care and nurse job outcomes in intensive care units. Journal of clinical nursing, 18, 1729-1737. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
The main aim of this study was to scrutinize the relationship between nurse staffing and nurse-rated quality of nursing care and the job outcomes. The reason behind this study was the report that patient and nurse outcomes were influenced by nurse staffing. It’s usually very important for there to be enough nurses in any hospital or country for that matter. However, many nurses complain that the hospitals are not well staffed. The study included nurses from twenty two hospitals in Korea. Total of 1365 nurses, from sixty five intensive care units were used. In this study, two indicators were used to measure the level of staffing. The first indicator was the number of patients per every nurse, which was measured at the unit level. This method is referred to as the quantitative method. The second indicator was the perception of staffing adequacy at the nurse level, showing that nurses could perceive staffing adequacy differently regardless of the fact that they worked in the ICU unit. From the study, it was found that the ICUs in Korea had worse staffing compared to those in developed countries. Developed countries had a nurse-to-patient ratio of one to two patients per nurse, which was on a minimum basis. The Korean ICUs, on the other hand, had a ratio of two to eight on average basis. A large number of nurses too, 43% rated the nursing care that was provided in the units as either poor or fair. In conclusion, in the context of Korean ICUs, nurse staffing is associated with nurse-rated quality of nursing care and nurse job outcomes.
Flynn, M., Mckeown, M. (2009). Nurse staffing levels revisited: a consideration of key issues in nurse staffing levels and skill mix research. Journal of Nursing Management, 17, 759-766.
The contents of this study attempt to revisit the published evidence that relates to how staffing levels affect patient, nurse and service outcomes. It also considers the implications of the nurse managers in their quest to determine optimum nursing numbers. Reason behind this study is the unending questions on appropriate nursing staffing levels and skill mix due to the shortage of nurses worldwide, together with the international pressure on health services. The study mostly reviewed published evidence and applied key principles on the systematic method so as to facilitate the identification of current factors and issues in nurse staffing levels of research. The evidence data used in this study carried over ten years of research since 1998 to 2008 with the identification of more than 500 relevant papers that gave a wide international perspective. The study concludes that there is need for nurse managers to question whether the common approaches used to determine nursing skill mix and staffing levels are of real practical use and whether they continue to be appropriate. This would help in securing the very best quality of nursing care. The nursing care and staffing levels in most hospitals from all the study showed that there was need for more effort to be put when it came to nursing care.
Purcell, S.R., Kutash. M., & Cobb. S. (2011). The relationship between nurses’ stress and nurse staffing factors in hospital setting. Journal of Nursing Management 19, 714-720.
This study examines the relationship between nurses’ stress and nurse staffing in hospital setting. Reason for this study was the fact that nurses undergo a lot of pressure and stress, and these are work related. Not many researchers have taken into consideration to explore this area of study, though it can be agreed that it is very wide and important. The sample of this study consisted of registered nurses who provided direct patient care. The variables of this study were work setting information, demographic information, perceived stress scale and nursing stress scale. The conclusion of this study was that patient work load, age and day of the week worked were the most important factors affecting the level of stress on nurses. The effects of stress that nurses experience while at work affects or impacts on retention and job satisfaction.
Tzeng. H.M., Hu. M.H., Yin. Y. C. (2011). The relationship of the hospital acquired injurious fall rates with the quality profile of a hospital’s care delivery and nursing staff patterns. Nursing Economics November- December issue. Vol 29 (6), 299- 316.
The aim of this study was determining the unique contributions of three inpatient satisfaction measures on hospital acquired fall rates. The most noted consequences of falls are self-imposed limitations on activities, anxiety and early admission to nursing homes. There has been limited success when it comes to fall-prevention programs for hospitalized patients. Reason for this is because not only do patients have functional deficits or increasingly complex disorders, but the staff often fails to consider risks such as the tendency of the patient to overstep physical limitations. Four national data sets were used in this study so as to determine the relationship between there inpatient satisfaction measures and two nurse staffing characteristics with the hospital acquired injurious fall rates. The analysis was among two hundred and forty four hospitals where eighty eight of these were teaching schools/hospitals. The findings and conclusions drawn from this research is that there would be lower injurious fall rates if hospitals had higher inpatient satisfaction measures with the quietness of the environment in the hospital, lower nursing personnel and a lower percentage of RN FTEs.
Behar, E. M., Beatrice I. J. M., Heijden. V. D., & The next study group. (2012). Effects of extended work shifts on employee fatigue, health, satisfaction, work/ family balance & patient safety. Journal 41, 4283-42900. DOI: 103233/work -2012-0724-4283. IOS press.
There is a high spread of the 12 hour shifts across Europe, and the nurses are not left behind. The study of this research shows that the work schedule is not the major determinant. Some nurses choose to be on the 12 hour shifts so as to avoid conflicts back home with their family and friends. Such behavior, however, is at the expense of the patients together with that of the nurses too. Measures such as extended child care association of nurses should be in their rota; 9- 10 hour shift in the afternoon should be considered. The nurses should also be allowed to take a nap during their night shifts and change shifts. The work schedule should be organized in such a way as it allows them time to handover shifts.
Liang. Y. W., Chen. W. Y., Lee. J. L., & Huang. L. L. (2012). Nurse staffing, direct nursing care hours and patient mortality in Taiwan: the longitudinal analysis of hospital nursing staffing and patient extreme study. BMC Health services research, 12 (44).
This research was aimed at providing an overview of the research / evidence base clarifying the relationship between nurses staffing and patient mortality in Taiwan. The results of this study showed an association of nurse staffing and patient mortality similar to other studies. These findings have policy implementations for strengthening the nursing profession.
Hinno. S., Partanen. P., Julkunen. V. K. (2013). Nursing activities nurse staffing & adverse patient outcomes as perceived by hospital nurses. Journal of clinical nursing, 21, 1584-1593. Doi:10.1111/5.1365-2702.2011.03956x.
Tellez. M. (2012). Work satisfaction among California registered nurses: A longitudinal comparative analysis. Nursing economics March- April, 30(2).
This study was meant to evaluate the effects of the nurse to patient ratio laws on nurse job satisfaction so as to advance the debate over the merits of nurse staffing law. The second aim if this study was to compare registered nurses from California who were satisfied against those who were not satisfied so as to facilitate the development targeted retention intervention based on empirical evidence. As the years passed by, the samples overall job satisfaction increased significantly showing that the nurse-to-patient law was associated with the improvement in their satisfaction.
Weston. J. M., Brewer. C. K. & Peterson. A. C. (2012). ANA Principles: The framework for nurse staffing to positively impact outcomes. Nursing Economics/ September- October, 30 (5).
This research was not meant to offer any sole methodology to staffing of nurses or their allocation but to explain the myriad of factors that should be taken into account when doing it., the paper encompasses natural resources that can be used for the best staffing plans in any hospital, putting into consideration the evolving delivery systems. ANAs principles provide policy directions that can be used to address the issue of staffing in the hospitals.
Knudson. L. (2013). Nurse staffing levels linked to patient outcomes, nurse retention. AORN Connections, January, 97 (1).
Ausserhofer. D., Schubert. M., Desmedt. M., Blegen. A. M., Geest. D. S. & Schwendimann. R. (2013). The association of patient safety and nurse-related organizational factors with selected patient outcomes: A cross-sectional survey. International journal of Nursing Studies 50, 240-252.
This paper arrives to the same assumption as other papers that units with higher PSC levels might have improved patient outcomes. The results of this paper might, however, help in developing theory in this area.
Lin. C. H. (2013). The impact of nurse staffing on quality of patient care in acute care settings: An integrative review paper. Singapore Nursing Journal. October- December, 40 (4).
The findings of this review revealed that the accumulated evidence elevated nurse staffing levels and higher Registered Nurse proportions with better quality of patient care. Hospital administrators can use these findings in staffing of the nurses and developing an appropriate model that can achieve better patient outcome.
West. E., Baron. N. D., Harrison. D., Rafferty. A. M., Rowan. K. & Sanderson. C. (2014). Nurse staffing, medical staffing and mortality in intensive care: An observational study. International Journal of Nursing Studies 51, 781-794.
The main aim of this paper was to find out whether the size of hospital workforce has an impact on the survival chances of the critically ill patients both in the intensive care unit and in the hospital. The reason for this study was due to the results of some investigations, which suggested that some of the variations in survival of the patient might be related to staffing levels and the workload. The results of this research showed that higher numbers of nurses per bed and higher numbers of consultants were associated with higher levels of survival.
References
Ausserhofer. D., Schubert. M., Desmedt. M., Blegen. A. M., Geest. D. S. & Schwendimann. R.
(2013). The association of patient safety and nurse-related organizational factors with
selected patient outcomes: A cross-sectional survey. International journal of Nursing
Studies 50, 240-252.
Behar, E. M., Beatrice I. J. M., Heijden. V. D., & The next study group. (2012). Effects of
extended work shifts on employee fatigue, health, satisfaction, work/ family balance &
patient safety. Journal 41, 4283-42900. DOI: 103233/work -2012-0724-4283. IOS press.
Cho, S. H., June, J. K., Kim, M. Y., Yoo, C. S., Yun, C. S., & Sung. H. Y. (2009). Nurse
staffing, quality of nursing care and nurse job outcomes in intensive care units. Journal of
clinical nursing, 18, 1729-1737.
Flynn, M., & Mckeown, M. (2009). Nurse staffing levels revisited: a consideration of key issues
in nurse staffing levels and skill mix research. Journal of Nursing Management, 17, 759-
766.
Hawkins, T. Charlotte., Flynn, L., & Clarke, P. S. (2008). Relationships between registered nurse
staffing, process of nursing care, and nurse-reported patient outcomes in chronic
hemodialysis units. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 35(2), 123- 145.
Hinno. S., Partanen. P., & Julkunen. V. K. (2013). Nursing activities nurse staffing & adverse
patient outcomes as perceived by hospital nurses. Journal of clinical nursing, 21, 1584-
1593. Doi:10.1111/5.1365-2702.2011.03956x.
Liang. Y. W., Chen. W. Y., Lee. J. L., & Huang. L. L. (2012). Nurse staffing, direct nursing care
hours and patient mortality in Taiwan: the longitudinal analysis of hospital nursing
staffing and patient extreme study. BMC Health services research 12 (44).
Lin. C. H. (2013). The impact of nurse staffing on quality of patient care in acute care settings: An integrative review paper. Singapore Nursing Journal, October- December 40 (4).
Knudson. L. (2013). Nurse staffing levels linked to patient outcomes, nurse retention. AORN
Connections, January 97 (1).
Purcell, S.R., Kutash. M., & Cobb. S. (2011). The relationship between nurses’ stress and nurse
staffing factors in hospital setting. Journal of Nursing Management 19, 714-720.
Tellez. M. (2012). Work satisfaction among California registered nurses: A longitudinal
comparative analysis. Nursing economics, March- April 30(2).
Tzeng, H.M., Hu. M.H., & Yin. Y. C. (2011). The relationship of the hospital acquired injurious
fall rates with the quality profile of a hospital’s care delivery and nursing staff patterns.
Nursing Economics, November- December 29 (6), 299- 316.
West. E., Baron. N. D., Harrison. D., Rafferty. A. M., Rowan. K., & Sanderson. C. (2014). Nurse
staffing, medical staffing and mortality in intensive care: An observational study.
International Journal of Nursing Studies, 51, 781-794.
Weston. J. M., Brewer. C. K., & Peterson. A. C. (2012). ANA Principles: The framework for
nurse staffing to positively impact outcomes. Nursing Economics/ September- October,
30 (5).
