Individual research recommendation details

Recommendation ID

SG1/2

Question

How do the following factors affect the nursing staff requirement at ward level in the UK?
- Patient factors
- Patients' nursing needs (sometimes referred to as acuity and dependency)
- Time of day
- Ward layout and size (including the use of single rooms)
- Ward level team leadership and management
- Organisational training approaches
- Organisational policies and procedures (for example, productive ward, Lean)

Any explanatory notes
(if applicable)

Insufficient evidence is available about the relationship between staffing, ward-level factors and patient outcomes. Prospective cohort studies should be conducted to examine the relationship between the factors above and both positive and negative outcomes relating to nursing care, patient safety, patients' and nursing staff satisfaction, resource use and costs. The studies should also examine if these factors act as an effect modifier and/or confounder of the relationship between staffing and outcomes. Research should control for other confounding factors (such as patient characteristics). This research should provide evidence on the ward-level factors that should be included in approaches to determining nursing staff requirements, including decision support toolkits.

Source guidance details

Comes from guidance

Safe staffing for nursing in adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals

Number

SG1

Date issued

July 2014

Other details