Determining nurse staffing levels: a critical review of the literature

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of current methods for determining nurse staffing requirements. A range of methods is described and the strengths and drawbacks of each are discussed. There follows an examination of some of the wider issues raised by the use of particular methods for determining nurse staffing. The paper concludes that since a perfect workload measurement system is unlikely ever to exist, such systems can be used to facilitate, but not to dictate, decisions about nurse staffing.

Automating the self-scheduling process of nurses in Swedish healthcare: a pilot study

“…The long term planning is made for the first time when a new ward is opened, and the plan is then updated regularly, for example yearly, and whenever major changes occur. More information about this phase of the planning is found in Arthur and James [1], Ghosh and Cruz [13], Venkataraman and Brusco [19], and Fagerström et al [12].…”

Estudo comparativo da carga de trabalho de enfermagem em Unidades de Terapia Intensiva Geral e Especializadas, segundo o Nursing Activities Score (NAS)

“…Um tema mundialmente discutido nas instituições hospitalares, nas últimas décadas, refere-se à carga de trabalho de enfermagem, tendo em vista suas implicações na qualidade da assistência ao paciente, na qualidade de vida dos profissionais e nos custos hospitalares decorrentes do quadro de pessoal de enfermagem (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9) . A medida da carga de trabalho de enfermagem, portanto, é um fator indispensável para o adequado provimento de pessoal nas diferentes unidades hospitalares, devendo ser balizada principalmente pela demanda dos pacientes e padrão de cuidados estabelecidos como meta pelas instituições (9) .…”

Stochastic dynamic nursing service budgeting

“…The simple calculations illustrated in their paper have two steps: (1) NHPPD (nursing hour per patient day) times annual patient days gives the annual workload, (2) annual workload times productivity factor per full-time equivalent hours (contractual FTE) gives the number of full-time nurses to be hired. Arthur and James (1994) review the major workload measurement practices. The exact determination of the productivity factor is an important element of this line of research (Lowerre 1979).…”