Paper
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Workforce Environment Initiatives
An Integrative Synthesis of Nurse Staffing and Patient Safety
Amy McCutcheon, RN, PhD, Corporate Office, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Maura MacPhee, RN, PhD, Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, and Janet M. Davidson, BScN, MHSA, Executive, Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Learning Objective #1: Describe the effects of nurse staffing decisions on patient safety.
Learning Objective #2: Identify factors that influence patient safety and should be considered when making nurse staffing decisions.
Background
A research team consisting of nursing researchers and decision-makers (administrators, policy makers), conducted an integrative synthesis on nurse staffing and patient safety.
Methods
The specific research questions were: a) Do nurse staffing decisions make a difference to patient safety? How do they make a difference and why? b) What contextual factors have been found to show an effect on nurse staffing and/or patient safety?  c) What examples best demonstrate the implementation and/or evaluation of staffing decisions?  A nurse staffing evaluation framework from The Canadian Nurses’ Association guided the literature review and synthesis.
Findings and Implications
Critical factors were identified from within three variable groupings (nursing staff, patient population, the work environment) that contribute to patient safety. The effects of nurse staffing on specific patient, staff and system outcomes were described. Integrative syntheses enable researchers to distill large bodies of literature from diverse sources and make recommendations to decision makers as they need it. This research synthesis produced specific recommendations that: addresses patient-staff ratio, and organizational factors that influenced safe, effective care delivery. This synthesis will serve as a foundation for policy decisions and continued research to support professional practice.

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See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)