The association between care left undone and temporary Nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nurses
Abstract Background The shortage of health workers is a global phenomenon. To meet increasing patient demands on UK health services, providers are increasingly relying on temporary staff to fill permanent posts. This study examines the occurrence of ‘care left undone’, understaffing and temporary st...
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doaj-1433889136944ef1964caa7eacfa05da2020-11-25T02:14:14ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632020-07-012011810.1186/s12913-020-05493-yThe association between care left undone and temporary Nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nursesMichaela Senek0Steve Robertson1Tony Ryan2Rachel King3Emily Wood4Angela Tod5Division of Nursing & Midwifery, Department of Health Sciences, University of SheffieldDivision of Nursing & Midwifery, Department of Health Sciences, University of SheffieldDivision of Nursing & Midwifery, Department of Health Sciences, University of SheffieldDivision of Nursing & Midwifery, Department of Health Sciences, University of SheffieldDivision of Nursing & Midwifery, Department of Health Sciences, University of SheffieldDivision of Nursing & Midwifery, Department of Health Sciences, University of SheffieldAbstract Background The shortage of health workers is a global phenomenon. To meet increasing patient demands on UK health services, providers are increasingly relying on temporary staff to fill permanent posts. This study examines the occurrence of ‘care left undone’, understaffing and temporary staffing across acute sector settings. Methods “Secondary data analysis from an RCN administered online survey covering nurses from hospitals and trusts across all four UK countries. Staffing and ‘care left undone’ measures were derived from the responses of 8841 registered nurses across the UK. A locally smoothed scatterplot smoothing regression analysis (Loess) was used to model the relationship between any ‘care left undone’ events and full complement, modest and severely understaffed shifts, and proportions of temporary staff. Results Occurrence of ‘care left undone’ was highest in Emergency Departments (48.4%) and lowest in Theatre settings (21%). The odds of ‘care left undone’ increase with increasing proportion of temporary staff. This trend is the same in all understaffing categories. On shifts with a full quota of nursing staff, an increase in the proportion of temporary staff from 0 to 10% increases the odds of care left undone by 6% (OR = 1.06, 95% CI, 1.04–1.09). Within the full quota staffing category, the difference becomes statistically significant (p < 0.05) on shifts with a proportion of temporary nursing staff of 40% or more. On shifts with a full quota of nursing staff the odds of a ‘care left undone’ event is 10% more with the proportion of temporary nursing staff at 50%, compared to shifts with modest understaffing of 25% or less with no temporary nursing staff (OR = 1.1, 95%CI, 0.96–1.25). Conclusion The odds of a ‘care left undone’ event are similar for fully staffed shifts with a high temporary nursing staff ratio compared to severely understaffed shifts with no temporary nursing staff. Increasing the proportion of temporary nurse staff is associated with higher rates of self-reported care left undone by nursing staff. This has significant implications for nurse managers and policy makers.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-020-05493-yNurse staffingTemporary staffCare left undoneAcute settings |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Michaela Senek Steve Robertson Tony Ryan Rachel King Emily Wood Angela Tod |
spellingShingle |
Michaela Senek Steve Robertson Tony Ryan Rachel King Emily Wood Angela Tod The association between care left undone and temporary Nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nurses BMC Health Services Research Nurse staffing Temporary staff Care left undone Acute settings |
author_facet |
Michaela Senek Steve Robertson Tony Ryan Rachel King Emily Wood Angela Tod |
author_sort |
Michaela Senek |
title |
The association between care left undone and temporary Nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nurses |
title_short |
The association between care left undone and temporary Nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nurses |
title_full |
The association between care left undone and temporary Nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nurses |
title_fullStr |
The association between care left undone and temporary Nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nurses |
title_full_unstemmed |
The association between care left undone and temporary Nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nurses |
title_sort |
association between care left undone and temporary nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nurses |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
BMC Health Services Research |
issn |
1472-6963 |
publishDate |
2020-07-01 |
description |
Abstract Background The shortage of health workers is a global phenomenon. To meet increasing patient demands on UK health services, providers are increasingly relying on temporary staff to fill permanent posts. This study examines the occurrence of ‘care left undone’, understaffing and temporary staffing across acute sector settings. Methods “Secondary data analysis from an RCN administered online survey covering nurses from hospitals and trusts across all four UK countries. Staffing and ‘care left undone’ measures were derived from the responses of 8841 registered nurses across the UK. A locally smoothed scatterplot smoothing regression analysis (Loess) was used to model the relationship between any ‘care left undone’ events and full complement, modest and severely understaffed shifts, and proportions of temporary staff. Results Occurrence of ‘care left undone’ was highest in Emergency Departments (48.4%) and lowest in Theatre settings (21%). The odds of ‘care left undone’ increase with increasing proportion of temporary staff. This trend is the same in all understaffing categories. On shifts with a full quota of nursing staff, an increase in the proportion of temporary staff from 0 to 10% increases the odds of care left undone by 6% (OR = 1.06, 95% CI, 1.04–1.09). Within the full quota staffing category, the difference becomes statistically significant (p < 0.05) on shifts with a proportion of temporary nursing staff of 40% or more. On shifts with a full quota of nursing staff the odds of a ‘care left undone’ event is 10% more with the proportion of temporary nursing staff at 50%, compared to shifts with modest understaffing of 25% or less with no temporary nursing staff (OR = 1.1, 95%CI, 0.96–1.25). Conclusion The odds of a ‘care left undone’ event are similar for fully staffed shifts with a high temporary nursing staff ratio compared to severely understaffed shifts with no temporary nursing staff. Increasing the proportion of temporary nurse staff is associated with higher rates of self-reported care left undone by nursing staff. This has significant implications for nurse managers and policy makers. |
topic |
Nurse staffing Temporary staff Care left undone Acute settings |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-020-05493-y |
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