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Prevalence, patterns and predictors of nursing care left undone in European hospitals: results from the multicountry cross-sectional RN4CAST study
Ausserhofer, Dietmar; Zander, Britta; Busse, Reinhard; Schubert, Maria; Geest, Sabina de; Rafferty, Anne Marie; Ball, Jane; Scott, Anne; Kinnunen, Juha; Heinen, Maud; Strømseng Sjetne, Ingeborg; Moreno-Casbas, Teresa; Kózka, Maria; Lindqvist, Rikard; Diomidous, Marianna; Bruyneel, Luk; Sermeus, Walter; Aiken, Linda H; Schwendimann, René
BACKGROUND: Little is known of the extent to which nursing-care tasks are left undone as an international phenomenon. AIM: The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence and patterns of nursing care left undone across European hospitals and explore its associations with nurse-related organisational factors. METHODS: Data were collected from 33 659 nurses in 488 hospitals across 12 European countries for a large multicountry cross-sectional study. RESULTS: Across European hospitals, the most frequent nursing care activities left undone included 'Comfort/talk with patients' (53%), 'Developing or updating nursing care plans/care pathways' (42%) and 'Educating patients and families' (41%). In hospitals with more favourable work environments (B=-2.19; p<0.0001), lower patient to nurse ratios (B=0.09; p<0.0001), and lower proportions of nurses carrying out non-nursing tasks frequently (B=2.18; p<0.0001), fewer nurses reported leaving nursing care undone. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing care left undone was prevalent across all European countries and was associated with nurse-related organisational factors. We discovered similar patterns of nursing care left undone across a cross-section of European hospitals, suggesting that nurses develop informal task hierarchies to facilitate important patient-care decisions. Further research on the impact of nursing care left undone for patient outcomes and nurse well-being is required.
- Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.
- This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
