Ausserhofer, DietmarZander, BrittaBusse, ReinhardSchubert, MariaGeest, Sabina deRafferty, Anne MarieBall, JaneScott, AnneKinnunen, JuhaHeinen, MaudStrømseng Sjetne, IngeborgMoreno-Casbas, TeresaKózka, MariaLindqvist, RikardDiomidous, MariannaBruyneel, LukSermeus, WalterAiken, Linda HSchwendimann, René2017-10-262017-10-2620132044-5415https://depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/7012http://dx.doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-6333Dieser 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.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.en610 Medizin und GesundheitArticle2044-5423