Measuring the impact of a team model of nursing practice using work sampling

The increasing number of inexperienced graduates, as well as other levels of nurse such as the enrolled nurse and assistant-in-nursing, requires health service and nursing managers in the acute care sector to rethink the long-preferred "patient allocation" model of care provision. As well, the escalating shortage of registered nurses and subsequent low morale among those remaining in the workforce require hospitals to re-examine skills mix and staffing ratios. This paper presents the results of two work-sampling studies conducted in a major metropolitan private hospital, the first of which was to provide a rationale for changing from the patient allocation model to a team model of care. The second study aimed to evaluate and provide data on the impact of the change. Staff were heavily involved in both studies as well as the change process. The findings highlight how effective the new model has been in redistributing certain aspects of care to make better use of each nurse level's knowledge and skills.