Nine Principles for Improved Nurse Staffing

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Informatics
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Nurse staffing is a complex issue in healthcare.
• Nursing leaders are increasingly using evidence and data to inform staffing decisions.
• Effective nurse staffing is crucial for patient safety and quality of care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline a data-driven approach to nurse staffing developed at Midland Memorial Hospital.
• To present nine principles for improving nurse staffing based on evidence and quality indicators.
• To emphasize the importance of understanding data for effective nursing resource management.

Main Methods:

• Development of nine core principles for nurse staffing.
• Incorporation of the National Database of Nurse-Sensitive Quality Indicators (NDNQI) 50th percentile for registered nurse hours per patient day.
• Reconciliation of position control and hiring plans with established quality benchmarks.

Main Results:

• Implementation of a structured, evidence-based framework for nurse staffing.
• Improved alignment between nursing resource allocation and quality targets.
• Enhanced ability for nursing leaders to budget and manage nursing resources effectively.

Conclusions:

• A data-driven, principle-based approach can significantly improve nurse staffing.
• Understanding and utilizing quality indicator data is essential for strategic nurse staffing.
• Nursing leaders require data literacy to effectively communicate and budget for nursing resources.