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Resource allocation and rationing in nursing care: A discussion paper
P Anne Scott1, Clare Harvey2, Heike Felzmann1
1National University of Ireland, Ireland.
Nursing Ethics
|April 3, 2018
Summary
Missed nursing care, or care left undone, is a growing concern linked to staffing issues. This paper explores the ethical considerations of rationing nursing care amid increasing demands.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Healthcare Management
- Bioethics
Background:
- Growing literature identifies missed nursing care (care left undone/rationed care) driven by workforce planning and patient safety concerns.
- Existing research focuses on structural (staffing) and outcome issues of missed care, neglecting philosophical and ethical dimensions.
- Policy makers assume full care provision despite reduced staffing and increased patient complexity, creating a gap in ethical decision-making frameworks for rationing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the ethical dimensions of resource allocation and rationing in nursing care.
- To address the lack of explicit decision-making frameworks for rationing nursing care in the literature.
- To discuss the timely issue of resource allocation and rationing within the nursing context.
Main Methods:
- This is a discussion paper, not an empirical study.
- It involves a conceptual analysis of ethical issues related to nursing resource distribution.
- It synthesizes existing literature on missed nursing care and ethical considerations.
Main Results:
- Missed nursing care is often a covert response to overwhelming demands on nursing resources.
- There is a significant gap in the nursing and nursing ethics literature regarding explicit frameworks for rationing care.
- The ethical implications of rationing nursing care and distributing nursing resources require urgent consideration.
Conclusions:
- The ethical considerations of rationing nursing care are underexplored but critical.
- Developing ethical decision-making frameworks is essential to guide nurses facing resource limitations.
- Addressing the ethical dimension of resource allocation is vital for patient safety and the nursing profession.
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