Initial testing of the use of the Safer Nursing Care Tool in a Canadian acute care context

Initial testing of England's Safer Nursing Care Tool for adult in-patient acute care wards in a university-affiliated Canadian hospital.

Safe-nursing staffing decisions have significant impacts on patients' safety and quality of care. The Safer Nursing Care Tool was developed in England to provide managers with a validated formula for making appropriate nursing staffing decisions. The tool has been widely used and studied in the UK but has yet to be tested in a Canadian context.

Ten high service quality acute care wards from a university-affiliated Canadian hospital tested the use of the Safer Nursing Care Tool. Service quality, patients' dependency/acuity and staff activity data were benchmarked against information collected in 726 comparable UK wards.

Higher bed occupancy and patient dependency/acuity mix were found in the 10 Canadian wards compared to their UK counterparts. Overall staff activity was comparable between UK and Canadian wards.

The Safer Nursing Care Tool can be applied in this Canadian hospital, and further testing in other hospitals and specialties is required.

The Safer Nursing Care Tool is a valid staffing tool to use that, when combined with professional judgement, can help managers to properly establish nursing staff in acute care wards.