Why do nurses miss nursing care? A qualitative meta-synthesis

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Missed nursing care is prevalent, posing risks to patient safety.
• Identifying causes of missed care can inform strategies for quality improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically synthesize qualitative research on factors contributing to missed nursing care.
• To understand the multifaceted causes of missed nursing care from nurses' perspectives.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative meta-synthesis following PRISMA guidelines.
• Thematic synthesis of findings from nine selected studies.
• Searches conducted across six databases up to October 2021.

Main Results:

• Identified three core themes contributing to missed nursing care: intrinsic resources, system structure, and social environment.
• Intrinsic factors include professional values, role ambiguity, and knowledge.
• Systemic and social factors encompass staffing shortages, workload, organizational management, communication, and work relationships.

Conclusions:

• Missed nursing care is a global phenomenon with common underlying causes.
• Evidence highlights intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing missed nursing care.
• Addressing these causes is crucial for nursing managers to enhance patient safety and care quality.