What explains nurses' perceptions of staffing adequacy?
BACKGROUND
Much attention is being paid to the adequacy of nurse staffing in acute care hospitals, and much of the information relies on nurses' perceptions about staffing adequacy. Yet, we know little about what influences these perceptions.


OBJECTIVE
We examined the impact of hospital characteristics, nursing unit characteristics, nurse characteristics, and patient characteristics on nurses' perceptions of staffing adequacy. We tested three different models, incorporating different conceptualizations that relate current and past characteristics to these perceptions.


METHODS
This was a secondary analysis of data from the Outcomes Research in Nursing Administration Project, a longitudinal study conducted in 60 hospitals in the Southeastern United States.


RESULTS
Perceptions of staffing adequacy were influenced significantly by the hospital's case mix index and growth in hospital admissions, by the number of beds on a unit, and by patient acuity. Further, current perceptions of staffing adequacy were significantly affected by prior perceptions.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on our results, we present potential interventions for administrators that may ameliorate some of the negative influences on nurses' perceptions of staffing adequacy.
Mark
Barbara A
BA
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-7460, USA. b_mark@unc.edu
Salyer
Jeanne
J
Harless
David W
DW
D000208:Acute Disease / Q000451:nursing; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000458:organization & administration; D004219:District of Columbia; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D016294:Models, Nursing; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015401:Nursing Administration Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology* / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory / Q000458:organization & administration; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015144:Southeastern United States; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas; D016526:Workload