Three metaphors and a (mis)quote: thinking about staffing-outcomes research, health policy and the future of nursing.
Conducting research on nurse staffing and outcomes is very challenging, and the application of staffing-outcomes research in practice is both fraught with controversy and vitally important for the safety of our patients and the future of the profession. As I stand back and think about being involved in staffing-outcomes research for nearly a decade and sharing many of my thoughts about this rapidly growing literature in reviews and commentaries in print, certain metaphors for trends in this field come to mind. I won't claim originality for the insights that follow or attempt to thoroughly trace the genealogy of the stories and metaphors here, but offer them to provide what I hope is a fresh perspective to material that I and many of my colleagues have visited and revisited on numerous occasions.
Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto and University Health Network, 155 College Street, Toronto, Canada. sean.clarke@utoronto.ca
Sean P
SP
Clarke
D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D019365:Metaphor; D015401:Nursing Administration Research; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D017751:Safety Management; D006113:United Kingdom