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.
Clarke
Sean P
SP
Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto and University Health Network, 155 College Street, Toronto, Canada. sean.clarke@utoronto.ca
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