title: [Patient safety and nursing staff allocation].
abstract: This article aims to explore three main concepts related to the professional development of nursing professionals. This paper first critically reviews and reinterprets scientific evidence on the relationship between nurse staff allocation and healthcare outcomes and then challenges some of the common interpretations of this evidence in the professional literature. Secondly, in the absence of solid empirical evidence provided by sophisticated datasets in this field, we consider how Communitarianism may provide a well-defined, highly appropriate ethical framework for further developing and improving the nursing profession and healthcare outcomes. Thirdly, this article examines the role of Communitarian ethics in setting Taiwan's healthcare priorities and promotion nursing's core professional values. In conclusion, we recommend several conceptual health policy frameworks to ensure patient safety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Senior Citizen Service Management, National Taichung University of Science & Technology, Taiwan, ROC. jllee@nutc.edu.tw
authors.forename: Jwo-Leun
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chunhuei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Ming-Yi
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D009740:Nursing Staff; D061214:Patient Safety; D040841:Resource Allocation; D012941:Social Responsibility; D013624:Taiwan
keywords: Communitarianism; ethical paradigm; mortality; nurse staffing; patient safety