title: The daily relationships between staffing, safety perceptions and personality in hospital nursing: A longitudinal on-line diary study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The association between poor staffing conditions and negative patient safety consequences is well established within hospital nursing. However, many studies have been limited to nurse population level associations, and have used routine data to examine relationships. As a result, it is less clear how these relationships might be manifested at the individual nurse level on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, personality may have direct and moderating roles in terms of work environment and patient safety associations, but limited research has explored personality in this context.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To further our understanding of these associations, this paper takes a within-person approach to examine nurses' daily perceptions of staffing and patient safety. In addition, we explore the potential role of personality factors as moderators of daily level associations.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited eighty-three hospital nurses from three acute NHS Trusts in the UK between March and July 2013. Nurses completed online end-of-shift diaries over three-five shifts which collected information on perceptions of staffing, patient-nurse ratio and patient safety (perceptions of patient safety, ability to act as a safe practitioner, and workplace cognitive failure). Personality was also assessed within a baseline questionnaire. Data were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling, and moderation effects of personality factors were examined using simple slopes analyses, which decomposed relationships at high and low levels of the moderator.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On days when lower patient-nurse ratios were indicated, nurses reported being more able to act as a safe practitioner (p=.011) and more favourable perceptions of patient safety (p=<.001). Additionally, when staffing was perceived more favourably, nurses reported being more able to act as a safe practitioner (p=<.001), more favourable perceptions of patient safety (p=<.001) and experienced less workplace cognitive failure (p=<.001). Conscientiousness and emotional stability emerged as key moderators of daily level associations between staffing and patient safety variables, with many relationships differing at high and low levels of these personality factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings elucidate the potential mechanisms by which patient safety risks arise within hospital nursing, and suggest that nurses may not respond to staffing conditions in the same way, dependent upon personality. Further understanding of these relationships will enable staff to be supported in terms of work environment conditions on an individual basis.
authors.affiliation: Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford BD9 6RJ, UK. Electronic address: Gemma.Louch@bthft.nhs.uk.
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Louch
authors.affiliation: Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford BD9 6RJ, UK; Leeds Institute of Medical Education, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Hara
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Daryl B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: O'Connor
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D061214:Patient Safety; D010551:Personality; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling
keywords: Diary; Nursing; Patient safety; Personality; Staffing