Nurses' Perceptions of the Practice of Restricting a Child for a Clinical Procedure.

Restricting a child for a clinical procedure has been linked to negative physical and psychological sequelae. The practice of restriction remains an implicit and unquestioned aspect of care for children during a clinical procedure. In this study we aimed to describe the practice of restricting a child's movement for a clinical procedure by conducting focus groups with children's nurses. Data were analyzed using a thematic network analysis framework. The findings show that nurses are likely to restrict children based on particular characteristics of the child; for example, the child's age. The findings indicate that there is no consistent approach to the practice of restricting a child for a clinical procedure, suggesting tension between nurses and other health care professionals, and nurses and parents, about this practice. The findings suggest the need for wider exploration of the practice of restriction at the organizational level and a need for children's nurses to feel more empowered to act as advocates for those in their care.

Work characteristics, job satisfaction and intention to leave: a cross-sectional survey of advanced nurse practitioners.

BACKGROUND: Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) are highly skilled health care professionals with the potential to play a major role in improving the quality and accessibility of health care services. However, there is emerging evidence of disquiet among nurse practitioners who often work in suboptimal work environments. Therefore, it is important to understand the elements that contribute to ANPs' job satisfaction and retention in healthcare services. AIM: To examine the effects of commitment to the workplace, work engagement, and influence at work on job satisfaction and intention to leave of ANPs. METHODS: A total of 153 ANP's on the advanced practice section of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland register completed a web survey between July and August 2020. Independent variables (commitment to the workplace, work engagement, and influence at work) were measured using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: Participants who reported higher levels of influence at work and higher levels of commitment to the workplace were also satisfied in their job (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01-1.09, p = 0.025), (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.06-1.14, p < 0.001) respectively. Additionally, ANPs with higher levels of commitment to work were significantly less likely to leave their role (OR 0.94, 95% CI .92-.96, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Healthcare organisations can improve job satisfaction and decrease intention to leave by creating environments in which ANPs are supported by their colleagues and supervisors, and facilitate their practice to the full extent of their capabilities.

The association between nurse staffing and quality of care in emergency departments: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between nurse staffing, skill-mix and quality of care has been well-established in medical and surgical settings, however, there is relatively limited evidence of this relationship in emergency departments. Those that have been published identified that lower nurse staffing levels in emergency departments are generally associated with worse outcomes with the conclusion that the evidence in emergency settings was, at best, weak. METHODS: We searched thirteen electronic databases for potentially eligible papers published in English up to December 2023. Studies were included if they reported on patient outcomes associated with nurse staffing within emergency departments. Observational, cross-sectional, prospective, retrospective, interrupted time-series designs, difference-in-difference, randomised control trials or quasi-experimental studies and controlled before and after studies study designs were considered for inclusion. Team members independently screened titles and abstracts. Data was synthesised using a narrative approach. RESULTS: We identified 16 papers for inclusion; the majority of the studies (n = 10/16) were observational. The evidence reviewed identified that poorer staffing levels within emergency departments are associated with increased patient wait times, a higher proportion of patients who leave without being seen and an increased length of stay. Lower levels of nurse staffing are also associated with an increase in time to medications and therapeutic interventions, and increased risk of cardiac arrest within the emergency department. CONCLUSION: Overall, there remains limited high-quality empirical evidence addressing the association between emergency department nurse staffing and patient outcomes. However, it is evident that lower levels of nurse staffing are associated with adverse events that can result in delays to the provision of care and serious outcomes for patients. There is a need for longitudinal studies coupled with research that considers the relationship with skill-mix, other staffing grades and patient outcomes as well as a wider range of geographical settings. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Lower levels of nurse staffing in emergency departments are associated with delays in patients receiving treatments and poor quality care including an increase in leaving without being seen, delay in accessing treatments and medications and cardiac arrest.

Building capacity: getting evidence-based practice into healthcare professional curricula.

Fostering a culture of clinical effectiveness in healthcare is crucial to achieving optimum outcomes for patients. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a cornerstone of clinical effectiveness. An EBP capacity-building project commenced in Ireland in 2016, in collaboration with the Centre of Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford. A key part of this project, reported here, was the development of a competency framework for education in EBP and clinical effectiveness to ensure responsiveness of education standards and curricula of healthcare professionals in this area. METHODS: Following a review of national and international reports, professional guidance documents and empirical literature pertaining to clinical effectiveness education (CEE), a preliminary competency framework was developed. Stakeholder consultations were conducted over a 6-month period, which consisted of 13 focus groups (n=45) and included representatives from clinical practice, higher education and professional training sectors, regulator/accrediting bodies, the Department of Health (Ireland) and patient/service user groups. RESULTS: An overarching interprofessional competency framework for CEE was proposed and included the following domains: EBP, quality improvement processes, implementation strategies and collaborative practice: a total of 16 competencies and 60 indicators. CONCLUSION: A competency framework for CEE for health and social care professionals is presented. It is intended that this framework will provide guidance to healthcare educators and regulators in the construction and revision of curricula, learning outcomes, teaching and assessment strategies, and graduate/clinician attributes.

Nurse staffing and patient outcomes: Strengths and limitations of the evidence to inform policy and practice. A review and discussion paper based on evidence reviewed for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Safe Staffing guideline development.

A large and increasing number of studies have reported a relationship between low nurse staffing levels and adverse outcomes, including higher mortality rates. Despite the evidence being extensive in size, and having been sometimes described as "compelling" and "overwhelming", there are limitations that existing studies have not yet been able to address. One result of these weaknesses can be observed in the guidelines on safe staffing in acute hospital wards issued by the influential body that sets standards for the National Health Service in England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which concluded there is insufficient good quality evidence available to fully inform practice. In this paper we explore this apparent contradiction. After summarising the evidence review that informed the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on safe staffing and related evidence, we move on to discussing the complex challenges that arise when attempting to apply this evidence to practice. Among these, we introduce the concept of endogeneity, a form of bias in the estimation of causal effects. Although current evidence is broadly consistent with a cause and effect relationship, endogeneity means that estimates of the size of effect, essential for building an economic case, may be biased and in some cases qualitatively wrong. We expand on three limitations that are likely to lead to endogeneity in many previous studies: omitted variables, which refers to the absence of control for variables such as medical staffing and patient case mix; simultaneity, which occurs when the outcome can influence the level of staffing just as staffing influences outcome; and common-method variance, which may be present when both outcomes and staffing levels variables are derived from the same survey. Thus while current evidence is important and has influenced policy because it illustrates the potential risks and benefits associated with changes in nurse staffing, it may not provide operational solutions. We conclude by posing a series of questions about design and methods for future researchers who intend to further explore this complex relationship between nurse staffing levels and outcomes. These questions are intended to reflect on the potential added value of new research given what is already known, and to encourage those conducting research to take opportunities to produce research that fills gaps in the existing knowledge for practice. By doing this we hope that future studies can better quantify both the benefits and costs of changes in nurse staffing levels and, therefore, serve as a more useful tool for those delivering services.