Involving Nurses in Hospital Staffing Decision-Making

A qualitative study that looks at the experiences of nurses who have served on staffing committees.

When I am faced with challenging situations and issues that involve multiple stakeholders, I seek guidance or information from others to make the most informed decisions. This is a practice many health professionals and researchers emulate, and it makes sense to do this, yet when it comes to the topic of nurse staffing in hospital settings, nurses are not usually involved in the process. If they are involved to some degree, it is likely because of a hospital’s pursuit for nursing excellence recognition through shared governance and/or the external pressure of state laws, like mandated nurse staffing committees.

Nurse autonomy and engagement means better care.

Over the years, research has shown how increases in nurse autonomy and engagement can positively benefit patient care and support nurse retention, yet how do these concepts apply to nurse staffing? In what ways are those concepts translated into practice or policy efforts? These were the questions that initially guided me.

Seeking a real voice in nurse staffing policymaking.

In a survey exploring the concept of staff nurse involvement in hospital staffing policymaking, most nurses described feeling powerless. with […]

2024-03-20T10:15:39-04:00March 20th, 2024|nurse staffing, Nursing, nursing research, patient safety|0 Comments
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Why Nurses Assist Falling Patients Despite the Risk

A too-common scenario.

Joe opens his eyes and looks through the window of his hospital room. He has always been early to rise. Even at age 82, he can’t shake the habits he learned when he was young.

“I’m woozy again,” Joe thinks as he sits up in bed. His medication sometimes makes him feel that way. Joe presses the call light so a nurse can help him to the bathroom. The nurses have been reminding him to do that so he won’t fall.

Then he reconsiders. “I can make it on my own. I don’t want to bother the nurses. They need to help the patients who really need it.” Joe moves to the edge of his bed. His walker isn’t nearby, but he urgently needs to reach the bathroom. Still dizzy, Joe holds onto the bed for a moment to keep from falling forward. After a moment, he manages to stand up and walk to the bathroom. As he enters the room, his dizziness returns, and his legs suddenly feel weak.  A feeling of dread washes over Joe as he begins to fall…

Nurse Smith starts her rounds and is looking forward to seeing Joe. He is always up early to greet her with a smile and a joke. As she opens the door to his room, she sees him entering his bathroom without his walker. She moves quickly toward him, but he suddenly sways forward. She knows he is going to fall. Reacting immediately, she grabs him by the torso […]

2024-02-20T10:44:39-05:00February 20th, 2024|Nursing, nursing research, patient safety, Quality improvement|1 Comment
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Leveraging AI and Technology for Comprehensive Research: Tips for Researchers and Students

The research-to-practice gap.

Today’s rapidly changing health care settings require medical and nursing professionals and students to remain up to date on trending research, topics, and evidence for guiding practice. While this may sound fundamental for nurses, multiple barriers make this incredibly challenging. Factors such as limited time, large volumes of new research to sift through, and experience with reading and analyzing research contribute to what is known as the research-to-practice gap. This blog post will explore how to harness AI and technology to gain a high-level and comprehensive overview of a research topic of interest.

Define the topic.

Before leveraging AI tools, it’s critical to develop the focus of the topic of interest. It is helpful to frame or organize your topic or area of interest to ensure the search is thorough. For example, you could use the PICO format (patient/population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes) to phrase your question or area of interest.

Let’s say you want to learn more about skin damage related to external urinary devices for adult females. A good PICO question might be: Among adult females in acute care settings, what type of skin damage occurs when using external urinary devices compared to those who do not use these devices?

Search the literature.

Searching academic databases can be […]

2024-02-02T09:40:10-05:00February 1st, 2024|artificial intelligence (AI), Nursing, nursing research, Technology|0 Comments
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‘I Notice, I Wonder’: Demystifying the Research Process for Nurses

Alexa Curtis

Nurses are drawn to their profession out of interest in people and the human condition. In particular, nurses are committed to improving the physical and social circumstances of individuals and diverse populations. During the rigorous process of qualifying for admission and graduating from a nursing program, nurses demonstrate the capacity for acquiring and applying scientific knowledge. However, when it comes to actively engaging with nursing research, too often nursing professionals steer clear.

It is an interesting phenomenon, given that nurses by nature tend to be curious and innovative individuals. We rely on our ability to problem solve creative solutions to difficult situations. We are also highly dependent on the evolving scientific knowledge that informs our clinical practice. And most importantly, we care. We care about doing the best by people and communities. So where is the disconnect when it comes to engaging nurses in conversations about research ?

Thinking of research as ‘methodized curiosity.’

As an academic, I can say it may start with how we teach research in nursing school. The curricula for these courses tend to include large texts with obtuse terminology and complicated formulas. Although research language and data analytics are important to investigative inquiry, entry into the research realm can really be much […]

2022-11-10T10:14:48-05:00November 10th, 2022|Nursing, nursing research|1 Comment
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We Haven’t Made You Better: Orthopedic Trauma and Emotional Healing

Learning that healing the body isn’t always enough.

For much of my career as a trauma ICU nurse and orthopedic trauma nurse practitioner, I focused on building my knowledge of pathophysiology and mastering the assessment and procedural skills required to care for trauma survivors. After a decade of practice, I felt like I had entered the “expert” phase of clinical competence described by Dr. Patricia Benner in AJN in 1982.

But I was completely ignorant of a giant hole in my practice. A trauma survivor pointed out this gap during a routine clinic visit. Ms. H was six months removed from an ankle fracture she’d suffered in a motor vehicle collision on her way to work one morning. On exam, she had regained full strength and range of motion, the fracture was healed on radiographs, and her pain was limited to a minor ache after extended activity. She’d healed remarkably.

I told her that she had done an excellent job with her recovery and could resume her life, including going to work. I’ve come to believe that Ms. H’s response to this assertion changed my entire perspective on patient care. “I can’t go back to work,” she said. “Since the accident, I can’t get in a car without having panic attacks.”

I […]

2022-09-16T11:39:37-04:00September 16th, 2022|Nursing, nursing research, Patients|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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