Almost 200 references and lengthy "critiques" to books, journal articles, reports, theses, term papers, guides, manuals, and pamphlets. Arranged by format. Entries include bibliographical citation, review (annotation covering purpose, rationale, sample, instrument, procedure, and results), and critique. Glossaries of research, health care, and general terms. Miscellaneous appendixes, including bibliography of over 1000 citations. No index.

The purpose of this research project was to determine the appropriate mix of nursing personnel on the day shift for a given workload. The top management team at the Milwaukee Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) has questioned nursing staffing methodologies for several years. Nurse executives have been unable to educate the top management team on nurse staffing methodologies because they lacked quantifiable data to support the nurse staffing methodologies. Recently, the Department of Veteran Affairs Central Nursing Office instituted a new staffing methodology, called the Expert Panel-Based Methodology. Since this methodology once again utilized subjective data and individual judgments, the top management team was uncertain of its validity. Empirical data was collected for the time studies and retrospective data was analyzed in order to obtain a historical perspective on admissions, discharges, transfers onto the unit, transfers off the unit, average census, and cardiac catheterizations. This data was placed into a statistical package, Stat: :Fit, and the appropriate distributions were assigned to each measurement. The flow of the nursing unit's day shift was modeled in the computer simulation program, MedModel 3.01. A separate program was developed for each day of the week. The researcher then varied the staffing and determined the appropriate nurse staffing mix for the average daily census at the beginning of the shift and the workload for each day of the week.

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/

Hospitals and nursing homes are responding to changes in the health care system by modifying staffing levels and the mix of nursing personnel. But do these changes endanger the quality of patient care? Do nursing staff suffer increased rates of injury, illness, or stress because of changing workplace demands? These questions are addressed in Nursing Staff in Hospitals and Nursing Homes, a thorough and authoritative look at today's health care system that also takes a long-term view of staffing needs for nursing as the nation moves into the next century. The committee draws fundamental conclusions about the evolving role of nurses in hospitals and nursing homes and presents recommendations about staffing decisions, nursing training, measurement of quality, reimbursement, and other areas. The volume also discusses work-related injuries, violence toward and abuse of nursing staffs, and stress among nursing personnelâ€"and examines whether these problems are related to staffing levels. Included is a readable overview of the underlying trends in health care that have given rise to urgent questions about nurse staffing: population changes, budget pressures, and the introduction of new technologies. Nursing Staff in Hospitals and Nursing Homes provides a straightforward examination of complex and sensitive issues surround the role and value of nursing on our health care system.

The purpose of this research project was to determine the appropriate mix of nursing personnel on the day shift for a given workload. The top management team at the Milwaukee Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) has questioned nursing staffing methodologies for several years. Nurse executives have been unable to educate the top management team on nurse staffing methodologies because they lacked quantifiable data to support the nurse staffing methodologies. Recently, the Department of Veteran Affairs Central Nursing Office instituted a new staffing methodology, called the Expert Panel-Based Methodology. Since this methodology once again utilized subjective data and individual judgments, the top management team was uncertain of its validity. Empirical data was collected for the time studies and retrospective data was analyzed in order to obtain a historical perspective on admissions, discharges, transfers onto the unit, transfers off the unit, average census, and cardiac catheterizations. This data was placed into a statistical package, Stat: :Fit, and the appropriate distributions were assigned to each measurement. The flow of the nursing unit's day shift was modeled in the computer simulation program, MedModel 3.01. A separate program was developed for each day of the week. The researcher then varied the staffing and determined the appropriate nurse staffing mix for the average daily census at the beginning of the shift and the workload for each day of the week.

Building on the revolutionary Institute of Medicine reports To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, Keeping Patients Safe lays out guidelines for improving patient safety by changing nurses' working conditions and demands. Licensed nurses and unlicensed nursing assistants are critical participants in our national effort to protect patients from health care errors. The nature of the activities nurses typically perform â€" monitoring patients, educating home caretakers, performing treatments, and rescuing patients who are in crisis â€" provides an indispensable resource in detecting and remedying error-producing defects in the U.S. health care system. During the past two decades, substantial changes have been made in the organization and delivery of health care â€" and consequently in the job description and work environment of nurses. As patients are increasingly cared for as outpatients, nurses in hospitals and nursing homes deal with greater severity of illness. Problems in management practices, employee deployment, work and workspace design, and the basic safety culture of health care organizations place patients at further risk. This newest edition in the groundbreaking Institute of Medicine Quality Chasm series discusses the key aspects of the work environment for nurses and reviews the potential improvements in working conditions that are likely to have an impact on patient safety.