Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34081369›Full record

SynthesisJournal of advanced nursing2021

The impact of nurse staffing methodologies on nurse and patient outcomes: A systematic review.

Diane E Twigg, Lisa Whitehead, Gemma Doleman, Sonia El-Zaemey

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of advanced nursing, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. A Two-Level, Multidimensional Framework for Understanding and Treating Clinician Fatigue.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Diane E TwiggSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Perth, WA, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4694-4555
Lisa WhiteheadSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Perth, WA, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6395-0279
Gemma DolemanSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Perth, WA, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5566-5681
Sonia El-ZaemeySchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Perth, WA, Australia.

Funding

Department of Helath Western Australia
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimAim of this study is to systematically review and synthesize available evidence to identify the association between nurse staffing methodologies and nurse and patient outcomes.

designSystematic review and narrative synthesis. DATA SOURCES: A search of MEDLINE (EBSCO), CINAHL (EBSCO) and Web of Science was conducted for studies published in English between January 2000 and January 2020. REVIEW

methodsThe reporting of this review and narrative synthesis was guided by the preferred reporting items for systematic and meta-analysis guidelines (PRISMA) statement and data synthesis guided by the Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guideline. The quality of each article was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

resultsTwenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-one used the mandated minimum nurse-to-patient ratio methodology and one study assessed the number of nurse hours per patient day staffing methodology. Both methodologies were mandated. All studies that reported on nurse outcomes demonstrated an improvement associated with the implementation of mandated minimum nurse-to-patient ratio, but findings related to patient outcomes were inconclusive.

conclusionsEvidence on the impact of specific nurse staffing methodologies and patient and nurse outcomes remains highly limited. Future studies that examine the impact of specific staffing methodologies on outcomes are required to inform this fundamental area of management and practice.

Indexed as

Nurse-Patient RelationsPersonnel Staffing and SchedulingHumansWorkforcenurse outcomesnurse staffingpatient outcomessystematic reviewworkload methodologies

Identifiers

PMID34081369
PMCPMC9291075

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.