Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36918941›Full record

SynthesisHuman resources for health2023

Missed nursing care in acute care hospital settings in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Abdulazeez Imam, Sopuruchukwu Obiesie, David Gathara, Jalemba Aluvaala, Michuki Maina, Mike English

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

Synthesis in Human resources for health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
37citing papers in PubMed, 2 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

37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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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

6 authors.

Abdulazeez ImamKEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya. abdulimam2001@yahoo.com.ORCID 0000-0001-5070-3060
Sopuruchukwu ObiesieCentre for Evidence Based Intervention, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
David GatharaKEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.
Jalemba AluvaalaKEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.
Michuki MainaKEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.
Mike EnglishKEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.

Funding

Department of Health NIHR130812Wellcome Trust 092654Wellcome Trust 207522Wellcome Trust 207522/Z/17/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMissed nursing care undermines nursing standards of care and minimising this phenomenon is crucial to maintaining adequate patient safety and the quality of patient care. The concept is a neglected aspect of human resource for health thinking, and it remains understudied in low-income and middle-income country (LMIC) settings which have 90% of the global nursing workforce shortages. Our objective in this review was to document the prevalence of missed nursing care in LMIC, identify the categories of nursing care that are most missed and summarise the reasons for this.

methodsWe conducted a systematic review searching Medline, Embase, Global Health, WHO Global index medicus and CINAHL from their inception up until August 2021. Publications were included if they were conducted in an LMIC and reported on any combination of categories, reasons and factors associated with missed nursing care within in-patient settings. We assessed the quality of studies using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale.

resultsThirty-one studies met our inclusion criteria. These studies were mainly cross-sectional, from upper middle-income settings and mostly relied on nurses' self-report of missed nursing care. The measurement tools used, and their reporting were inconsistent across the literature. Nursing care most frequently missed were non-clinical nursing activities including those of comfort and communication. Inadequate personnel numbers were the most important reasons given for missed care.

conclusionsMissed nursing care is reported for all key nursing task areas threatening care quality and safety. Data suggest nurses prioritise technical activities with more non-clinical activities missed, this undermines holistic nursing care. Improving staffing levels seems a key intervention potentially including sharing of less skilled activities. More research on missed nursing care and interventions to tackle it to improve quality and safety is needed in LMIC. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021286897.

Indexed as

Nursing CareNursing Staff, HospitalCross-Sectional StudiesDeveloping CountriesHospitalsHumansQuality of Health CareCare left undoneDeveloping countriesMissed careNursesOmission of carePatient safetyQuality of careRationing careUnmet patient needs

Identifiers

PMID36918941
PMCPMC10015781

What OpenQuestion holds

Textfull text, public
LicenceCC BY
reference markers read33
measurements read16
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.