Methods: The NWA was evaluated using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The American Nurses Association's Principles for Nurse Staffing provided a conceptual framework with 5 core principles: healthcare consumer, interprofessional teams, workplace culture, practice environment, and evaluation.
Results: Units met average staffing needs based on NWA 96% to 99% of the evaluation period. Statistical control charts revealed the shift-to-shift range of nurse staffing deficit to overage to be -2.0 to 2.2. Thematic analysis of charge nurse interviews revealed expertise in daily staffing decisions and knowledge deficits surrounding comprehensive nursing resource planning.
Conclusions: The tool provides valuable objective information that assists in both daily and annual nursing resource planning. A comprehensive evaluation of nursing resources should move beyond averages to include statistical control information to examine the nuances introduced by shift-to-shift staffing variances.
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