Throughout the world, countries are experiencing shortages of health care workers. Policy-makers and system managers have developed a range of methods and initiatives to optimise the available workforce and achieve the right number and mix of personnel needed to provide high-quality care. Our literature review found that such initiatives often focus more on staff types than on staff members' skills and the effective use of those skills. Our review describes evidence about the benefits and pitfalls of current approaches to human resources optimisation in health care. We conclude that in order to use human resources most effectively, health care organisations must consider a more systemic approach - one that accounts for factors beyond narrowly defined human resources management practices and includes organisational and institutional conditions.

BackgroundInformation and communication technologies (ICTs) are becoming an impetus for quality health care delivery by nurses. The use of ICTs by nurses can impact their practice, modifying the ways in which they plan, provide, document, and review clinical care.ObjectiveAn overview of systematic reviews was conducted to develop a broad picture of the dimensions and indicators of nursing care that have the potential to be influenced by the use of ICTs.MethodsQuantitative, mixed-method, and qualitative reviews that aimed to evaluate the influence of four eHealth domains (eg, management, computerized decision support systems [CDSSs], communication, and information systems) on nursing care were included. We used the nursing care performance framework (NCPF) as an extraction grid and analytical tool. This model illustrates how the interplay between nursing resources and the nursing services can produce changes in patient conditions. The primary outcomes included nurses’ practice environment, nursing processes, professional satisfaction, and nursing-sensitive outcomes. The secondary outcomes included satisfaction or dissatisfaction with ICTs according to nurses’ and patients’ perspectives. Reviews published in English, French, or Spanish from January 1, 1995 to January 15, 2015, were considered.ResultsA total of 5515 titles or abstracts were assessed for eligibility and full-text papers of 72 articles were retrieved for detailed evaluation. It was found that 22 reviews published between 2002 and 2015 met the eligibility criteria. Many nursing care themes (ie, indicators) were influenced by the use of ICTs, including time management; time spent on patient care; documentation time; information quality and access; quality of documentation; knowledge updating and utilization; nurse autonomy; intra and interprofessional collaboration; nurses’ competencies and skills; nurse-patient relationship; assessment, care planning, and evaluation; teaching of patients and families; communication and care coordination; perspectives of the quality of care provided; nurses and patients satisfaction or dissatisfaction with ICTs; patient comfort and quality of life related to care; empowerment; and functional status.ConclusionsThe findings led to the identification of 19 indicators related to nursing care that are impacted by the use of ICTs. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first attempt to apply NCPF in the ICTs’ context. This broad representation could be kept in mind when it will be the time to plan and to implement emerging ICTs in health care settings.Trial RegistrationPROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews: CRD42014014762; http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.asp?ID=CRD42014014762 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6pIhMLBZh)

: This instrument can help nurse leaders increase the effective use of RN time in carrying out the full scope of their professional practice.

Data suggest that nursing care organizational models characterized by contrasting staffing, work environment and innovation characteristics may be associated with differential risk for hospitalized patients. The two professional models, which draw mainly on registered nurses (RNs) to deliver nursing services and reflect stronger support for nurses' professional practice, were associated with lower risks than are the two functional models.

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BackgroundOver the last decades, converging forces in hospital care, including cost-containment policies, rising healthcare demands and nursing shortages, have driven the search for new operational models of nursing care delivery that maximize the use of available nursing resources while ensuring safe, high-quality care. Little is known, however, about the distinctive features of these emergent nursing care models. This article contributes to filling this gap by presenting a theoretically and empirically grounded taxonomy of nursing care organization models in the context of acute care units in Quebec and comparing their distinctive features.MethodsThis study was based on a survey of 22 medical units in 11 acute care facilities in Quebec. Data collection methods included questionnaire, interviews, focus groups and administrative data census. The analytical procedures consisted of first generating unit profiles based on qualitative and quantitative data collected at the unit level, then applying hierarchical cluster analysis to the units’ profile data.ResultsThe study identified four models of nursing care organization: two professional models that draw mainly on registered nurses as professionals to deliver nursing services and reflect stronger support to nurses’ professional practice, and two functional models that draw more significantly on licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and assistive staff (orderlies) to deliver nursing services and are characterized by registered nurses’ perceptions that the practice environment is less supportive of their professional work.ConclusionsThis study showed that medical units in acute care hospitals exhibit diverse staff mixes, patterns of skill use, work environment design, and support for innovation. The four models reflect not only distinct approaches to dealing with the numerous constraints in the nursing care environment, but also different degrees of approximations to an “ideal” nursing professional practice model described by some leaders in the contemporary nursing literature. While the two professional models appear closer to this ideal, the two functional models are farther removed.

Organizational climate in healthcare settings influences patient outcomes, but its effect on nursing care delivery remains poorly understood. In this mixed-methods study, nurse surveys (N = 292) were combined with a qualitative case study of 15 direct-care registered nurses (RNs), nursing personnel, and managers. Organizational climate explained 11% of the variation in RNs' reported frequency of caring practices. Qualitative data suggested that caring practices were affected by the interplay of organizational climate dimensions with patients and nurses characteristics. Workload intensity and role ambiguity led RNs to leave many caring practices to practical nurses and assistive personnel. Systemic interventions are needed to improve organizational climate and to support RNs' involvement in a full range of caring practices.

Aims To identify nurse staffing groups in acute care facilities. Design This retrospective descriptive study used a configurational approach. Methods Data from a two‐month target period from January–March 2016 were collected for 40 facilities in four different hospitals in one of the largest regions of Quebec. Multiple factorial analysis and hierarchical ascendant classification were used to generate a limited number of nurse staffing groups. Results/Findings Four distinct nurse staffing groups emerged from this study. The least resourced model relied mainly on less qualified personnel and agency staff. The moderately resourced basic model was assessed as average across all staffing dimensions, but employed less overtime, relying mostly on auxiliary nurses. The moderately resourced professional group, also moderate in most variables, involved more overtime and fewer less qualified personnel. The most resourced group maximized highly qualified personnel and minimized instability in the nursing team. Conclusion This study covered multiple staffing groups with widely varying characteristics. Most groups entailed risks for quality of care at one or more levels. Few care units approached the theoretical staffing ideal.