Administration approaches of nursing assistants in hospitals: a scoping review

Abstract

Objectives: Administration of nursing assistants is closely associated with patient outcomes, but the current circumstances are tough and need improvement. There was limited research evaluating the intrahospital administration of nursing assistants, and there is a lack of available systematic reviews of the area. The aim of this article was to identify and synthesize the literature on intrahospital nursing assistants' administration approaches. Design: Scoping review. Search strategy: We searched PubMed, Embase, APA PsycInfo, Wanfang Med, SinoMed, CINAHL, Ovid Emcare, Scopus, ProQuest, CNKI, NICE, AHRQ, CADTH, JBI EBP and Cochrane DSR for English and Chinese language articles published between January 2011 and March 2022. Publications on administration approaches, models and appraisal tools of nursing assistants in hospitals, including qualitative, quantitative, mix-methods studies and evidence syntheses, were considered eligible. Results: 36 eligible studies were included for the review with an acceptable quality. We identified one administration model, nine administration methods, fifteen educational programmes and seven appraisal tools from the included studies. The frequency effect size analysis yielded 15 topics of main focus at four levels, whilst suggesting that the previous articles were mostly (33%) focused on the competency of nursing assistants, and the lectures were the most (80%) used strategy in quality improvement projects. The evidence-based quality of the original studies was considerably low, indicating the huge gaps between the evidence-based research and the management practice. Conclusions: A series of practical intrahospital administration approaches was revealed, and fifteen mostly focused topics were identified. We need probe more thoroughly in this area, based more on effective management theories and frameworks, and employing methods of higher quality. This scoping review will help managers find more effective methods to improve the quality of care. Researchers may focus more on evidence-based nursing skills and methods in nursing assistant administration using the 15 topics as breakthrough points.