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- Title
Observational study of the relationship between nurse staffing levels and compliance with mandatory nutritional assessments in hospital.
- Authors
Recio‐Saucedo, A.; Smith, G. B.; Redfern, O.; Maruotti, A.; Griffiths, P.; Griffiths, Peter; Ball, Jane; Bloor, Karen; Böhning, Dankmar; Briggs, Jim; Dall'Ora, Chiara; De Iongh, Anya; Jones, Jeremy; Kovacs, Caroline; Maruotti, Antonello; Meredith, Paul; Recio‐Saucedo, Alejandra; Prytherch, David; Redfern, Oliver; Schmidt, Paul
- Abstract
Background: In the UK, it is recommended that hospital patients have their nutritional status assessed within 24 h of admission using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST). The present study aimed to examine the association between nurse staffing levels and missed nutritional status assessments. Methods: A single‐centre, retrospective, observational study was employed using routinely collected MUST assessments from 32 general adult hospital wards over 2 years, matched to ward nurse staffing levels. We used mixed‐effects logistic regression to control for ward characteristics and patient factors. Results: Of 43 451 instances where staffing levels could be linked to a patient for whom an assessment was due, 21.4% had no MUST score recorded within 24 h of admission. Missed assessments varied between wards (8–100%). There was no overall association between registered nurse staffing levels and missed assessments; although higher admissions per registered nurse were associated with more missed assessments [odds ratio (OR) = 1.09, P = 0.005]. Higher healthcare assistant staffing was associated with lower rates of missed assessments (OR = 0.80, P < 0.001). There was a significant interaction between registered nurses and healthcare assistants staffing levels (OR = 0.97, P = 0.011). Conclusions: Despite a written hospital policy requiring a nutritional assessment within 24 h of admission, missed assessments were common. The observed results show that compliance with the policy for routine MUST assessments within 24 h of hospital admission is sensitive to staffing levels and workload. This has implications for planning nurse staffing.
- Subjects
NUTRITIONAL assessment; SCIENTIFIC observation; RETROSPECTIVE studies; NURSING practice; MEDICAL errors; HOSPITAL nursing staff; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; WORKING hours; LOGISTIC regression analysis; ODDS ratio; NUTRITIONAL status
- Publication
Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics, 2021, Vol 34, Issue 4, p679
- ISSN
0952-3871
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/jhn.12847