Determining nurse staffing levels: a critical review of the literature

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of current methods for determining nurse staffing requirements. A range of methods is described and the strengths and drawbacks of each are discussed. There follows an examination of some of the wider issues raised by the use of particular methods for determining nurse staffing. The paper concludes that since a perfect workload measurement system is unlikely ever to exist, such systems can be used to facilitate, but not to dictate, decisions about nurse staffing.