Reasons for unfinished nursing care from the perspective of nurses from regional and university hospitals

Aim: The main aim of the paper is to examine the differences in reasons for unfinished nursing care according to the type of hospitals and wards. The work also intends to investigate the relationship between the reasons for unfinished nursing care and nurses' job satisfaction. Design: Cross-sectional correlation study. Methods: The sample consisted of 371 nurses working in internal medicine and surgical disciplines of four selected hospitals in the Olomouc region. The Czech version of the MISSCARE Survey questionnaire was used to collect data, containing 61 items divided into three areas - work-related factors, activities of unfinished care and reasons for unfinished care. The reasons for unfinished nursing care were operationalized in the MISSCARE Survey by domains, such as human resources, material resources and communication. The data collection was held between May and September 2020. ANOVA test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to analyse the data. Results: Human resources and staffing were rated as the most important reasons for unfinished nursing care. Significant differences between university and regional hospitals were found in the human and material resources. A positive correlation was found between the number of patients in the last shift and the significance of reasons in human and material sources and communication. A negative correlation was found between the nurses' satisfaction with their current position, with the role as a nurse, with the teamwork, and reasons for unfinished nursing care. Conclusions: A deeper analysis of processes contributing to the prevalence of missed nursing care can help better understand the barriers in providing a complex nursing care and can implement effective interventions into practice.

Automated summary

This study examined the differences in reasons for unfinished nursing care according to the type of hospitals and wards, and investigated the relationship between these reasons and nurses' job satisfaction. The results indicated that human resources and staffing were the most important reasons for unfinished nursing care, and there was a negative correlation between nurses' satisfaction and reasons for unfinished nursing care.