ProJudge; Nurses' professional judgement in nurse staffing systems
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Pro-Judge Study: An Ethnographic Examination of Nurses’ Professional Judgement in Nurse Staffing Systems in England and Wales
IRAS ID
279835
Contact name
Davina Allen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
REC741, The School of Healthcare Sciences Research Ethics Committee
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 28 days
Research summary
The aim of this study is to explore in detail how nurses use professional judgement in making decisions about how best to organise the nursing workforce to meet patient need. Critical investigations into failures of care in hospital settings, such as the Francis Reports and Keogh Review, identified the need to develop better systems to support decision-making about levels of nurse staffing.
In England and Wales policy guidance recommends that nurses make decisions about the number of nurses required per shift by using three sources of information (a) their professional judgement, (b) workforce management tools, and (c) data on the quality and safety of patient care. There is some understanding about the technical and organisational aspects of nurse staffing policies, but we know very little about the role of nurses’ professional judgement in decisions about nurse staffing levels. This research addresses this gap in understanding, taking advantage of the recent impact of service configuration in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and national differences in nurse staffing systems between England and Wales.
We will examine nurses’ use of professional judgement in nurse staffing decision-making in in-patient services in a sample of six hospitals in England and Wales. Drawing on tele-interviews with key stakeholders, documentary analysis and observations of meetings, we will analyse the components that inform nurses’ professional judgement, how professional judgment is communicated within the organisation, the relationship between professional judgement and workforce planning tools and quality indicators, how professional judgement influences nurse staffing decisions and the factors that contribute to or detract from its effectiveness from a range of staff perspectives.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A