Should patient dependency be used to set nurse staffing levels in general hospital wards?
In this section, we perform a literature review to discuss patient dependency in clinical settings, and examine how we can measure patient dependency levels. We also discuss whether patient dependency levels should and could form the criteria for setting nurse-staffing levels in the hospital. We will also analyze the other different methods and criteria that can help to determine nurse staffing levels within the clinical setting. Patient dependency levels indicates the requirements of nurses and the extent to which patients will need nurses for their continuous care. Nurse patient ratios are often used to discuss the nurse staffing levels and these figures indicate whether staffing levels have to be increased or decreased. We would aim our discussion of patient dependency necessitating increase in staffing levels and the patient nurse ratio as indicators of nurse staffing both within general hospital wards and at critical care and emergency units.
