The Department of Veterans Affairs developed a nationally standardized nurse staffing methodology, using an evidence-based process. We present an overview, linking an integrative review of recent literature on patient classification systems, interdisciplinary expert panel consultation, operational feasibility assessment, and frontline manager involvement. This resulted in 7 candidate indicators...

Clinical care pathways and case management are strategies utilized by increasing numbers of hospitals to meet the challenges of capitated reimbursement and managed care. A clinical pathway is an outcome-focused tool used to define a multidisciplinary plan of care. A case manager coordinates patient care across an episode of illness or hospitalization. These tools and systems have great potentia...

Background: Because of the economic crisis and nursing shortage, the situation for hospitals will be demanding throughout the decade in the 2010s. This poses challenges for nursing management. This article focuses on Finnish health care, particularly on nurse managers. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe and analyse future challenges in hospitals in one hospital district in Finland from t...

OBJECTIVES To determine the safety and acceptability of the TrueBlue model of nurse-managed care in the primary healthcare setting. DESIGN A mixed methods study involving clinical record audit, focus groups and nurse interviews as a companion study investigating the processes used in the TrueBlue randomised trial. SETTING Australian general practices involved in the TrueBlue trial. PARTIC...

BACKGROUND An effective preceptor is a vital component of a strong learning experience for learners. Many clinical preceptors provide on-site supervision and clinical teaching but lack the skills necessary to be effective teachers. Few studies have examined the factors related to teaching competence among clinical nurse preceptors. PURPOSE This article is a report of a study that examined (a)...

AIM This article explains the unique role of nurse managers in facilitating nursing peer review and clarifies the issues of ownership about peer review processes and performance evaluations. BACKGROUND The authors' review of the literature and experiences as organizational consultants, found no examples of principled peer review using the authoritative American Nurses Association (ANA) Guidel...

The role of the nursing manager has evolved from clinician and bed manager to one with greater accountability for evidence based practice, benchmarking and more recently, budget liability. Casemix data are widely believed to be a means of providing essential information for effective decision making and financial management but have not been widely utilised by nursing managers (Diers & Bozzo, 1...