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* Nurse staffing has been a discussion point in the literature for decades.
* The American Nurses Association (ANA) task force produced the Principles of Nurse Staffing in 1999, updated in 2012, and called for an additional update in 2017.
* The task force focused on efficiency and usability of materials by incorporating other relevant ANA publications into the new Principles document.
* The revision task force was supported by ANA, with all members contributing through synchronous and asynchronous methods to complete the work. The ANA Principles working draft was opened for public comment via the ANA website and the Principles will incorporate relevant recommendations (per ANA protocol) before publication.
Nurse staffing has been discussed in the literature for decades, beginning in the 1950s. Nurses, nursing organizations, healthcare leaders, policymakers, and non-nurses such as physicians, sociologists, psychologists, and engineers have attempted to define nurse staffing and delineate what staffing standards are most appropriate for highquality care. Included in the historical conversation were criteria related to nurse characteristics, practice environment features, patient characteristics, and outcomes for both nurses and patients. Nurse characteristics include experience and expertise gained from the environment in which they practice, as well as academic preparation and certifications. Patient characteristics include basic demographics such as age, gender, ethnicity, the patient's continuum of health, as well as the environment in which they live. Practice environment includes acute care, outpatient and clinic care, as well as long-term and community-based care, with each area representing unique settings for nursing care.
The following studies represent a sampling of publications reflecting the historical dialogue about the critical issue of nursing and staffing in the 1950s through early 2000s: Abdellah and Levine (1960); Aiken and co-authors (2011); Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Lake, and Cheney (2008); Aiken, Clarke, Sloan, Sochalski, and Silber (2002); Blegen, Goode, and Reed (1998); Blegen and Vaughn (1998); Clark (1977); Duffield and O'Brien-Pallas (2002); Harris, McCaleb, Nobles, and Powell (1953); Kovner, Jones, Zhan, Gergen, and Basu (2002); Ryan, Barker, and Marciante (1975); Simon and Hudson (1964); Schofield, Simpson, Adkins-Bley, Wilson, & Brennan, 2010; Shin and Bae (2012); Steinbrook (2002); and Wandel and Hershey (1975). Professional organizations have published recommendations on staffing as well (American Nurses Association, 1999, 2012a; Institute of Medicine, 2004; World Health...