Annotated Bibliography on Nurse Staffing and Patient Care in Hospitals

This annotated bibliography examines the critical relationship between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes in healthcare settings. It includes annotations of several research articles, such as Frith et al. (2012), which investigates the link between nurse staffing and medication errors, and Kortbeek et al. (2015), which explores flexible nurse staffing based on hourly bed census predictions. Rahman & Shamsudin (2015) examines the impact of patient-to-nurse ratios on quality of care, while Twigg & McCullough (2014) reviews nurse retention strategies. Wong et al. (2013) discusses the relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes. Zhu et al. (2012) provides a multisite study in Chinese hospitals on nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes, and Twigg et al. (2016) focuses on the impact of adding assistants to nurse staffing. The annotations highlight the importance of adequate staffing for improved patient care, reduced errors, and effective leadership, emphasizing the need for a balance between staffing levels and patient needs to ensure optimal healthcare delivery.

Running head: ANNOTATED REFRENCES 1
Annotated References
Name
Institution

ANNOTATED REFERENCES 2
Annotated References
Frith, K. H., Anderson, E. F., Tseng, F., & Fong, E. A. (2012). Nurse staffing is an
important strategy to prevent medication errors in community hospitals. Nursing
Economics, 30(5), 288.
The article opens up with admission of the prevalence of medication
administration errors as a problem requiring urgent attention from the nursing fraternity.
The study sought to examine the relationship between nurse staffing capacities and the
probability of occurrence of medication error in a medical facility. Further, it uses a case
study in examining the fact in coming up with s reliable conclusion using database of the
hospital under case study. The study results indicate a relation between reduced nursing
staff with the possibility of errors in medication occurring. As such, it proposes the
creation of a balance to ensure adequate hours are accorded to the nursing team for
efficiency reasons.
The information in the case remains relevant and reliable given the expertise of
the authors coming from the medical professional in both practical and teaching capacity.
Karen is a professor of nursing; Fan is a professor of management science, Faye an
associate professor of nursing, and Eric an associate professor of management. The
diverse profession justifies the source as authentic and well researched. The source
remains objective given primary source and independent nature of the research work
conducted.
The source is essential in studying the effect of nurse staffing on care as it touches
on the number of staff and their effectiveness rate on the right medication. The study

ANNOTATED REFERENCES 3
assists in determining the relation between proper staffing and improved care among
patients as well as apportioning sufficient time for the staff. Thus, it can be used
effectively in serving the needs of the research topic.
Kortbeek, N., Braaksma, A., Burger, C. A., Bakker, P. J., &Boucherie, R. J. (2015).
Flexible nurse staffing based on hourly bed census predictions. International journal
of production economics, 161, 167-180.
Flexible nurse staffing based on hourly bed census predictions is an article
completed by Kortbeek, Braaksma, Burger, Bakker, and Boucherie that speaks on issues
of quality of care and workload issues facing nurses at their workstations. Further, it
discusses the method of hourly census prediction in deriving efficient staffing policies.
Thus, it looks into the effectiveness of flexible nursing that shifts according to the
number of patient admission in increasing quality care.
The source remains authentic given the background of the authors and peer
reviewed nature of the article. The authentic nature supports the use of the article in
finding relevancy between the staffing numbers and quality of care. The information is
current given the year of publication and research done on a case study basis reflecting
the state of affair in different similar hospitals.
The source is helpful in the research in finding the essence of staffing in provision
of quality healthcare as it calls for having sufficient numbers that an be reduced or
increased based on the demand situation.
Rahman, H. A., &Shamsudin, A. S. (2015). The impact of patient to nurse
ratio on quality of care and patient safety in the medical and surgical wards in
Malaysian private hospitals: a cross-sectional study. Asian Social Science, 11(9), 326.

ANNOTATED REFERENCES 4
The article surrounds information on the impact of patient to nurse ratio on
quality of care and patient safety. Therein, it discusses the issue of care and overwhelmed
nurses and thus finds a perfect balance that supports quality care. It concludes on the
importance of balancing the ratio of nurses to the patients to match the quality time and
adequacy in provision of healthcare.
The source remains up to date given the year of publication and the medical and
management background of the authors. Thus, the information provided remains useful
and authentic in the research.
The information can be used in the research in finding the best ratio between
nursing staff numbers and patient admission numbers. The source would assist the study
in expounding knowledge on the study question.
Twigg, D., & McCullough, K. (2014). Nurse retention: a review of strategies
to create and enhance positive practice environments in clinical
settings. International journal of nursing studies, 51(1), 85-92.
The article talks on the nurse retention strategies that focus on factors reducing or
attracting workers towards performance. Nurses in strained facilities with a high number
of patients and low staff leads to high employee turnover rates.
The article is authentic as it comes from authors concerned in the medical field
and the peer reviewed nature of the article in the journal of nursing. Further, it uses
references of other similar readings which are in tandem with the provisions registered.
The article can be used in the research as it shows the nurse retention factors
which coincide with provision of right environment through proper staffing. Further, the

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information remains useful in finding the right number that promotes the right employee
numbers in organizations.
Wong, C. A., Cummings, G. G., &Ducharme, L. (2013). The relationship
between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic review
update. Journal of nursing management, 21(5), 709-724.
The article talks of leadership and aspect of proper staffing which find a relation
to a perfect hospital status. The article in the journal of nursing records the patient
outcome levels based on the level of attendance offered by the respective nursing
fraternity.
The article recorded in the nursing management journal remains authentic and
unbiased given the open nature of the research and the relevant nature of the authors with
experience in the field of nursing. Recording on patient outcome were done based on a
case study which further boosts the authenticity of the article.
The article is sufficient in providing knowledge for the study as a proper outcome
between patients can only emanate from a well staffed institution that considers staffing
efficiency. Thus, the journal can be used in the study to satisfy the topic of research.
Zhu, X. W., You, L. M., Zheng, J., Liu, K., Fang, J. B., Hou, S. X., ... & Wu,
Z. J. (2012). Nurse staffing levels make a difference on patient outcomes: a multisite
study in Chinese hospitals. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 44(3), 266-273.
The article provides a case study that seeks to determine and justify the theory of staffing
levels making a difference on patient outcomes. The study findings communicate the fact that

ANNOTATED REFERENCES 6
proper staffing in terms of adequate numbers matching the patient demands leads to positive
outcome.
The article remains authentic in studies in the field of nursing given the nature of
references used and peer reviewed nature of the journal. The vast studies and case relation
provide adequate knowledge on staffing and patient care.
The source was helpful in the study given the relation to the topic of study surrounding
staffing and patient care. The all-round approach of the article build on the knowledge required
to bring focus on staffing needs and patient outcome. The source altered my perception as it
outlined the need for a relationship between nursing personnel in building confidence among
patients.
Twigg, D. E., Myers, H., Duffield, C., Pugh, J. D., Gelder, L., & Roche, M. (2016).
The impact of adding assistants in nursing to acute care hospital ward nurse staffing on
adverse patient outcomes: An analysis of administrative health data. International journal
of nursing studies, 63, 189-200.
The article is a creation by Twigg, Myers, Duffield, Pugh, Gelder, and Roche that focuses
on the impact of creating additional staff in the wake of ensuring proper patient outcome. The
journal records the dire needs of acute patients who need determined and focused nurses to
delvier the best experience. As such, it recommends the essence of proper staffing to cater for
patients with dire needs.
The source is a peer reviewed one thus draws authenticity and reliability in the study.
Further, it is objective as it focuses on the topic of study providing numbers that match the need

ANNOTATED REFERENCES 7
of patients. Since the authors emanate from a medical background, the information therein
appears to be reliable and usable in the field.
The journal is relevant and applicable to the issue of study and thus remains helpful in
revealing the need for proper staffing to improve healthcare experience among patients. The
needs expressed therein changed my perception on staffing needs on health institutions and the
cause for variation according to patient care needs. Thus, the source assisted in documenting the
differences and the need for increased staffing.