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Nurse manpower demand: a review of United Kingdom methodologies
Author(s) -
Devine Colum,
McClean Sally,
Reid Norma
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2648.1993.18111833.x
Subject(s) - work (physics) , supply and demand , demand forecasting , focus (optics) , computer science , consumer demand , operations management , operations research , business , economics , engineering , microeconomics , mechanical engineering , physics , optics
Forecasting the demand for nurses is a complex and difficult problem However, in a climate of economic cutbacks and disadvantageous demographic trends, it is essential that adequate methods are developed to predict both the supply and demand for nurse manpower To this end a number of methods have been constructed, particularly in the last decade In this paper we survey the work that has been done to provide an effective way of forecasting nurse manpower demand The two most common approaches are from the ‘top‐down’ or ‘bottom‐up’ However, an evolutionary method which allows for modification and detailed refinement is more likely to provide a means of taking into account the complexities of the system Finally, we focus on the nursing hours per patient (NHPP) ratio as a possible tool for demand forecasting This index is easily calculated and is readily adaptable to the bottom‐up approach