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A quantitative study of nursing staff interactions in psychiatric wards
Author(s) -
Sandford D. A.,
Elzinga R. H.,
Iversen R.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1990.tb06447.x
Subject(s) - staffing , nursing staff , nursing , psychiatric ward , medicine , house staff , hospital ward , psychology , family medicine , psychiatry , medical emergency
Data from 2 studies investigating staff‐patient and staff‐staff interaction rates are presented. In the first the staff‐patient ratio was varied by holding patient numbers constant and systematically varying staffing levels. The results showed that although the percentage of time nurses spent interacting with patients did not change, staff‐staff interaction increased as a function of increased staffing levels. In the second study the interaction rates from 4 wards were combined. These data showed that, as in the first study, staff‐patient interaction remained constant, as staff numbers increased, whilst staff‐staff interaction increased. However, unlike the first study, when analysed in terms of the staff‐patient ratio, both categories of interaction increased as the staff‐patient ratio increased.