Intensive care unit nurse managers’ views regarding nurse staffing in their units in South Africa

Abstract

To explore the views of the intensive care unit (ICU) nurse managers regarding nurse staffing in the large ICUs. A qualitative design was used to explore the views of the ICU managers. Four individual interviews were conducted with ICU managers. The interviews were audio recorded; transcribed verbatim and content data analysis was undertaken. The settings were ICUs of four private hospitals in the Tshwane metropolitan area in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Two themes that emerged from the data were shortage of competent and trained nurses and problems with agency nurses. Shortage of competent and trained nurses was associated with the global shortage of nurses; and led to increased patient-to-nurse ratios and the use of other categories of nurses, other than professional nurses. The problems with agency nurses were lack of ICU experience and lack of commitment to their professional work. These brought about risks in the provision of quality nursing care. Adequate numbers of competent and committed nurses is essential for efficient patient care and favourable outcomes in the ICUs. The findings demonstrate the importance of provision of ICU trained nurses for patient care, rather than nurse staffing simply to balance the numbers.