Pro-judge study: Nurses’ professional judgement in nurse staffing systems

Aims: Aim of this study is to better understand the role of nurses’ professional judgment in nurse staffing systems. Design: Qualitative comparative case study design of nurse staffing systems in England and Wales. Methods: Data will be collected through a variety of sources: individual interviews, observations of relevant meetings and analysis of key documents. Ethical approval for the study was granted in August 2020 from The Healthcare Research Ethics Committee (SREC reference: REC741). Data generation will be informed by science and technology studies and practice theories. Discussion: Ensuring adequate numbers of nurses are available to care for patients in response to shifting demand is an international policy priority. Emerging evidence on the use of formal workforce planning methodologies across the developed world highlights both the centrality of nurses’ professional judgement in nurse staffing methodologies and the urgent need for theoretically informed research to better understand and conceptualise its contribution to decision-making. This study is designed to address this gap in understanding. It takes advantage of nurses’ experiences of managing the service and staffing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and differences in strategic approaches to nurse staffing systems between England and Wales. Impact: The research will: make visible the knowledge and skills that underpin professional judgement in nurse staffing decisions and provide a conceptual language with which to articulate this; lay the foundations for evidence-based programmes of nurse education and continuing professional development; furnish the evidence to inform the development of nurse-led decision support tools to augment professional judgement; and generate wider insights into the effectiveness of nurse staffing systems in practice.