Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of Nurse Staffing Indicators across NHS Public Hospitals in Greece

Abstract

Introduction: Health administration is a particularly complicated task due to the specialization of the good. This is reflected in both rules governing organization and operation of hospitals and in the large and ever-increasing range of provided services. Also, human resources management issues, part of which is staffing and in particular nursing staff –which is the largest number of working staff in a Greek hospital–, are of major importance in every modern health system. Purpose: The aim of this study was the qualitative and quantitative recording of nurse staffing in public hospitals in Greece, in order to highlight the challenges facing the current situation. In particular, the present nurse staffing levels and qualitative indicators such as educational profile, long-term leave, personnel transfer and coverage with auxiliary staff, are recorded. Material and Method: The Bulletin of Dynamic Nursing Records was completed by the nursing and administrative staff at 122 NHS hospitals and collected data were analyzed. The study was conducted during the period June – December 2018. 119 of 122 hospitals (97.5% of the sample) responded to the survey, while data for the remaining 3 hospitals were obtained from the databases of the Ministry of Health. Statistical analysis was carried out using the statistical program SPSS v.23.0. Results: The total number of nursing staff at 122 NHS hospitals is 35,076 people. The ratio of nurses in the 100% of the population is 1.47/1,000 inhabitants and 0.47/bed, while in the total number of nursing staff is 2.51/1,000 inhabitants and 0.83/bed. Also, the ratio of staff assigned to the nursing administration is 3.07/1,000 inhabitants. The deficit ratio of existing staff in relation to the planned organic positions varies from 31.80% in the 1st HR to 19.27% in the 3rd HR, which is the best averaged staffing. The average all told HRs is 25.13%. The hospitals that meet most needs of nursing potential with contracted auxiliary staff are located in the 2nd, 7th and 3rd HR. In addition, the largest proportion of those seconded to other hospitals is recorded in university hospitals. Regarding educational profile, there is a noticeable change: 21.73% of staff hold nursing specialty certifications, 14% of staff hold a Master’s degree, compared to 5.3% in 2012, while PhDs account for 0.82% of staff. Conclusions-Discussion: The actual depiction of quantitative and qualitative staffing indicators can contribute to the qualitative upgrading of the provided health services. The study aspires to provide a policy tool, shaping the numerical and qualitative framework for recruitment planning. In this way, it might contribute to the unified planning of nursing potential for providing comprehensive and quality health services to citizens.