Exploring nursing skill mix: a review
- 1 July 2005
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Hindawi Limited in Journal of Nursing Management
- Vol. 13 (4), 356-362
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2934.2005.00530.x
Abstract
The overall aims of the paper are to provide an overview of the subject, illustrate the need for further research and to raise awareness of the ongoing limitations of existing knowledge and present these to those involved in skill mix decision making.Over the last 20 years health care organizations across the globe have seen an increase in the pace of change. The continuing drive towards cost-effectiveness, quality of care and the clinical governance agenda are causing more and more managers to examine closely the mix of staff skills. This paper demonstrates that, despite 20 years of research and skill mix management in practice, there continues to be a tension between the use of qualified and unqualified staff, particularly, the cost and quality dimensions.The evidence which currently exists offers some limited support for the suggestion that redistribution of certain tasks in nursing could be possible and could contribute to strategies for meeting the demands of changes within health care delivery. Any reallocation of task, and substitution of qualified by unqualified staff, should be based on sound evidence and not merely on staff availability, service demand or apparent costs.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- The changing division of labour between nurses and nursing assistants in New BrunswickJournal of Advanced Nursing, 2003
- Skill mix, doctors and nurses: substitution or diversification?Journal of Management in Medicine, 2002
- A study of skill mix issues in midwifery: a multimethod approach.Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2002
- Defining the nursing contribution to patient outcome: lessons from a review of the literature examining nursing outcomes, skill mix and changing rolesJournal of Clinical Nursing, 2001
- Psychiatric nursing in prison: the state of the art?Journal of Advanced Nursing, 1999
- Skill mix changes: substitution or service development?Health Policy, 1998
- Role of the nurse: introducing theories and conceptsBritish Journal of Nursing, 1998
- Nurse ExtendersJona: the Journal of Nursing Administration, 1993