A brand new examine from Penn Nursing’s Middle for Well being Outcomes and Coverage Analysis (CHOPR), revealed within the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, has revealed that implementing Scotland’s Well being and Care Act 2019 is going through vital challenges.
The Act, which goals to make sure protected nurse staffing by guiding rules, duties, and a standard staffing methodology, shouldn’t be being persistently adopted, in line with nurses on the frontlines. Scotland’s method to bettering nurse staffing differs from that of most nations or states, which have established minimal ratios or nurse staffing committees. This makes the Scotland Act a singular exemplar worthy of investigation.
A analysis group from CHOPR and Edinburgh Napier College surveyed 1,870 nurses throughout Scotland to evaluate the baseline of the Act’s implementation in April 2024. The examine discovered that solely a small minority of nurses imagine that staffing is ample to offer protected, high-quality care each shift (9%), or rated the standard of care as glorious (17%). A big majority of nurses indicated that present staffing ranges didn’t meet the Act’s guiding rules.
“These findings point out that the Act’s overarching purpose of guaranteeing protected staffing shouldn’t be being met on the level of implementation,” stated lead-author Eileen T. Lake, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, the Edith Clemmer Steinbright Professor in Gerontology, Professor of Nursing and Sociology, and CHOPR Affiliate Director. “The complexity of the Act’s provisions could also be a big barrier to its profitable implementation.”
The examine additionally discovered that just about half of the nurses surveyed (45%) intend to remain of their present job over the following yr, whereas the opposite half plan to hunt different nursing jobs, promotions, or go away the occupation altogether. The researchers warning that this potential workforce disruption, mixed with the challenges in implementing the Act, raises pressing questions for Scottish policymakers, nurse leaders, and researchers.
“Whereas most nurses view nursing as a long-term profession, the anticipated workforce turnover would require sturdy retention insurance policies,” stated Lake. “It stays to be seen whether or not the Act’s advanced method can actually obtain protected staffing and reverse the development of nurses leaving their positions.”
Extra data:
Eileen T. Lake et al, The Scottish Secure Staffing Act at Baseline: Quantitative Findings, Journal of Nursing Scholarship (2025). DOI: 10.1111/jnu.70013
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Research finds Scottish protected staffing act implementation, which specifies minimal nurse ratios, going through challenges (2025, Could 16)
retrieved 16 Could 2025
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