![]() ![]() The SNCT is a patient classification system five levels of care with each level representing patients incrementally reliant on nurses for care and daily activities. The SNCT is currently used in about 80% of English NHS' acute care hospitals (Ball et al., 2019) and is the only safe‐nursing staffing tool endorsed by the NICE ( 2014a). The database stores 2,274,990 timed nursing interventions delivered to 1,255,041 patients allocated to distinct dependency/acuity categories (Hurst, 2020). ![]() The most recent nursing database, which is continuously updated, and from which the SCNT staffing multipliers were developed, includes 1,928 high‐quality acute care wards spanning up to 34 clinical specialities. The original SNCT development included over 1,000 acute and rehabilitation wards. The tool was first published in 2006 in conjunction with the Association of United Kingdom University Hospitals. The SNCT has been developed in England to help the National Health Service (NHS) hospital managers make evidence‐based staffing decisions by assessing patient dependency and/or acuity and staff activity (Shelford Group, 2014). However, the Safer Nursing Care Tool (SNCT) is widely used in England and has been tested in validation studies in United Kingdom (UK) countries (Shelford Group, 2014). Many tools have been developed to aid the safe‐nursing staffing decision‐making process, but most tools have not yet been supported by robust evidence‐based research (Griffiths et al., 2020). Thus, recommended or legislated patient‐to‐nurse ratios should be used as a general guideline and other workforce planning tools and strategies should be employed (NHS, 2013a). ![]() The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2014a) highlighted that staffing decisions should be made at a ward level as no staff‐to‐patient ratio can be applied to all wards equally. Individual patient needs play a major role in making appropriate decisions about safe‐nursing care and staffing requirements. Minimum patient‐to‐nurse ratios have been found to improve the quality of care in Australia and in the United States of America (e.g., Osborne, 2014 Unison, 2015). Indeed, nurses represent the largest group of health care providers, thus a significant part of a hospital's budget (Kavanagh et al., 2012). However, making a nursing staffing decision is influenced by efficiency and quality of care but also by costs. Having the appropriate number of nursing staff in each acute care ward is essential for quality of care and patient safety (Aiken et al., 2014 Griffiths et al., 2016 Griffiths et al., 2018 Hurst, 2005 Kane et al., 2007). ![]()
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