Rationing of Nursing Care and its Relationship to Nurse Practice Environment in a Tertiary Public Hospital

  • Reiner Lorenzo J. Tamayo Department of Neurosciences, Philippine General Hospital
  • Maria Khrizalyn Faye Quintin-Gutierrez Department of Outpatient Services, Philippine General Hospital
  • Mildred B. Campo Division of Nursing Research and Development, Philippine General Hospital
  • Marivin Joy F. Lim Department of Pediatrics, Philippine General Hospital
  • Peter T. Labuni Post Anesthesia Care Unit, Philippine General Hospital
Keywords: Health Care Rationing, Health Facility Environment, Nursing Care

Abstract

Objectives. The purpose of the study is to determine the level of rationing of nursing care and its relationship to nurses’ perception of their practice environment.

Methods. The study employed a descriptive, cross-sectional study design. The Basel Extent of Rationing of Nursing Care (BERNCA) was administered to assess the level of care rationing while the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) was used to describe nurses’ practice environment. A total of 147 nurses participated in the study. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the effect of various respondent characteristics and nurse practice environment on care rationing.

Results. Only practice environment total score was significantly associated with rationing of care total scores (B = -0.20, p < 0.05). Results of the regression show that for every unit increase in nurse practice environment total score, indicating a better work environment, there is a 0.20 unit decrease in rationing of nursing care total score, which indicated less rationing of care. Respondent characteristics are not significantly related.

Conclusion. Nurses most frequently rationed tasks in the areas of caring/support and monitoring. The less frequently rationed tasks involved medical, technical, and therapeutic aspects of care. The identification of rationing predictors can aid in determining starting points for hospital policy reforms. Prevalence levels can indicate when care rationing exceeds identified thresholds, if any. Nursing administrators can use implicit rationing of nursing care as a crucial indicator of the impact of strategies and changes in the nurse practice environment (e.g., changes in staffing levels, skill mix, and other resources).

Published
2022-03-03
How to Cite
1.
Tamayo RLJ, Quintin-Gutierrez MKF, Campo MB, Lim MJF, Labuni PT. Rationing of Nursing Care and its Relationship to Nurse Practice Environment in a Tertiary Public Hospital. Acta Med Philipp [Internet]. 2022Mar.3 [cited 2024Mar.29];56(3). Available from: https://actamedicaphilippina.upm.edu.ph/index.php/acta/article/view/3124
Section
Articles