Other Titles
Rising Star Poster/Presentation - Rapid Presentation Round
Abstract
Missed Nursing Care (MNC) includes any incomplete or delayed care required for a patient during an inpatient admission (Kalisch, 2015). This phenomenon leads to costly consequences for patients and hospitals such as pressure injuries, falls, hospital-acquired infection, thrombosis, and other adverse events that increase patient length of stay, readmission rates, and mortality. Additionally, negative consequences for nursing staff exist, such as burnout, turnover, intent to leave their jobs or profession, moral distress, and compassion fatigue (Recio-Saucedo, et al., 2018; Kalisch, 2015). A quantitative study across 11 hospitals including 3,341 RNs and 976 nursing assistants (NA) revealed that MNC predicts nursing staff satisfaction and intent to leave (Kalisch, 2015). When more nursing care is missed, nurses become less satisfied with their job, resulting in a higher turnover. Despite the extensive literature on the frequency, causes, and consequences of missed nursing care (MNC), little is known about the deeper impacts of MNC on staff nurses. The aim of this nursing research study was to explore the meaning of the lived experience of MNC among staff RNs in the hospital setting, to gain a better understanding of how this phenomenon leads to nurse burnout and turnover. This qualitative study employed an interpretive phenomenological approach. A purposeful convenience sample of 12 RNs from medical-surgical units in United States hospitals comprised the participants. Additionally, participants were required to have at least two years of experience in the RN role and work at least 36 hours over a two-week period in direct-patient care to participate. Data collection occurred via semi-structured recorded interviews via the Zoom platform using an interview guide. The Giorgi method of data analysis was used to extract psychological themes from the data. Five major themes and several subthemes emerged from the analysis: (1) Self-guilt, (2) Loss of professional nursing identity, (3) MNC is unavoidable and the new normal, (4) Futility of quality nursing care, (5) Exploring other options. The major themes and subthemes from the study will be discussed along with discussing implications of the data as it relates to mitigating MNC, improving nurse work environments, and improving patient outcomes.
Notes
References:
Kalisch, B. J. (2015). Errors of omission: how missed nursing care imperils patients. American Nurses Association.
Recio-Saucedo A, Dall’Ora C, Maruotti A, et al. (2018) What impact does nursing care left undone have on patient outcomes? Review of the literature. Journal of Clinical Nursing 27. 2248–2259. http://doi.org/10.1111/ jocn.14058
Sigma Membership
Kappa
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Phenomenology
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Hospital Nursing Staff, Nursing Care, Quality of Nursing Care, Staff Nurses, Registered Nurses
Recommended Citation
Henson, Amanda P., "Understanding the Meaning of “Missed Nursing Care” Among RN Staff Nurses in the Hospital Setting" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 27.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/27
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-02-16
Understanding the Meaning of “Missed Nursing Care” Among RN Staff Nurses in the Hospital Setting
Washington, DC, USA
Missed Nursing Care (MNC) includes any incomplete or delayed care required for a patient during an inpatient admission (Kalisch, 2015). This phenomenon leads to costly consequences for patients and hospitals such as pressure injuries, falls, hospital-acquired infection, thrombosis, and other adverse events that increase patient length of stay, readmission rates, and mortality. Additionally, negative consequences for nursing staff exist, such as burnout, turnover, intent to leave their jobs or profession, moral distress, and compassion fatigue (Recio-Saucedo, et al., 2018; Kalisch, 2015). A quantitative study across 11 hospitals including 3,341 RNs and 976 nursing assistants (NA) revealed that MNC predicts nursing staff satisfaction and intent to leave (Kalisch, 2015). When more nursing care is missed, nurses become less satisfied with their job, resulting in a higher turnover. Despite the extensive literature on the frequency, causes, and consequences of missed nursing care (MNC), little is known about the deeper impacts of MNC on staff nurses. The aim of this nursing research study was to explore the meaning of the lived experience of MNC among staff RNs in the hospital setting, to gain a better understanding of how this phenomenon leads to nurse burnout and turnover. This qualitative study employed an interpretive phenomenological approach. A purposeful convenience sample of 12 RNs from medical-surgical units in United States hospitals comprised the participants. Additionally, participants were required to have at least two years of experience in the RN role and work at least 36 hours over a two-week period in direct-patient care to participate. Data collection occurred via semi-structured recorded interviews via the Zoom platform using an interview guide. The Giorgi method of data analysis was used to extract psychological themes from the data. Five major themes and several subthemes emerged from the analysis: (1) Self-guilt, (2) Loss of professional nursing identity, (3) MNC is unavoidable and the new normal, (4) Futility of quality nursing care, (5) Exploring other options. The major themes and subthemes from the study will be discussed along with discussing implications of the data as it relates to mitigating MNC, improving nurse work environments, and improving patient outcomes.
Description
This presentation includes results from a phenomenological study on missed nursing care (MNC) in medical-surgical settings from the nurse’s perspective. MNC includes incomplete or delayed patient care required during an inpatient admission. Insights shared include effective strategies for MNC mitigation, thereby improving both nurse work environments and patient outcomes.