Background

Rationing of nursing care occurs when resources are not sufficient to provide necessary care to all patients.The reasons that lead to this phenomenon include staff reductions, in-creased demands for care due to the technological advancements, more treatment options, more informed service users, all requiring more time and attention from care professionals.

Rationing of nursing care may also occur due to particular approaches of nurses’ clinical judgment and knowledge in allocating the resources, and the wider value basis of the society on care. As a result, fundamental patient needs may not be fulfilled and human rights linked to discrimination may be affected.

Aims

In view of the increasing evidence indicating a neg-ative effect of nursing rationing on patient outcomes, the fragmented work on the complexity of the topic as well as the gaps regarding issues such as ethics, methodology and patient safety, this Cost Action Rationing Missed Nursing care: An international and multidimensional problem will enable and facilitate internationally coordinated exchange of expertise and knowledge for both research and clinical practice at European and international level.

Method

Four Working Groups:

WG 1 Conceptualisation, Organisational, Methodological Issues,

WG 2 Evidence-based interventions design,

WG 3 Ethical Issues of rationing of nursing care,

WG 4 Educational Issues and Training.

Results

International and national research – publications, Training Schools, Short Term Scientific Missions, International Workshops and Conferences, Consensus meetings, Training manuals