Missed Nursing Care in Danish Hospitals: A National Survey.

The response rate was 39%, raising the risk of non-response bias. Staff in the busiest units, who might experience the highest levels of missed care, may have had less time to complete the survey, potentially leading to an underestimation of the problem. The data are self-reported and subject to recall bias and social desirability bias, where nurses might underreport missed care to present themselves or their units in a better light. The study focused only on adult patients in acute care somatic hospitals, so the findings may not apply to psychiatric, paediatric or primary care settings. The survey reflects the perspectives of nursing staff only; it does not include patient reports of care received, which might differ.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by a steering committee including chief nursing officers and a representative from the Danish Nurses' Association, but the text does not specify direct funding sources or commercial involvement.

Do not interpret the 44% missed care rate as a measure of actual patient harm or clinical negligence in this specific dataset. The study reports the nurses' perception of how often care is missed, not the occurrence of adverse events. Furthermore, the low response rate (39%) means this may be an underestimation, as the busiest nurses with the most missed care were likely least able to respond.