What Is 'Missed Nursing Care' During an Emerging Infectious Disease? A Concept Analysis.
Mahsa Pourshaban, Hadi Hasankhani
PMID 41199417WHAT IT FOUND
Missed nursing care during emerging infections meant close-contact care was suboptimal, prioritised or interrupted.
The analysis linked it to staffing, equipment, communication and nurse fatigue, but did not test whether addressing these improves patient outcomes.
Key findings
01During emerging infections, missed nursing care was defined as close-contact supportive, psychosocial and basic bedside care that was suboptimal, prioritised or interrupted.
02The analysis identified antecedents including unfamiliar and complex disease care, shortage of human and material resources, communication or teamwork failure, and individual nurse factors.
03Consequences reported in the reviewed literature included incomplete or omitted care, lower quality of care, unmet basic patient needs, reduced patient safety and increased complications or mortality.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The paper analysed existing literature rather than patients or care records, so it does not show how often missed care happened in a given ward. The included studies were generally cross-sectional, so they cannot show that a factor caused missed care or that changing it would help. The reviewed studies were mostly from Europe and Asia, so the concept may not fit all settings. There was no agreed measurement tool for missed nursing care during a pandemic, and many instruments were not designed for infectious disease care. The analysis relied on nurse reports and nurse judgement, which can be influenced by workload, fear and local standards.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was financially supported by the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Technology of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that the proposed definition or measurement items improve patient care. It is a concept analysis of nurse-reported studies, mostly cross-sectional, so it does not show that changing care processes reduces missed care or mortality.