Rationing of nursing care and nurses' perception in acute inpatient care in selected regions of the Czech Republic

Introduction: Rationing of nursing care in clinical practice is related to the global shortage of nurses. Based on the assessment of nursing interventions, nurses confirmed the occurrence rate of assigned care, which is closely related to the nurses' satisfaction and turnover in clinical practice.Goal: This research aims to discover the occurrence of and reasons for rationing of nursing care in selected hospitals in the Czech Republic.Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study.Methods: The sample group included 629 nurses working in standard inpatient wards at 11 hospitals in the Czech Republic. The data was collected between June 2020 and June 2021 using the PIRNCA questionnaire. Results: The most frequently assigned interventions included: early response, emotional support, and patient education. The reasons mentioned were the patients' composition, condition, and sufficient staff. Significant differences were found among nurses according to age group (p = 0.0183) and education (p < 0.001). Only 14.47% of the interviewed nurses intended to leave their jobs. Conclusions: Czech nurses confirmed the occurrence of rationing of nursing care and the reasons that led them to it. The obtained evidence should be used as the basis for changes that positively influence the situation, as well as for the prevention of rationing of nursing care. The phenomenon should also be included in the training of future nurses. Further research and evaluation can bring valuable findings.