Exploring the relationship between women's experience of postnatal care and reported staffing measures: An observational study.
<h4>Background</h4>Women have reported dissatisfaction with care received on postnatal wards and this area has been highlighted for improvement. Studies have shown an association between midwifery staffing levels and postnatal care experiences, but so far, the influence of registered and...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| author | Lesley Turner Jane Ball David Culliford Ellen Kitson-Reynolds Peter Griffiths |
| author_facet | Lesley Turner Jane Ball David Culliford Ellen Kitson-Reynolds Peter Griffiths |
| author_sort | Lesley Turner |
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| description | <h4>Background</h4>Women have reported dissatisfaction with care received on postnatal wards and this area has been highlighted for improvement. Studies have shown an association between midwifery staffing levels and postnatal care experiences, but so far, the influence of registered and support staff deployed in postnatal wards has not been studied. This work is timely as the number of support workers has increased in the workforce and there has been little research on skill mix to date.<h4>Methods</h4>Cross sectional secondary analysis including 13,264 women from 123 postnatal wards within 93 hospital Trusts. Staffing was measured in each organisation as Full Time Equivalent staff employed per 100 births, and on postnatal wards, using Hours Per Patient Day. Women's experiences were assessed using four items from the 2019 national maternity survey. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to examine relationships and adjust for maternal age, parity, ethnicity, type of birth, and medical staff.<h4>Results</h4>Trusts with higher levels of midwifery staffing had higher rates of women reporting positive experiences of postnatal care. However, looking at staffing on postnatal wards, there was no evidence of an association between registered nurses and midwives hours per patient day and patient experience. Wards with higher levels of support worker staffing were associated with higher rates of women reporting they had help when they needed it and were treated with kindness and understanding.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The relationship between reported registered staffing levels on postnatal wards and women's experience is uncertain. Further work should be carried out to examine why relationships observed using whole Trust staffing were not replicated closer to the patient, with reported postnatal ward staffing. It is possible that recorded staffing levels on postnatal wards do not actually reflect staff deployment if midwives are floated to cover delivery units. This study highlights the potential contribution of support workers in providing quality care on postnatal wards. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-86d6bf75249c4c4993a10ea66af724a2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
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| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-86d6bf75249c4c4993a10ea66af724a22025-08-20T03:25:16ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01178e026663810.1371/journal.pone.0266638Exploring the relationship between women's experience of postnatal care and reported staffing measures: An observational study.Lesley TurnerJane BallDavid CullifordEllen Kitson-ReynoldsPeter Griffiths<h4>Background</h4>Women have reported dissatisfaction with care received on postnatal wards and this area has been highlighted for improvement. Studies have shown an association between midwifery staffing levels and postnatal care experiences, but so far, the influence of registered and support staff deployed in postnatal wards has not been studied. This work is timely as the number of support workers has increased in the workforce and there has been little research on skill mix to date.<h4>Methods</h4>Cross sectional secondary analysis including 13,264 women from 123 postnatal wards within 93 hospital Trusts. Staffing was measured in each organisation as Full Time Equivalent staff employed per 100 births, and on postnatal wards, using Hours Per Patient Day. Women's experiences were assessed using four items from the 2019 national maternity survey. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to examine relationships and adjust for maternal age, parity, ethnicity, type of birth, and medical staff.<h4>Results</h4>Trusts with higher levels of midwifery staffing had higher rates of women reporting positive experiences of postnatal care. However, looking at staffing on postnatal wards, there was no evidence of an association between registered nurses and midwives hours per patient day and patient experience. Wards with higher levels of support worker staffing were associated with higher rates of women reporting they had help when they needed it and were treated with kindness and understanding.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The relationship between reported registered staffing levels on postnatal wards and women's experience is uncertain. Further work should be carried out to examine why relationships observed using whole Trust staffing were not replicated closer to the patient, with reported postnatal ward staffing. It is possible that recorded staffing levels on postnatal wards do not actually reflect staff deployment if midwives are floated to cover delivery units. This study highlights the potential contribution of support workers in providing quality care on postnatal wards.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266638&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Lesley Turner Jane Ball David Culliford Ellen Kitson-Reynolds Peter Griffiths Exploring the relationship between women's experience of postnatal care and reported staffing measures: An observational study. PLoS ONE |
| title | Exploring the relationship between women's experience of postnatal care and reported staffing measures: An observational study. |
| title_full | Exploring the relationship between women's experience of postnatal care and reported staffing measures: An observational study. |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the relationship between women's experience of postnatal care and reported staffing measures: An observational study. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the relationship between women's experience of postnatal care and reported staffing measures: An observational study. |
| title_short | Exploring the relationship between women's experience of postnatal care and reported staffing measures: An observational study. |
| title_sort | exploring the relationship between women s experience of postnatal care and reported staffing measures an observational study |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266638&type=printable |
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