Seven key factors contribute to safe and healthy workplaces.

The report and recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry (CoI) into Safe Staffing and Healthy Workplaces will be completed close to International Nurses' Day (IND). The theme for IND is Safe Staffing Saves Lives. "This highlights the fact problems being addressed by the CoI are problems nurses internationally have identified as a priority for action," NZNO's chief executive and CoI member Geoff Annals said. As Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand went to press, the CoI was working on the topics that will each form a chapter in the final report. Through its meetings with nurses and midwives at district health boards around the country, literature searches and consultation with national and international safe staffing experts, the CoI has identified seven key factors which contribute to safe and healthy workplaces. These are: matching nurses to workloads; other key people; leadership and authority; physical environment and technology/equipment; the cultural environment; education and training; and quality standards and improvement.

Another NZNO representative on the CoI, industrial adviser Glenda Alexander, said that what emerged from members' feedback and its own findings was that mandated patient ratios alone did not necessarily guarantee safe or healthy workplaces. "Nurses have kept telling us that a whole lot of other factors must accompany patient ratios if workplaces are to be safe and healthy for patients and staff."

Some of the things that would improve the workplace environment would not be hugely costly to implement, she said. "If nurses and midwives are involved in decision-making affecting their work and how they do their work, better decisions will be made in terms of improved patient outcomes and higher staff satisfaction. These are both very important goals that can have a significant financial return, as well as benefiting patients and staff." Good infrastructure, effective systems and meaningful participation were important factors, along with appropriate staffing and skill mix, in creating safe and healthy environments. A professional report writer has been contracted to write the report with final recommendations. "We believe the report will make a difference to the working lives and satisfaction levels of nurses and midwives in this country, and thus to the safety of those they care for," Alexander said. A comprehensive communications briefing was being prepared for NZNO members and was to be available in the middle of this month. This would provide an outline of the development of the CoI, its consultation and research processes and the direction in which the report was going, Alexander said.

"We want our members to understand how the report has developed and to feel committed to its final recommendations," she said.