Explaining the experience of nurses on missed nursing care: A qualitative descriptive study in Iran

Abstract Background Missed nursing care is a new concept that refers to the care that has been omitted or delayed. Due to the importance of the perceived experiences of nurses, this study was conducted to explain the experiences of Iranian nurses regarding the types of and reasons for missed nursing care. Methods In this qualitative descriptive study, face-to-face and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The participants were selected by purposive sampling method. The extracted codes were organized into twelve subcategories and consolidated into six categories. MAXQDA (Version 10) software was used for data management. Results The participants included 14 nurses with a mean age of 38.7 ± 7.7 years. The types of missed nursing care were expressed in the form of three categories, including “failure to pay attention to all patient needs”, “non-observance of hygienic principles”, and “non-observance of patient-related safety standards”. The reasons for missed nursing care were also explained in three categories, including “nurse-related reasons”, “facility-related reasons”, and “management-related reasons”. The subcategories related to these categories included nursing shortage, nurses' dissatisfaction, lack of teamwork spirit, inadequate clinical competence, personal problems, lack of facilities and equipment, old and defective equipment, and inefficient management. Conclusion Missed nursing care has many types and causes. This problem can be reduced by taking measures such as empowering nurses, regulating the selection of nursing managers, providing sufficient manpower, providing resources and facilities, eliminating the causes of nurses' dissatisfaction, and encouraging team spirit. Future studies are suggested to investigate the effect of intervention measures on the frequency of missed nursing care.