The Journal of nursing administration
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Given today's resource-limited environment, nurse leaders must make judicious staffing decisions to deliver safe, cost-effective care. Investing in 1 element of staffing often requires scaling back in another. A national cross section of acute care hospital unit leaders was surveyed regarding staffing resources, including nurse workload, education, specialty certification, experience, and level of support staff. The authors report findings from the survey and discuss the trade-offs observed among units regarding nurse-to-patient ratios and the proportion of baccalaureate-prepared nurses.