Nursing research
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Researchers who examine the relationship between nurse staffing and quality of care frequently rely on the Medicare case mix index to adjust for patient acuity, even though it was developed originally based on medical diagnoses and may not accurately reflect patients' needs for nursing care. ⋯ Without an accurate method to incorporate acuity into measurement of nurse staffing, research on the relationship between staffing and quality of care will not reach the full potential to inform practice.
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Unit-level leadership and structural empowerment play key roles in creating healthy work environments, yet few researchers have examined these contextual effects on nurses' well-being. ⋯ This study provides a theoretical understanding of how unit leadership affects both unit- and individual-level outcomes.