Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2025 Nov 24;93:104255. doi: 10.1016/j.iccn.2025.104255. Online ahead of print.
OBJECTIVE: To explore how interprofessional team staffing-comprised of registered nurses, physicians, and respiratory therapists-is perceived to impact team members and patient care in the ICU.
METHODS: Using previously collected interview data from a study focused on optimal interprofessional teams in adult ICUs from a single academic medical center, we used thematic analysis to examine how team staffing influenced team members and patient care; we paid particular attention to perspectives on patient safety, team member well-being, and retention.
RESULTS: Using data from 14 interviews (7 registered nurses, 4 physicians, 3 respiratory therapists) we identified five themes: (1) patient assignments were linked to patient safety: «sometimes it can get a little dicey»; (2) continuity of care helps, «but let’s get real… you need breaks»; (3) when staffing is inadequate – «you can’t provide the type of care you want» – interprofessional team members feel demoralized; (4) retention was both a cause and a result of inadequate interprofessional staffing; and (5) team support is critical: «we are like a unified front…we band together». Staffing was described as cyclical, dynamic, and interconnected.
CONCLUSIONS: Interprofessional team members described ICU staffing as complex and may influence patient safety, continuity of care, team member well-being, and retention. Focusing on how to improve ICU interprofessional team staffing may have the potential to improve both team and patient outcomes.
IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: Given current workforce dynamics for ICU nurses and their colleagues, the ICU interprofessional team might benefit from understanding how interprofessional team staffing aids in well-being, retention, and patient safety. These study findings can inform future research and quality improvement programs to explore opportunities to enhance interprofessional team collaboration to promote excellence ofcareofcritically illpatients.
PubMed:41289629 | DOI:10.1016/j.iccn.2025.104255