Principal Investigator:
Maura MacPhee, PhD, RN, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Co-Investigators:
Celia Aiello, Niagara Health Systems Clinical Manager, SCS Inpatient Surgery
Christopher Chuyow, RN, Niagara Health Systems, St. Catharines Hospital
Susan Dahinten, PhD, RN, MBA, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Farinaz Havaei, RN, PhD Student, University of British Columbia
Research Manager:
Khristine Carino, PhD, DMD, University of British Columbia
What is the study about?
The SYNERGY STUDY is being conducted by the Niagara Health Systems (NHS) in partnership with researchers at the UBC School of Nursing.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Synergy Tool as a real-time nursing staffing tool for St. Catharines Hospital. Results of this study will be used to improve nursing staffing management towards better quality and safety care for patients at NHS.
Background
In Canada, healthcare administrators are aware of the quality/safety and human resource (HR) implications associated with nurse staffing: there has been increased interest in identifying, implementing and evaluating real-time nurse staffing tools for inpatient hospital settings. One evidence-based tool that will serve as this study’s intervention is the Synergy Patient Characteristics Tool (Synergy Tool).
What are we asking you to do?
We are asking you to answer an online survey. You were chosen as a prospective participant in the study because you are working as a nurse at St. Catharines Hospital Unit 5A or 5B. Your participation is entirely voluntary and you can withdraw from the study at any time. The survey asks about your workplace environment, workload, job satisfaction, perceptions of patient safety & patient quality of care, and basic demographic questions. You will able to complete the questionnaire in 20 minutes.
Incentive
Nurses from the unit with the highest number of completed surveys will be treated to a one-time post-survey free pizza lunch.
How will we protect your privacy and confidentiality of survey data?
All information you provide will be kept confidential, in strict accordance with Canadian Privacy Legislation. Only the PI and Research Manager will have access to a masterlist of participants’ names and corresponding identification numbers. Only de-identified data (no names, only identification numbers) will be included in databases. The masterlist will be destroyed immediately after data collection when data analysis commences. Our database of nurses’ names and email addresses is a password-protected electronic file, accessible only by authorized computer login and password in Dr. Maura Macphee’s research office at UBC. Your name and other personal information will not be linked to your survey answers. No information that discloses your identity will be released or published. Only de-identified data will be used for analysis.
The online survey is being conducted using FluidSurveys, a Canadian survey company which is compliant with Canadian privacy (all data resides on Canadian servers) and accessibility standards (W3C).
What are the risks and benefit of taking part in the study?
There are no known risks from participating in this study. You will not directly benefit from participating in this study, however, aggregate results from the survey will be used to inform improvements in nurse staffing management towards better quality and safe care for patients at NHS.
Contact Information
For more information about the study, please contact Dr. Maura MacPhee: (phone) 604-822-2891, (email) maura.macphee @nursing.ubc.ca; or Celia Aiello: (phone) 905-378-4647 x43662, (email) Celia.Aiello@niagarahealth.on.ca. If you have problems accessing or navigating through the online survey, please contact Dr. Khristine Carino: (phone) 778-828-9596, (email) khristine.carino@ubc.ca.
If you have any concerns or complaints about your rights as a research participant and/or your experiences while participating in this study, contact the Research Participant Complaint Line in the UBC Office of Research Services at 604-822-8598 or if long distance e-mail RSIL@ors.ubc.ca or call toll free 1-877-822-8598. Alternatively, you can contact: NHS Research Ethics Office at (fax) 905-732-2628.