Nursing‐sensitive indicators for nursing care: A systematic review (1997–2017)

AIM: To provide a systematic review of the literature from 1997 to 2017 on nursing‐sensitive indicators. DESIGN: A qualitative design with a deductive approach was used. DATA SOURCES: Original and Grey Literature references from Cochrane Library, Medline/PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL, Google Scholar Original and Grey Literature. REVIEW METHODS: Quality assessment was performed using the NIH Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross‐Sectional Studies. RESULTS: A total of 3,633 articles were identified, and thirty‐nine studies met the inclusion criteria. The quantitative assessment of investigated relationships in these studies suggests that nursing staffing, mortality, and nosocomial infections were the most frequently reported nursing‐sensitive indicators. CONCLUSION: This review provides a comprehensive list of nursing‐sensitive indicators, their frequency of use, and the associations between these indicators and various outcome variables. Stakeholders of nursing research may use the findings to streamline the indicator development efforts and standardization of nursing‐sensitive indicators. IMPACT: This review provides evidence‐based results that health organizations can benefit from nursing care quality.