Introduction

AHC provides 24-hour/7 days care to patients requiring cardiac medical & surgical, critical care and outpatient services. The centre performs around 1100 open heart operations, 3000 cardiac catheterization and over 40,000 outpatient consultations annually. 60% of the surgical patients are in the pediatric age group (ages 1-12), & 40 % of surgical patients are in the adolescents (ages 13-18) and adults (ages 19-79) age group. The nurse staffing plan for the AHC is designed to meet the patients’ needs based on literature review, international and national standards of care and patient acuity. The needs of the patients are matched with the specialized qualifications and competencies of the AHC staff available to provide care. 

Appropriate nurse staffing is critical for delivering safe, quality health care at every practice level and in every setting. Evidence demonstrates that nursing care directly impacts the overall quality of services received and that when nurse staffing is appropriate, adverse events decline and overall outcomes improve (Aiken et al., 2017; McHugh et al., 2016). This plan is organized, developed and implemented to maximize staff participation and to allow for consideration of all possible variables. 

Nurse Staffing Plan Purpose 

This plan is developed to identify the number of nursing staff and defines the desired skill mix, education, knowledge, and skills or other requirements of individual staff members to meet the hospital mission and professional practice recommendations and provide safe patient care (GAHAR 2021/ WFM.02). 

Nurse Staffing Plan Scope 

AHC has two modern catheter suites. Our practice goes beyond the traditional segmentation of pediatric and adult heart disease and is becoming populated by many sub-specialty, interventional programs and basic science research. Our patient-centred approach pivots on providing quality care to the under-served communities in Egypt and now extends to Africa through our multidisciplinary teamwork. More specialties are joining the team; our neonatal, GUCH, HCM, Primary PCI, VAD, and TAVI programs are just examples and involve cardiologists, surgeons, nurses, engineers, scientists and administrators working together in tandem to provide very delicate care and hope to a unique cohort of vulnerable patients.