More and more people have to cared for by professional nurses every day. Thus, nursing work is an essential cornerstone of our health system.

However, this increasing need for nursing care is offset by a considerable  shortage of nursing/ staff. Too few people are deciding to pursue careers in professional nursing, and trainees often drop out of their courses prematurely. Additionally, a lot of nurses leave their profession after just a few years. This is largely due to unfavourable working conditions  such as the high work intensity andassociated stressors like difficulties in reconciling work and privatelife , high physical workload, the necessity of shift work as well as weekend working, and poor opportunities for career progression.

Nevertheless, some of these conditions can be positively affected by organisational interventions introduced in the workplace. Such interventions may not only improve employees’ health and satisfaction, but also increase employer attractiveness.

Good Ward Organisation is a guide which has been developed to support nursing teams in hospitals both in identifying need for action and in developing as well as implementing suitable interventions. It structures the change process and empowers the teams to analyse, evaluate, and (re)design crucial aspects of their ward organisation. In addition to the manual the guide includes checklists for assessing the current situation as well as download materials supporting the practical application.

The guide was developed for nursing managers at all levels, as well as for quality managers and occupational safety and health specialists. It will enable them to contribute significantly to the improvement of working conditions in professional nursing.

This guide was developed within the research project "Development and testing of an evaluation tool for ward management for work organisation of hospital wards" which was financially supported by the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) It has been updated in 2024. It now includes e. g. an additional module on how to deal with violence against professional nurses.

English translation. German original version available:
doi:10.21934/baua:praxis20231017