WISN Estimating the number of required nurses in an emergency department of a hospital in Qazvin: Application of WISN method

Background: Lack of timely access to needed services in the emergency department of hospitals can bring many harmful effects to the patients. One of the important factors in providing timely services is the presence of sufficient number of nurses whom have been entrusted with acceptable volume of services. Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate required number of the nurses in an emergency department of a training hospital in Qazvin. Methods: This study was descriptive, cross-sectional that conducted in an emergency department of a training hospital in Qazvin in 2016. The method used to estimate required number of nurses was WISN (Workload Indicator of Staffing Needs) which was introduced by World Health Organization as a simple, applicable and logical approach for health human resource planning. Required data was gathered through direct observation, interview and document review. Findings: As the results, in the emergency department, there was a need for 56 nursing staff while regarding to 52 available workforce, a significant shortage of four personnel was proved. In addition, work pressure was calculated to be 0.93 depicting burden of workload on current nursing staff. Conclusion: Emergency departments in every hospital are the most significant sectors that need special attention in terms of human resource planning. Application of a simple, logical scientific method for estimating required number of health workforce in hospitals can be beneficial for the whole health system.