Kontakt X:X | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2026.041

Missed nursing care in Brazilian hospitalsNursing - Original article

Diana Albuquerque Alvim de Paula ORCID...1, Adrize Rutz Porto ORCID...2, Maria Cristina Soares Rodrigues ORCID...3, Paula Roberta Silva Araújo Machado ORCID...3, Lucas da Silva Dellalibera2, Nádia Fontoura Sanhudo1, Herica Silva Dutra ORCID...1, *
1 Federal University of Juiz de Fora, College of Nursing, Minas Gerais, Brazil
2 Federal University of Pelotas, College of Nursing, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
3 University of Brasília, College of Nursing, Distrito Federal, Brazil

Introduction: Missed nursing care refers to nursing activities that are omitted or delayed; it is recognized as a global issue with potential consequences for patient safety, including an increased risk of adverse events. Universal access healthcare is predominant in the Brazilian health system.

Aim: To describe missed nursing care and its reasons in Brazilian hospitals.

Methods: A multicenter descriptive study was conducted in three teaching hospitals at different Brazilian regions, involving 429 nursing professionals. Data were collected using the MISSCARE-BRASIL instrument.

Results: The most missed nursing care activities were ambulation (57.1%) and participation in interdisciplinary team discussions. The main reasons for missed nursing care were unexpected increases in patient volume and/or acuity (76.5%), and inadequate staffing (75.6%), predominantly within the material resources (μ = 2.85) and labor resources (μ = 2.76) domains. Multivariate analysis showed that staffing inadequacy and job dissatisfaction (p < 0.001) were associated with missed nursing care.

Conclusion: Missed nursing care in Brazilian hospitals is associated with limitations in human and material resources, workload overload, staffing inadequacy, and job dissatisfaction, highlighting the need for staffing models adjusted to patient acuity, improved resource management, and organizational strategies to enhance job satisfaction and care quality.

Keywords: Missed nursing care; Nursing; Nursing care; Patient safety; Quality of health care
Grants and funding:

This work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 and Federal University of Juiz de Fora. The funding agencies did not interfere in any part of the research, including study design; collection, analysis and interpretation of data; writing of the report; and the decision to submit the article for publication.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: October 2, 2025; Revised: April 30, 2026; Accepted: June 28, 2026; Prepublished online: June 29, 2026 

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