unfinished nursing care, PIRNCA, hospital, nurses, survey

Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate and compare the unfinished nursing care in four selected central European countries: Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia.Material & Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed to examine the unfinished nursing care in four selected central European countries. Unfinished nursing care was assessed using the PIRNCA (Perceived Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care) questionnaire. The research sample included 1353 nurses from four European countries.Results: Mean item scores of the 31 items of PIRNCA in the total sample ranged from 1.13 to 1.92. The lowest overall PIRNCA score has the Czech sample (1.28), the highest overal PIRNCA score has the Croatian sample (1.76).Conclusion: The research results confirmed high prevalence of unfinished nursing care in four selected European countries.