Linda H. Aiken, PhD, FRCN, RN, FAAN, is co-directing the largest workforce study ever conducted in Europe. The study, Nurse Forecasting: Human Resources Planning in Nursing (RN4CAST), involves a consortium of 15 partners that will address deficiencies in forecasting models and improve human resources planning in Europe.

RN4CAST will quantify in a sample of 11 European countries – Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, and the U.K. – important unmeasured factors in forecasting models, including how features of hospital work environments and qualifications of the nurse workforce impact on nurse recruitment and retention, productivity, and patient outcomes. Three partners outside Europe – China, South Africa, and Botswana – provide an added perspective. The study aims to add to accuracy of forecasting models and generate new approaches to more effective management of nursing resources in Europe.