Conducting research on nurse staffing and outcomes is very challenging, and the application of staffing-outcomes research in practice is both fraught with controversy and vitally important for the safety of our patients and the future of the profession. As I stand back and think about being involved in staffing-outcomes research for nearly a decade and sharing many of my thoughts about this rapidly growing literature in reviews and commentaries in print, certain metaphors for trends in this field come to mind. I won't claim originality for the insights that follow or attempt to thoroughly trace the genealogy of the stories and metaphors here, but offer them to provide what I hope is a fresh perspective to material that I and many of my colleagues have visited and revisited on numerous occasions.
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Sean P. Clarke (2009) studied this question.
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