Nursing staff perception about cost-conscious practices in relation to utilization of material resources in public hospitals

Background As healthcare costs rise, nursing staff are increasingly expected to act as guardians of financial resources. However, the transition from clinical care to cost-conscious resource management remains challenging, particularly in high-acuity units in a public hospital setting. Study design A descriptive exploratory correlational design was used in this study. Sample A convenience sample of 87 nursing staff. Setting This study was carried out at El Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital at different high-resource utilization units. Tools Five tools were utilized in the study: (a) personal and work-related data form, (b) nursing staff perception toward cost-conscious practices, (c) nursing staff awareness of the cost of common material resources, (d) auditing checklist of supplies inventory in unit store, and (e) observational checklist of nurses cost-conscious practices of material resources per unit. Results The main findings illustrated that the nursing staff had a high perception about cost-conscious practices with a total mean percentage of 79.6%. Nursing staff had a moderate-to-high level of awareness regarding the cost of common material resources, with a total mean percentage of 66.26%. The findings also showed a moderate utilization rate for the majority of material resources. It was illustrated that the nursing staff’s cost-conscious practices were “appropriate” for most items, with a total mean percentage of 55.29%. There were insignificant statistical relationships ( P >0.05) among all studied variables. Similarly, awareness of supply costs showed no significant correlation with supply inventory ( P =0.099) or practices ( P =0.639). Conclusion There were insignificant statistical relationships ( P >0.05) between nursing staff perception toward cost-conscious and effectiveness practices, awareness of supplies cost, supply inventory in the unit store, and cost-conscious practices of material resources. Recommendations Integrate cost-effective and resource management topics into orientation programs and implement automated inventory tracking systems.