Adult Inpatient Nursing Focus Groups
08 Dec 2025 (TBC)
Choose event information:
Do you work in adult inpatient nursing? Register to take part in our focus groups.
We need your help.
Scotland’s safe staffing legislation – the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 – requires the use of the Adult Inpatient Tool (AIT) to determine staffing levels. We want to understand how well the AIT works in today’s practice environment.
To do this, we are seeking registered nurses working in adult inpatient settings in Scotland to take part in online focus groups in December 2025.
We are working with Edinburgh Napier University to evaluate the AIT, and are planning a number of focus groups for registered nurses working in adult inpatient settings to develop a realistic picture of different dependency levels. This will then be used in a wider survey of nurses across Scotland.
The focus group will take approximately one hour and will be hosted on Teams. While the dates and details are still being finalised, you can register your interest in taking part at the link above.
Ethics approval for this important research is currently being finalised, and the Edinburgh Napier University team are now gathering expressions of interest for online focus groups being planned for December 2025. Once approval and dates are confirmed, the Edinburgh Napier team will contact those who have registered an interest with scheduling options and further details.
The study and focus groups are being run by Dr Azwa Shamsuddin from Edinburgh Napier University. If you have any queries, get in touch with the team at: VALIDAIT@napier.ac.uk.
Please note from the study team:
- The study will not collect personal data or sensitive personal data from which you could be identified. Please don’t share information about specific patients or incidents.
- No identifiable information (e.g. name, address, contact details) will be collected.
- Participation is voluntary. Research ethics-related consent will be obtained before the focus groups.
Your help in shaping this study is much appreciated – together we can strengthen the evidence base for safe nurse staffing in Scotland.
Siân Kiely, RCN Scotland Knowledge and Research Manager
sian.kiely@rcn.org.uk
Online
NB: Link to join debate will be sent out once booking is confirmed.
Page last updated - 27/11/2025
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