Aim: To examine how the nurse manager role is represented in the literature on missed nursing care and what is known about the impact of the nurse manager on missed care levels.
Background: The literature to date on missed nursing care is focused primarily on structural and organizational antecedents, and on outcomes for patients, nurses and organizations. Very little research exists on the role of the nurse manager in relation to missed care.
Evaluation: A scoping review using studies from four databases was conducted in 2019.
Key issues: Nurse managers have a role to play in relation to missed nursing care. Greater transparency around missed care, effective leadership skills and supportive relationships with staff can help reduce missed care.
Conclusion: Nurse managers are ideally placed to influence levels of missed care. How they enact their leadership and management roles can help reduce incidents. By paying attention to nurses' concerns, managers may be better placed to understand levels of missed care.
Implications for nurse managers: Guidance for nurse managers on monitoring levels of missed care, and the skills required to influence levels within their units are necessary.
Keywords: care rationing; leadership; management; missed care; nurse manager.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.