Pediatric nursing-sensitive outcomes in lower and medium complexity care units: A Delphi study.

Background: The effectiveness of pediatric care is made more challenging to analyze by the need for specialist nursing and by the specific characteristics of pediatric patients, as opposed to adult patients, such as ongoing rapid growth and development, and different physical, cognitive, and emotional demands. Previous research has identified "Pediatric Nursing-Sensitive Outcomes" (PNSOs) in intensive care unit settings, though pediatric intensive care beds only represent a very limited percentage of hospital beds. To improve care quality and safety for a larger population of patients, this study aims to identify PNSOs in lower and medium-complexity care units (LMCCUs).