1 INTRODUCTION Increased healthcare costs, an ageing population, growing healthcare needs and care complexity put pressure on healthcare systems (World Health Organization, 2020). Nurses play an essential part in facing these challenges as front-line providers of healthcare. Research shows that higher registered nurse staffing likely leads to better patient care (Twigg et al., 2019). However, an impending worldwide shortage of nursing staff jeopardizes this (World Health Organization, 2020).