A team of Australian and Canadian researchers will investigate the impact of increasing the number of assistants in nursing on patients, nurses and ward levels.

University of Technology Sydney researchers will join forces with Perth’s Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Canada’s University of Toronto to investigate whether more AINs improve outcomes for patients, staff and their work environment.

UTS Nursing Midwifery and Health Professor Christine Duffield said the four-year study would evaluate the importance of skill mix to outcomes.

Professor Duffield said it was an area not well recognised when nurse staffing decisions are made.

"It’s an issue that has taken a back seat to nurse-patient ratios but when you look at the data, the indication is that skill mix could be extremely important in improving outcomes," she said.

"This is what we want to find out."

The project will look at the impact of more AINs on patients - covering morbidity, mortality and quality of emotional care, on staff - reviewing job satisfaction, and on the ward - including time spent in patient care, relationships with medical staff, staff experiences and the leadership and support of workers.

UTS researcher Dr Michael Roche said the findings would also be compared to earlier UTS studies to form an overall picture of how hospital wards should be staffed for optimal effectiveness.

"We will also determine whether adding an unregulated worker makes a difference to the work that nurses do and the impact on patients," he said.

UTS has received a $300,000 ARC Linkage Grant for the study.