Nurse-Sensitive Indicators of Healthcare Quality, Essay Example

Identify two nurse-sensitive indicators of quality relevant to your practice setting and analyze the influence of early quality improvement theories and philosophies on the development of those indicators.

Nurse sensitive outcomes are those outcomes that are uniquely linked to the presence or absence of nurse care. They include a number of important measures such as, patient falls and urinary catheter-associated urinary tract infection (UTI) that affect many areas of direct patient care. These indicators require nurses to exercise sound knowledge and technique in order to prevent unnecessary risk and harm to patients. In this context, quality improvement strategies must demonstrate a high level of support and the recognition of prevention efforts that will positively affect patient care in order to minimize risks associated with these indicators (Miake-Lye et.al, 2013). These factors require nurses to recognize their responsibility to ensure that patient care quality is optimized. In addition, nurse should be proactive in the identification of theoretical perspectives that may positively affect the patient care environment to facilitate effective results (Miake-Lye et.al, 2013).

Nurses must identify areas where they can conduct interventions to promote improvements in quality of care and  prevent the occurrence of UTIs (Fink et.al, 2012). From this perspective, patient care quality must be a primary focus of all nurses working with patients who require catheters. This is because it reflects the value of strategies, techniques, and attention towards catheter placement, hygiene, and other factors that may reduce occurrence of infection (Fink et.al, 2012). Therefore, these issues must be considered as part of a strategy to facilitate the prevention of these infections (Fink et.al, 2012). Nurses must focus on these tactics as part of their daily routine. This will enable them to contribute to a culture of improved quality of care that will have a lasting impact on patients (Fink et.al, 2012).

In summary, we can say that, the trend to the advanced patient safety and quality in healthcare organizations are toward supporting high degree of reliability to minimize error and achieve exceptional performances in patient safety and quality.

Cite the research articles you located and evaluate how these indicators influence your practice setting.

Lucy A. Savitz, Cheryl B. Jones, Shulamit Bernard (2011). A review of nurse sensitive Quality indicators in acute care setting. BMJ Quality & Safety, bmjqs-2010.

The objective this study is to compare the various available nurse sensitive quality indicator tools. The study  reviews and compares twenty-four articles with relevant patient safety indicators. The researchers found a little overlap and the direction of the type of indicator that is available influence the outcome of the care. Further, the study found that the indicator definition and process measures are not consistent. Thus, more research is needed on this area. The results of this study provide a crucial comparative assessment of the type, content and intended purpose of nurse sensitive indicators available to measure the quality of health care.

Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, Milwaukee, (2013). Catheter-associated urinary tract infection: nurse sensitive indicator in an inpatient rehabilitation program. Journal for Healthcare Quality, 35(1), 30-40.

The study aim at evaluating the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection in inpatient rehabilitation center. The study hypothesize that UTIs account for about 40% of all the hospital acquired infection. To achieve its objectives, the researchers designed a collaborative project between nursing and infection control to collect baseline data on CAUTI from non-intensive care unit. The article documents the process that the researcher used to determine baseline CAUTI rate and interventions implemented to reduce the use of the catchers.  The researchers proofed their hypothesis. Result of the study provides an option for a possible approach to improve quality of the healthcare.

Explain how the metric you have chosen from the NDNQI measure set connects with your chosen defination

Healthcare quality is the degree to which health service provided to an individual has increased the likelihood of the attainment of the desired goal and value of the medical care. What this definition means is that to determine the quality of the care, one need to know the aim of the care. According to an IOM report,  a high-quality medical system is, safe, effective,  patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable.  The aims give us a clue of how to measure quality of the care and it is clear that different approach can be used. That is, we can measure the quality of the care  by examining the structure in which quality was provided, the process and the outcome of the care. In this context, the structure of the setting in which care is provided and the actual process of the care provision influence the outcome of Nurse Quality indicators such as patient falls and urinary catheter-associated urinary tract infection (UTI). This makes them good measure of the quality of the care.

References

Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, Milwaukee, (2013). Catheter-associated urinary tract infection: nurse sensitive indicator in an inpatient rehabilitation program. Journal for Healthcare Quality, 35(1), 30-40.

Fink, R., Gilmartin, H., Richard, A., Capezuti, E., Boltz, M., & Wald, H. (2012). Indwelling urinary catheter management and catheter-associated urinary tract infection prevention practices in Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders hospitals. American journal of infection control, 40(8), 715-720.

Lucy A. Savitz, Cheryl B. Jones, Shulamit Bernard (2011). A review of nurse sensitive Quality indicators in acute care setting. BMJ Quality & Safety, bmjqs-2010.

Miake-Lye, I. M., Hempel, S., Ganz, D. A., &Shekelle, P. G. (2013). Inpatient fall prevention programs as a patient safety strategy: a systematic review. Annals of internal medicine, 158(5_Part_2), 390-396.

Neuhauser, D. (2010). Ernest Amory Codman, M.D., and end results of medical care. Int J Tech Assess Health Care, 6, 307-325.

Perla, R. J., Bradbury, E., & Gunther?Murphy, C. (2013). Large?Scale Improvement Initiatives in Healthcare: A Scan of the Literature. Journal for Healthcare Quality, 35(1), 30-40.

Rademakers, J., Delnoij, D., & de Boer, D. (2011). Structure, process or outcome: which contributes most to patients’ overall assessment of healthcare quality?. BMJ Quality &Safety, bmjqs-2010.