Outcomes Research and Nursing Practice, Coursework Example

Introduction

Quality-related outcomes in nursing support the development of new perspectives and strategies to facilitate greater health and wellbeing for patients. High quality care is critical to patient outcomes; therefore, it is important to identify specific resources that are available to improve quality of care on a consistent basis. There are a number of indicators established by the American Nurses Association that have a significant impact on quality of care, and one of the key criteria to consider is pressure ulcer rates. This is an untimely, unfortunate, yet frequent occurrence in many organizations when patients must remain immobile for periods of time, thereby increasing the risk of pressure ulcers in many incidents. It is necessary to evaluate the relationship between pressure ulcers and quality of care in order to determine if there are sufficient protocols in place to accommodate the needs of patients who are at risk of pressure ulcers during hospitalization. This indicator of quality supports the continued growth and advancement of nursing practice in order to convey the significance of new perspectives to improve quality of care for patients over time.

Analysis

The prevalence of pressure ulcers in patients may be an indicator of poor quality management and the challenges of nurse communication and lack of skill (Bosch et.al, 2011). There are a number of factors to consider that support the development of potential practice methods to improve outcomes for patients and to support a framework that will reduce the risk of pressure ulcers (Bosch et.al, 2011). Pressure ulcers are a serious concern throughout healthcare practice; therefore, it is important to identify the resources that are necessary to reduce the risk of this event and its impact on health and wellbeing (Bosch et.al, 2011). Patient protections must be in place so that they are moved on a regular basis and evaluated for the risk of pressure ulcers to prevent serious complications (Bosch et.al, 2011). Patient care quality is at risk when pressure ulcers are identified; however, prevention methods are not consistent across healthcare practice settings (Bosch et.al, 2011).

The prevention of pressure ulcers is a significant concern for healthcare organizations; however, nursing-based performance and quality are not always effective across practice settings, including identification procedures (Dahlstrom et.al, 2011). There are considerable issues to address with pressure ulcer treatments, including documenting these ulcers properly to facilitate timely treatment and evidence-based practice (Dahlstrom et.al, 2011). These efforts are critical to the discovery of new alternatives and treatments to promote recovery and healing at a faster rate (Dahlstrom et.al, 2011). Nurses must identify methods to improve pressure ulcer identification and to establish a greater focus on prevention and timely treatment (Dahlstrom et.al, 2011). Nursing-based performance should include the creation of indicators that will support the timely identification of pressure ulcers in patients (Dahlstrom et.al, 2011). Over time, the development of studies and related data to support the reduction of pressure ulcers is critical to new methods and procedures that recognize prevention (Dahlstrom et.al, 2011).

References

Bosch, M., Halfens, RJG, van der Weijden, T., Wensing, M., Akkermans, R., and Grol, R. (2011). Organizational culture, team climate, and quality management in an important patient safety issue: nosocomial pressure ulcers. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 8(1), 4-14.

Dahlstrom, M., Best, T., Baker, C., Doeing, D., Davis, A., Doty, J., & Arora, V. M. (2011). Improving identification and documentation of pressure ulcers at an urban academic hospital. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 37(3), 123.

Nursing-Sensitive Indicators. Nursing World, 1-2. Padula, W. V., Mishra, M. K., Makic, M. B. F., & Sullivan, P. W. (2011). Improving the quality of pressure ulcer care with prevention: a cost-effectiveness analysis. Medical care, 49(4), 385-392.