Introduction: Nursing-Sensitive Quality Indicator
Healthcare is one of the most essential elements of a successful nation. Mainly, there numerous changes in health care services in the modern world that are beneficial to patients and healthcare providers. Although the majority of changes in the health care arena are useful, the dissatisfaction in the health care delivery system continues to be persistent, thereby affecting the quality of health care and patient outcomes. Initially, the goal of health care was to offer cost-effective and out-come oriented health care but it has become a mandate of health care to satisfy patients through the provision of quality health care and positive patient outcomes. In that regard, the best way to accomplish the health care service provision mandate is to reexamine the level of association between quality of health care, costs, desired results, and healthcare processes (MacDonald et al., 2018). Therefore, the primary purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the stimulating factors for the American Nurses Association in developing nursing-sensitive quality indicators. Detailed development of a nursing-sensitive quality indicator will also be considered to determine is implications in quality of care and patient safety. Overall, the paper will focus on the role of nurses in implementing nursing-sensitive quality indicators in providing high-quality health care outcomes.
The NDNQI®
From a health care point of view, NDNQI® is the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators which forms the only national nursing database. Mainly, NDNQI® in used in offering both quarterly and annual reports on structure, process, and outcome. These indicators are used in the evaluation of nursing care at the unit level (MacDonald et al., 2018). In other words, NDNQI® is a national nursing database whose primary purpose is to assist nurses to provide quality healthcare services and patient safety by offering comparative data, national data, and research-based data in nursing care. It also depicts the correlation between nursing care and patient outcomes. Overall, NDNQI® acts as a national quality measurement program whose central mandate is to assist health care facilities to compare measures of nursing quality to measures on regional, state, and national levels as long as health care facilities are at the same level. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Nursing-sensitive quality indicators
According to the American Nursing Association, nursing-sensitive quality indicators refer to the measures used to reflect the structure, processes, and outcomes of nursing care. Mainly, a Magnet Evidence is used as the primary aspect that focuses on the nursing-sensitive quality indicators via patient satisfaction, nurse satisfaction, and clinical quality. Besides, nursing-sensitive quality indicators depend on Magnet Recognition to promote healthcare discovery, learning, and nursing science (MacDonald et al., 2018). These indicators reflect on the structure, processes, and outcomes needed in nursing care to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes. The structural indicators focus on the structural requirements such as education and certification of nurses, improving nursing skills, and the supply of nurses to healthcare facilities. Process indicators are essential in measuring methods of assessments in patients by nursing staff (Lavin et al., 2015). Lastly, outcome indicators are used in nursing practice to reflect in patient outcomes based on nursing-sensitive aspects of quality and quantity of nursing care. Some of the most common nursing-sensitive quality indicators are sexual assault rate, patient fall, pressure ulcer prevalence, restraint prevalence, patient falls with injury, nursing hours per patient day, voluntary nurse turnover, and nurse vacancy rate, among others.
Selected quality indicator
Based on the three aspects of nurse-sensitive quality indicators, a nurse can address any indicators in terms of structure, processes, and outcome. In this paper, the selected quality indicator is patient falls (Lavin et al., 2015). The measure used for patient falls is both the process and the outcome. From a medical point of view, a patient fall refers to an unplanned descent to the floor for a patient without injury. In most cases, patients fall may be caused by factors such as internal bleeding, fractures, or lacerations. Mainly, patient falls can result in increased health care utilization. Nonetheless, nurses anticipate that at least a third of patient falls can be prevented if appropriate prevention measures are utilized.
Importance of monitoring this indicator
Patient falls is a nurse-sensitive quality indicator that affects many patients. Thus, it is essential to monitor patient falls to prevent further injuries to the patients. From a nursing practice point of view, it is also important to monitor patient falls because falls are the most crucial measure used to determine how well nurses are succeeding in enhancing the safety of patients related to falls. In that regard, if the rates are improving, a nurse is likely to know that the measure is actively and successfully preventing patient falls (Van Dishoeck et al., 2016). Consequently, nurses also monitor patient falls to determine patient outcomes and improve their nursing care. For example, if fall rates get worse, then a nurse understands that some areas are weak and require some improvement. Through monitoring of patient falls, a nurse practitioner can use data to make a change that can initiate a quality improvement effort. Overall, it is essential to monitor the progress on patient falls to allow nurses to sustain their improvements in quality care and patient outcomes.
The impact of this indicator on the quality of care and patient safety
Patient fall as a nurse-sensitive quality indicator has a great impact on the quality of care and patient safety. One impact associated with measure patient fall is improving the quality of care provided by nurses in health care facilities (Rahn, 2016). By measuring patient fall rates, nurses can assess the performance of a health care facility. Thus, the assessment enhances the creation of safer and better facilities to prevent patient falls. The measure of patient falls also impacts the quality of care and patient safety because it provides a platform for the implementation of key practices used to reduce patient falls from happening.
Why new nurses need to be familiar with patient fall quality indicator when providing patient care
New nurses should be familiar with patients fall as a quality indicator to allow them to understand how to address different patients. Mainly, new nurses can understand risk factors that can trigger patient falls (MacDonald et al., 2018). Thus, new nurses can learn how to provide health care to such patients to prevent any injury and to enhance patient outcomes. Moreover, new nurses can do risk factors assessment when making care plans for patient falls. In that regard, new nurses should be critical thinkers and should use a tailored approach when addressing patients with risk factors such as falls.
Collection and Distribution of Quality Indicator Data
How the organization collect data on the quality indicator
Several methods are used to collect data on patients falls as a nursing-sensitive quality indicator. When measuring critical practices, several sources can be used to obtain data on the performance of patient fall rates. Thus, the organization can collect data using a survey of nursing staff, medical cover review, and direct observation of care. In terms of medical record reviews, data collected depends on documented records which makes it easy to collect data. Nonetheless, the limitation of this approach is that care to prevent patient falls may not be in the documented record (Lavin et al., 2015). Secondly, surveys of nursing staff can assist in the provision of data on patient falls. However, this approach may be limited by patient-nurse privacy and confidentiality. Besides, some nurses may not recall some of the events which may result in the inaccuracy of data. Lastly, direct observation of care can be used to collect data on patients fall. Thus, a trained observer will determine the causes of the patient fall and record the number of falls in a given period. However, direct observation of care is time-consuming.
How the organization disseminate aggregate data
The organization can use several approaches to disseminate aggregate data. Mainly, health care data is sensitive and should be disseminated with ultimate care. Thus, aggregate data on patient falls can be disseminated by publishing policy briefs in health care database systems. Besides, the organization can disseminate aggregate data by publishing prevention care plans and finding in statewide publication and national journals (Ju et al., 2018). Moreover, health care aggregate data can be disseminated by presenting it at national conferences and meetings of nursing associations. Lastly, aggregate data can be disseminated by presenting data to local health care stakeholders and other local community groups.
Role of nurses in supporting accurate reporting and high-quality results
Nurses play crucial roles in supporting accurate reporting and high-quality results by carrying out interdisciplinary processes. Therefore, nurses work together with other nursing staff such as nursing informatics to enhance accuracy in reporting. Another role of nurses is to measure, improve, and control nursing-sensitive quality indicators that impact the quality of health care and patient outcomes (Connolly & Wright, 2017). Accurate entering of data by nurses is called nursing documentation. Through proper nursing documentation, nurses can perform accurate reflection in risk assessment and promote high-quality results. Overall, accurate entering of data by nurses reduces medical errors to protect the patients, protect nurses, and protect the programs. Accurate reporting can also ensure that patients receive the right care at the right time, thereby enhancing high-quality results.