What are nurse-sensitive indicators?
Florence Nightingale introduced research to the field of nursing, and with this introduction, a focus on improving patient care has continued to be at the forefront of nursing practice. Improving patient care lends itself to the study of quality care and patient safety, and nurse-sensitive quality indicators highlight the elements of healthcare in which patients are directly impacted by the care provided by nurses.
What are nurse-sensitive indicators? What elements of a patient’s care are directly impacted by the role and delivery of care of nurses? How might these nurse-sensitive indicators change healthcare delivery and the nursing profession for a future DNP-prepared nurse?
For this Discussion, you will explore your understanding of nurse-sensitive indicators of quality by reflecting on those quality indicators that may pertain most to your practice setting. You will conduct a literature search for articles that address these quality indicators and reflect on the connections between the quality indicators and quality improvement theories and philosophies.
RESOURCES
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
WEEKLY RESOURCES
TO PREPARE:
Review the Learning Resources on quality indicators for this week. Focus on those quality indicators that most pertain to your practice setting.
Consider the influence of early quality improvement theories and philosophies on the development of those quality indicators.
Using the Walden Library, locate at least two scholarly research articles to focus on, for this Discussion, that discuss how quality indicators may influence your practice setting.
Select one definition of quality published by any peer-reviewed source that particularly resonates with your thinking about quality.
Identify and select at least two nurse-sensitive indicators of quality related to patient care. Note: Do not select nurse-sensitive indicators related to staffing.
BY DAY 3 OF WEEK 2
Post a brief descriiption of the two nurse-sensitive indicators of quality that you selected. Analyze the influence of early quality improvement theories and philosophies on the development of the quality indicators you selected. Be specific. Then, cite the two (2) nursing research articles you selected, and explain how these indicators may influence your practice setting. Be specific and provide examples.
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Some examples of nurse-sensitive indicators are:
Patient falls – the number of falls experienced by patients while under the care of nursing staff.
Pressure ulcers – the incidence of pressure ulcers, which are caused by prolonged pressure on the skin and underlying tissue.
Medication errors – the rate of medication errors that occur during the administration of medication.
Nursing care hours per patient day – the amount of nursing care provided to each patient per day.
Patient satisfaction – the level of satisfaction reported by patients with the nursing care they received.
By monitoring nurse-sensitive indicators, healthcare providers can identify areas of improvement and implement changes to enhance the quality of care provided to patients.
