Helping RNs Advance Quality and Patient Safety
Helping RNs Advance Quality and Patient Safety
Quality improvement (QI) staff cannot be expected to collect, monitor, and report all data necessary and required for agencies such as The Centers for Medicare/Medicaid and The Joint Commission. Nursing staff often collect and report data, in areas such as patient falls and medication errors, through a hospital's mandatory reporting system, but are not actively involved in developing improvement plans or outcomes for these patient safety measures. There are several factors that impact the nurse's ability to participate in these efforts. First, the average age of the nursing workforce was 47 years in 2008 and was expected to be 44.5 years by 2012 (AACN, 2012b). Twenty-two or more years ago, when these nurses graduated, QI was not part the health care system nor part of the nursing curriculum. Therefore, staff nurses providing bedside care may not have acquired, through experience or entry level education, the knowledge, skills, or attitudes to fully participate in Quality Improvement as it is evolving today.
Most nursing programs are in the process of integrating QSEN competencies into their curricula, but curriculum change is a slow process. Baccalaureate nursing programs are making, or have made, curricular changes to ensure graduates fulfill the Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing (AACN, 2008). The average age of masters and doctorally prepared faculty of all ranks is greater than 55 years of age (AACN, 2012a). With this average age, many nursing faculty may be educationally or experientially unprepared to teach students the QI process. Challenges facing QI in the health care setting and nursing education programs can be compatible. Progress toward meeting the needs of both can be achieved through the formation of academic-practice partnerships. The partnership described in this article brought together staff from a hospital QI department and baccalaureate nursing program faculty to guide students through developing and implementing a QI project.
Challenges for Quality Improvement and Nursing Education Programs
Quality improvement (QI) staff cannot be expected to collect, monitor, and report all data necessary and required for agencies such as The Centers for Medicare/Medicaid and The Joint Commission. Nursing staff often collect and report data, in areas such as patient falls and medication errors, through a hospital's mandatory reporting system, but are not actively involved in developing improvement plans or outcomes for these patient safety measures. There are several factors that impact the nurse's ability to participate in these efforts. First, the average age of the nursing workforce was 47 years in 2008 and was expected to be 44.5 years by 2012 (AACN, 2012b). Twenty-two or more years ago, when these nurses graduated, QI was not part the health care system nor part of the nursing curriculum. Therefore, staff nurses providing bedside care may not have acquired, through experience or entry level education, the knowledge, skills, or attitudes to fully participate in Quality Improvement as it is evolving today.
Most nursing programs are in the process of integrating QSEN competencies into their curricula, but curriculum change is a slow process. Baccalaureate nursing programs are making, or have made, curricular changes to ensure graduates fulfill the Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing (AACN, 2008). The average age of masters and doctorally prepared faculty of all ranks is greater than 55 years of age (AACN, 2012a). With this average age, many nursing faculty may be educationally or experientially unprepared to teach students the QI process. Challenges facing QI in the health care setting and nursing education programs can be compatible. Progress toward meeting the needs of both can be achieved through the formation of academic-practice partnerships. The partnership described in this article brought together staff from a hospital QI department and baccalaureate nursing program faculty to guide students through developing and implementing a QI project.
