According to the World Health Organization (2006), quality in the context of health care is characterized as health care that is effective (i.e. evidence-based); efficient (i.e. maximized resources); accessible (i.e. timely, geographically reasonable, and competent); acceptable or patient-centered (i.e., considerate of the patients’ preferences and cultural differences); equitable (i.e. delivery of the same level of care regardless of the patient’s background); and safe (i.e. minimized patient risk and harm).
In an effort by the National Quality Forum (NQF) to measure and improve the quality of nursing care, the NDNQI (National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators ) was developed (Montalvo, 2007). Of the indicators in this database, the two that are most related to my nurse practice setting, which is Mentoring and Coaching at the Nursing School, are nursing staff skill mix and RN education/certification (Montalvo, 2007).
The nursing staff skill mix refers to “the proportion of RNs, LPNs/LVNs, and UAPs” (The Joint Commission, 2009) to the total nursing hours. This implies that the quality of nursing care can be improved if the hours supplied by registered nurses are adequate. This also ensures that there is a sufficient number of skilled staff to provide quality care. On the other hand, education/ certification can result in better patient outcomes through measures such as the reduced number of injuries and the non-increasing fall rates (The Joint Commission, 2009). In this regard, these two indicators relate to my specific practice setting in that mentoring and coaching nursing professionals can ensure that there is an adequate skill mix among health care organizations’ nursing staff and that nursing professionals receive the necessary training that would enable them to provide patients with quality care.
These indicators would also relate to my earlier definition of quality in that having more skilled nurses in the healthcare industry would result in the provision of safe, equitable, acceptable/patient-centered, accessible, efficient, and effective care to patients.
References
Montalvo, I. (2007). The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators™ (NDNQI®). The
Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 12(3). Retrieved from
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/569395.
The Joint Commission. (2009). Implementation guide for the NQF endorsed nursing-sensitive
care measure set. Retrieved from http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/
1/6/NSC%20Manual.pdf.
World Health Organization. (2006). Quality of care: A process for making strategic choices in
health systems. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/management/quality/assurance/
QualityCare_B.Def.pdf.
