ANA

Call for Abstracts

National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators

National Data Use Conference

January 30-31, 2007

Las Vegas, Nevada

Because of the well-publicized and continuing shortage of nurses in the United States, retention of existing nursing staff is a top priority for hospitals and other care settings across the country.  Satisfaction with work functions, job conditions, work relationships and professional development are critical variables in RN decisions to stay with a health care organization.  The NDNQI RN Satisfaction Data was critically reviewed after extensive processing prior to dissemination to multiple stakeholders in the organization. The first objective was to make meaning of the data, not only at the organizational level, but at the individual unit level.  Rather than focusing on data means for the organization, each subscale was processed at an organizational and an individual unit level to show variation in the data and make comparisons between areas.  Data was processed and graphically converted for display and presentation to individual nursing unit staff, unit nursing leadership, nursing performance improvement representatives, administration, human resource personnel and the President of the hospital.  In addition, those units that had participated in a prior year's survey, saw their unit comparison data from year one to the second measure and were easily able to visualize the positive or negative change in the subscale scores.  Extensive dialog was held at multiple levels regarding the data; dialog focused on what seemed to “work” related to one subscale with a particular high and/or sustained positive score, as well as what seemed “not to work”, i.e. causation and problem-identification related to low scores. The second primary objective after applying meaning to the data was to act on the information. After this initial dialog period, Unit Directors were requested to choose priority unit issues and create action plans specific to their environment to improve scores at the next NDNQI RN Satisfaction measurement interval.  Actions plans were multiple and varied.  They included such things as focus groups on several units; the groups were conducted by an individual knowledgeable in that technique who was not associated with the hospital.  Other areas ran unit-based validated surveys related to RN Involvement, as well as many other creative action plans to promote RN satisfaction. These are further displayed in the poster presentation. In summary, this project using the NDNQI data focused on disseminating the data and the value of making meaning of the data. It also exemplifies a technique of enriching dialog around comfortable and uncomfortable topics. It encourages gentle forced choice and critical thinking, resulting in creative efforts towards improving RN satisfaction and retention of a valuable professional. Re-measurement is scheduled for 2007.