Driven to Succeed - Creating a Nursing Dashboard

Purpose:
Mock surveys revealed that staff had difficulties answering questions regarding NSI data & speaking to PI plans. Depts had pockets of information that was difficult to find & visible for all staff to see. Each unit wanted 1 dashboard to show trends, progress & identify areas requiring improvement.

Significance:
Staff are utilizing the dashboards to develop action plans as needed to improve processes & patient outcomes. The all-in-one, colorful, visual dashboard serves as a reminder for staff to use when speaking with co-workers, leadership, surveyors & developing action plans.

Strategy and Implementation:
Data is compiled into 1 data bank and managed by the PI Dept. Pertinent data is displayed on the Nursing Dashboard so that staff have a concise, comprehensive, visual report of indicators that is easily accessed on their unit. A key is provided & explains the definitions, contains the goal for each indicator and states whether it is a quarterly or monthly measure. The dashboard is colored like a street light so it is simple to read: Green-goal met, Yellow-within 10% of goal, Red-below goal, needs an action plan. Goals are set based on national or state benchmarks. The dashboards are distributed on the 1st Mon. prior to the 1st Wed of the month. This corresponds w/ the Nsg leadership meeting & provides time for review and discussion at the meeting. Each manager & CNS are given their unit-specific dashboard; individual unit's huddle around the dashboards daily to update staff and discuss action plans. UPCs utilize the dashboard to determine the course of the action plan.

Evaluation:
The Nursing Dashboard is created & displayed for each individual unit. Ex: The Pressure Ulcer NSI led to an initiative where 2 RNs are performing the admission assessment on new patients to look for PUs. Almost immediately, improvement was noted in identifying & preventing pressure ulcers.

Implications for Practice:
Staff anticipate the release of the dashboard. Each unit has a specific place on their communication board to post the dashboard & refer to the results. Thanks to the visibility of the dashboard, over the last 8 months, hand hygiene has improved house-wide from 45% to 77%.