Embarking on the NDNQI Journey: A Middle Eastern Perspective 2007-2011

Purpose:
Describe the journey from a Saudi Arabia perspective to join NDNQI to enable external, international benchmarking

Significance:
Being the first hospital in Saudi Arabia to join NDNQI, the value of discussion and communicating our experiences to other hospitals in the region and nationwide has led to a renewed interest from other hospitals to share data across institutions within the Kingdom.

Strategy and Implementation:
Being the first hospital to join NDNQI outside the USA in Saudi Arabia,groundbreaking work was necessary to convince Hospital Executives of the value associated with such an endeavour.In general hospitals tend not to share quality data with external organizations. After the budget and administrative issues were sorted out, we could initiate plans to educate staff, both on how to collect the data, but also how to analyze the findings once NDNQI sends the result.It was a major exercise in 'change management', as traditionally bedside nurses tend to be 'data-gatherers' and not 'data utilizers'! Five years into this journey has taught us valuable insights and ways to overcome challenges in benchmarking to improve.

Evaluation:
Being into the 13rd quarter of NDNQI results in January 2012, we have seen a marked improvement in our outcome results in most of the indicators, a solid understanding of the value of the results.

Implications for Practice:
In the milieu of Evidence Based Practice, benchmarking is essential for ensuring quality care. Currently all nursing practices are reviewed and explored based on what our data tells us.We made a 360 degree change from before when we were not data-driven oriented to current practice.