Staff Nurse: Quality & Safety Officer at the Bedside

Purpose:
The purpose of this abstract is to identify the staff nurse as the safety and quality officer at the bedside. An innovative model and core curriculum of nursing safety and quality will be presented.A recognition of the crosswalk of data related to CMS,Joint Commission and NDNQI will be presented.

Significance:
Nursing science is built on evidence,and the art form of nursing is implemented at the bedside. Staff nurses need to understand quality and data so they can deliver safe patient care and exceed organizational outcomes.A paradigm shift in the education and orientation of staff nurses is required.

Strategy and Implementation:
Strategy and Implementation: The Staff Nurse at the bedside holds a pivotal role in the health care delivery system. The action of the staff nurse has a dramatic impact on patient and organizational outcomes. It is critical that Nursing Education reflects this paradigm of data assimilation. The Core Curriculum of Safety and Quality for Staff Nurses includes the following concepts: Standards of Care and Nurse Engagement, Pre-requisite certification and licensure, Nursing Clinical and Theory Skills related for job title, Provision of Care & Treatment Standards, Documentation of Care, Implementation of Care, Evaluation of Care, Information Management, Quality Monitoring and Performance Improvement, Regulatory Requirements for Care( CMS,Joint Commission, State), Nursing Sensitive Indicators and data collection modalities, Patient Satisfaction and Clinical Competence.

Evaluation:
Effectiveness of this Innovation: The effectivness of this innovation can be measured based on the following: JCAHO Survey results and surveyor feedback, Core Measure Sets against standards, NDNQI Data and national benchmarks, Nursing Sensitive Indicators Data, Patient Satisfaction Data.

Implications for Practice:
Preparing Front-Line Staff Nurses in quality practices, data management and the crossroads of data assists in keeping patients safe. A curriculum of competency enables the Nursing Education Department to prepare direct care giver nurses to collect and document data with greater meaning and outcomes.