Creative Strategies for Using NDNQI Data to Improve the RN Practice Environment

Purpose:
The purpose of this presentation is to describe how results from the NDNQI RN Survey with Practice Environment Scale, along with NDNQI workforce data, served as catalysts to develop and implement innovative strategies to improve the RN practice environment at a hospital pursuing Magnet designation.

Significance:
Healthcare organizations strive to create cultures of excellence, design environments supportive of care delivery, & promote RN engagement to facilitate professional practice. Shaping culture requires valid & reliable measures to assess the landscape before, during & after efforts to effect change.

Strategy and Implementation:
We employed 3 strategies to ensure a successful survey process. Goals included: high survey response rates, sharing results with all RNs and engaging clinical nurses to develop initiatives to improve their practice environment. We implemented fun and innovative ideas to entice RNs to take the survey. Once results were shared with all RNs, we conducted a 1½ day workshop facilitated by a Magnet consultant to devise creative solutions to address areas of concern. Staffing and resource adequacy were common concerns in several units; interventions to improve this key driver included initiatives aimed at improving perceptions, leveraging resources, and gaining additional resources. We will highlight 4 projects. Clinical nurses developed 3 of these: elimination of lateral violence, creation of a turn team, and implementation of a resource nurse. One organizational initiative was implemented to gain additional resources through a comparative staffing analysis using NDNQI data as a benchmark.

Evaluation:
Data indicate that three initiatives were successful. We added staff in several units. Comparative data for the 2013 survey will be available at time of conference. Regardless of those results, our efforts have improved patient care and positively affected our nurses personally and professionally.

Implications for Practice:
The NDNQI RN Survey tool assesses practice environments through the voice of clinical nurses. Our initiatives illustrate how NDNQI data were used to develop evidence-based strategies to facilitate RN engagement, create healthier work environments & lead to the empowerment of the nursing profession.