Undoubtedly, the primary aim of the health sector is to achieve fruitful outcomes of patients’ treatments. However, it is crucial to evaluate the factors that influence the possibility of successful customer care. The nursing-sensitive quality indicators are those devices that might assist in understanding the strong relation of staff levels with excellent treatment outcomes. Overall, nursing-sensitive indicators are used for three purposes to indicate different aspects of nursing care.
To begin with, the evaluation of nurses’ impacts on the patients is usually conducted to understand the aspects that should be advanced in the unit. The national database of nursing-sensitive quality indicators includes “both quarterly and annual reports” that assist medics at even the primary level in recognizing what influences nursing care quality (Moody, 2021, line 4). Overall, nursing-sensitive indicators focus on the aspects, such as facilities, equipment, staffing, and financing, that in some way affect the patients’ treatments’ outcomes (Moody, 2021, line 7). Another critical point is that the indicators are further categorized into structural, process, and outcome ones. For instance, the structural ones are mainly focused on the criteria related to the nurses, like the supply of staff, level of nursing, and “number of staff and resources”; whereas outcome indicators are related to the patients (Oner et al., 2020, p. 7). As for the process indicators, they evaluate nursing interventions and clients’ satisfaction with the treatments, “the interactions between the patients and providers about how things work in an organization” (Oner et al., 2020, p. 7). Nevertheless, the most crucial nursing indicators are structural since they appear to be essential for effective treatment, so I decided to focus on them in my tutorial.
Furthermore, the structural nursing indicators are significant to monitor since nurses’ certification, and knowledge levels are essential for keeping patients safe in the unit. It seems important to mention that the resources provided by the national database allow medics to research and investigate “the primary standards to measure and report the quality and efficiency of healthcare” during their work (Oner et al., 2020, p. 9). As a result, new nurses are able to analyze their performance and the treatment outcomes by evaluating their contribution and the influence on the whole medical process.
My organization is strongly focused on assessing nursing care and the treatment outcomes based on the nursing-sensitive quality indicators. To be more exact, the nurses in the unit are required to update the information regarding their certification levels and education. In addition, the number of staff and available resources in the institution is thoroughly analyzed for evaluating the possible impact of these factors on the clients’ health. The collected data is usually discussed on the morning briefs and is always accessible for all the medical staff. Still, the nurses’ role in forming the reports based on the indicators’ assessment is crucial since they must enter only valid data regarding their background and experience. Furthermore, the information regarding the medicaments and the staff is also strictly checked before being submitted for forming the quarterly and annual reports. By and whole, the organization values its patients and is constantly focused on providing them with practical and high-quality treatment, which is evaluated through the data regarding the nursing-sensitive quality indicators.
To sum up, the health sector must evaluate its operations through the assessment of nursing-sensitive indicators. This way, it is possible to recognize the aspects that might negatively influence the patients’ health and advance before any problem occurs in the unit. The nurses at the basic levels should research the data provided by the national database and this instituion in order to understand how they impact the treatment process and what skills or factors should be improved to ensure efficient medical care.
References
Moody, J. (2021). Nursing sensitive indicators: Why they’re important and what they mean for nurses and patients. Post University.
Oner, B., Zengul, F. D., Oner, N., Ivankova, N. V., Karadag, A., & Patrician, P. A. (2020). Nursing‐sensitive indicators for nursing care: A systematic review (1997–2017). Nursing Open, 8(3), 1005–1022.