The impact of nurse care on the patient’s quality of life cannot be underestimated. Moreover, it is an important factor in the efficiency of the functioning of a healthcare organization. Nurses provide a comfortable environment for the staff members and visitors of the hospital. However, their influence is hard to be evaluated in the framework of formal categories. Nursing-Sensitive Indicators were created in order to solve this problem and measure the outcome of a nurse’s work. The purpose of this speech is to describe the most crucial indicators and analyze the methods of their evaluation and collection of the data about the results.
National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators was established in 1998 by Press Ganey Associates; it is the tool that helps to improve the nursing system and its positive influence on patients and the functioning of the healthcare organizations. Its aim is to encourage the specialists to perform in a more efficient way in order to provide a high-qualified help for those who need it. What is more, NDNQI is useful for comparing the results of particular hospitals to national standards to see which spheres are to be ameliorated. For example, some of the researchers claim that the number of falls, especially among older adults, decreases if the healthcare organization implies the NDNQI system (Garrard et al., 2016). Nursing-Sensitive Indicators are the factors that illustrate the impact of nurse care in several diverse spheres. Among them is the well-being of the patient, the functioning of the hospital, and the methods of organizing the work process.
It is essential to mention that Nursing-Sensitive Indicators are concentrated not only on the results of nurse care but also on the structure and the particularities of work. There are different systems for organizing these factors in groups. In general, it is possible to assume that there are three main categories: the level of clinical help, the patient’s contentment, and the well-being of the nurse. There is a perception among ordinary people that the system of indicators is useful only for beginners. Nevertheless, researchers maintain that its implementation is beneficial even for the experts because the simplification of work makes it more efficient (Mangold & Pearson, 2017). The concern for a patient’s feelings would be covered in this tutorial as it is one of the most crucial factors that affects both nurses and sick humans (Jian et al., 2016). Moreover, it is closely related to other significant indicators, such as nurse leading and empathy for others.
Care about the emotions of the patient is important as it noticeably increases the level of comfort for the ill person. The scientists point out that missed nursing care is one of the most crucial issues that leads to the negative perception of the healthcare organization (Aiken et al., 2018). In this case, emotional support and involvement are crucial as the patient overcomes a challenging time, and his recovery depends on his quality of life. What is more, concern for feelings reduces the risk of irrational acts of the patient that is beneficial for his safety during the process of treatment. If the ill human being feels comfortable in the healthcare organization, there is an opportunity that his healing would be fast and pleasant.
New nurses are usually concerned about providing medical treatment and following the recommendations of the attending physician. They do not pay enough attention to establishing trusting relationships with the patient. That is why it is important to explain to the new specialists how to provide emotional support and be a friend for a sick person during his stay in the hospital. It is essential to point out that it would be beneficial for the nurse because it would help understand the problems of the patient in a more detailed way and modify the treatment if necessary.
This indicator is crucial not only for new nurses but also for the efficient functioning of the system in general. According to Jian et al. (2016), the quality of provided help is not always correlated with the experience of the healthcare worker. Motivation and desire to be useful also play a crucial role in the well-being of the patient. What is more, it is important to improve the existing methods regularly in order to imply better solutions in time (Jian et al., 2016). It is possible to assume that the concern for feelings should have the same weight as the treatment itself.
In the particular organization, the information about emotional support is collected using the method of in-depth interviews. The specialists have a conversation both with a nurse and the patient in order to have an objective overview of the situation. The data is disseminated by posting the results and the talks’ scripts on the professional sources and publishing academic articles in medical journals. Nurses play a vital role in collecting the information: they have to be honest about their feeling and actions. It is also beneficial to introduce mutual evaluation among the healthcare workers as they are familiar with the specifies of the working process and the possible outcomes of this indicator.
References
Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., Ball, J., Bruyneel, L., Rafferty, A. M., & Griffiths, P. (2018). Patient satisfaction with hospital care and nurses in England: An observational study. BMJ open, 8(1), 1–8.
Garrard, L., Boyle, D. K., Simon, M., Dunton, N., & Gajewski, B. (2016). Reliability and validity of the NDNQI® injury falls measure. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 38(1), 111–128.
Jian, W. Y., Zhou, Y. Q., Wu, Z. J., & Yao, L. (2016). The development and application of nursing-sensitive quality indicators. Chinese Nursing Management, 16(7), 865–868.
Mangold, K., & Pearson, J. (2017). Making sense of nursing-sensitive quality indicators. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 33(3), 159–160.