Paper
Sunday, November 4, 2007
203
Developing Knowledge Workers: Quality and Safety in Contemporary Nursing Practice
Gwen Sherwood, RN, PhD, FAAN1, Elaine L. Smith, MSN, MBA, RN, CNAA1, and Karen N. Drenkard, PhD, RN2. (1) School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, (2) Professional Practice, Inova Health System, Falls Church, VA, USA
| Learning Objective #1: articulate the knowledge, skills and attitudes desirable for new graduates in order to improve safety and quality for patients in a global framework. |
| Learning Objective #2: move quality and safety competencies from vision to action for new graduates to work in new practice environments and connect to forces of Magnetism. |
With the looming RN retirement bubble, agencies will increasingly rely on new graduate nurses with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to continuously improve the quality and safety of the health care systems in which they work. Practice settings have been redefined in response to increasing pressure from consumers and regulatory bodies to address quality and safety goals. Increasingly complex clinical settings mandate a global response for vision to action to close the quality and safety gap that has emerged between education and health care delivery settings. The purpose of this interactive presentation is to critically describe the RWJ funded Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project in which an expert national panel produced content for curricular transformation in prelicensure nursing education. The project builds an essential bridge between education and practice for shared solutions. Definitions of the six core competencies derived from the IOM health professions report will be defined along with the related knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for new graduates to work in continuous quality improvement: patient centered care, interdisciplinary collaboration, evidence based practice, quality, safety, and informatics. To meet present and future health care challenges requires knowledge workers who practice interdisciplinary, patient-centered care from a framework of inquiry using a scientific, evidence base and are skilled in informatics, working within a culture of quality and safety. As nursing thought leaders, participants will engage in appreciative analysis of the project findings to inform integration of this seminal work to the practice setting and work environment, draw connections to the forces of Magnetism which contribute to improved patient care outcomes, and build essential bridges between education and practice. The project captures a global concern for improved preparation of new graduates capable of smooth transition to a culture of safety and quality.