QSEN: Outcomes of a National Project to Transform Education and Practice

The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project initiated in 2005 and was funded through four phases until 2012 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Beginning with Phase I, the project was led by a National Expert Panel of pedagogical specialist and faculty who were experts in the six Institute of Medicine quality and safety competencies (1999) to identify the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to improve patient care outcomes. Recognizing there would likely be changes to educational policies, an Advisory Panel also participated in all phases and were in position to also help lead changes in nursing accreditation standards, so that all graduating nurses would be prepared in the six competencies: patient centered care, evidence based practice, quality improvement, teamwork and collaboration, safety, and informatics. The project launched with the idea of Will (nurses want to do good work), Idea (nurses will do good work when provided the tools), and Execution (nurses will do good work when provided the tools and the environment to support good work). Faculty who were early adopters became engaged in the work, identified the need for faculty development, and recognized that how we teach is as important as what we teach. Thus, Phase II was a Pilot School Learning Collaborative, Phase III and IV were devoted to faculty development and spread of ideas. The presentation will describe the impact and usage of the robust web site that became the signature of QSEN with its expansive peer reviewed teaching strategies, teaching videos, learning modules, annotated bibliography for the competencies, and other resources. As the project took flight, authors and publishers of nursing textbooks began to edit to include QSEN competencies and learning activities; by the start of Phase IV, already 20 textbooks had integrated QSEN. Through Phase IV more than 1000 nursing faculty had participated in at least one of the Regional Faculty Development workshops led by the American Association for Colleges of Nursing, more than 2000 had participated in at least one of the annual National Forums, and QSEN was being called a social movement. Now, the original 2007 article describing QSEN has been cited almost 200 times and is ranked in the top 1% of health related publications by Science Direct. A best-selling, award winning textbook is now translated in three languages and more are in negotiation, evidence that the work is now recognized globally. The presentation will use story and cases to illustrate these and other outcomes, particularly with the shifts in pedagogies now implemented across nursing. this is an amazing story of change and transformation that has led to evidence based changes in nursing education and practice