Paper
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
This presentation is part of : Measuring and Monitoring Evidence-Based Nursing Outcomes
Creating the Environment for Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
Sue Ann Moorhead, RN, PhD, College of Nursing, College of Nursing, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Learning Objective #1: Identify strategies to enhance the use of standardized nursing languages for evidence-based practice
Learning Objective #2: Describe the data needed to do effectiveness research using NANDA, NIC and NOC
Nursing administrators and managers have long dreamed of being able to report in meaningful terms the quality of care delivered by nurses in their institutions and agencies. This dream has been elusive, as much of what nursing does remains invisible to the public, policy makers, other disciplines, and nurses themselves. Today the use of standardized languages in clinical practice has made it possible to describe more than medication errors, incidence of falls, and infection rates in hospitals as outcomes of care. The use of the NANDA International Nursing Diagnoses, the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC), and the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) has made it possible to describe the outcomes of treatments provided by nurses.

Focus: This paper will provide useful strategies to implement evidence-based practice in clinical settings. Practical strategies for unit based approaches will be outlined as well as suggested variables and sources of these data. Examples of changes in outcome ratings for patients in response to nursing interventions for specific nursing diagnoses will be shared. These data have been collected as part of a large study focused on testing the outcome measurement scales of the NOC across 10 test sites in the Midwestern region of the U.S. The sites include long-term care, community and tertiary hospitals, a nursing center, community health clinics, visiting nurses, and parish nursing.

Conclusions: These data demonstrate the areas in which nurses are making a difference in improving patient outcomes or maintaining functioning at the highest level possible. Nurse administrators and managers who have these data are better equipped to make decisions that impact quality of care for the clients they serve. Fulfilling the dream of being able to share the outcomes of care achieved by nurses in their agencies and institutions becomes possible and builds a solid base for evidence-based practice

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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 21, 2004