Paper
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
This presentation is part of : Normalizing Excellence in Professional Nursing Practice
Measuring and Monitoring Evidence Based Nursing Outcomes
Nona P. Irvine, RN, MS, Patient Care Division, The Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, HI, USA

The purpose of this presentation is to share various strategies for measuring and monitoring clinical outcomes to promote and improve the capacity for evidence based practice. To support practice that improves nursing quality, The Queen's Medical Center (QMC) participates in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators sponsored by the National Center for Nursing Quality. The following strategies are used at QMC to support the measuring and monitoring of evidenced based clinical outcomes. (1) Patient Care Scorecard - is used to monitor and trend clinical indicators over time. Goals are identified for each indicator at the start of each fiscal year based on national benchmarks or QMC historical data. Performance Improvement strategies that include “best practice” or “evidence based” practice are implemented on the unit and or nursing organizational level to reach and or exceed the identified goals in such areas as hospital acquired skin ulcers and ventilator associated pneumonia. (2) Nursing Practice Council - sets standards of nursing practice for the organization by addressing nursing practice issues that can enhance quality patient care, monitoring clinical outcomes, and making recommendations for Performance Improvement strategies utilizing the Plan, Do, Check, Act (P-D-C-A) Performance Improvement method. (3) Clinical Ladder Program - is used to recognize, acknowledge and reward staff nurses for their excellence in direct nursing care to patients and their families. One criteria is for each clinical ladder nurse to participate in a performance improvement project to measure and monitor clinical outcomes. Given the expectation that practice will be based on evidence, the goal is that staff will utilize various strategies for measuring and monitoring evidence based nursing outcomes. By utilizing these strategies, documentation of QMC nursing outcomes will occur at all levels of the organization, as well as nationally via the NDNQI.