Nursing diagnosis anyone? Do staff nurses use nursing diagnosis effectively?

The use of nursing diagnosis by staff nurses in a 225-bed metropolitan hospital was examined. The sample consisted of 82 newly hired nurses who had participated in a mandated staff development program on nursing process theory and use of nursing diagnosis, with an emphasis on transfer of knowledge to practice. The data collected included demographic information, attitudes concerning nursing diagnosis, pretest and posttest scores, and percent completed on the audits of chart documentation. A cross-tabulation by clinical arena was performed on the forms used to document utilization of nursing diagnosis. Analysis of the data indicated that a greater proportion of the charts for the nurses in the maternal/child clinical arena evidenced use of nursing diagnosis as a component of practice. The nurses in the critical care arena scored slightly lower. The nurses in the medical/surgical arena had the lowest compliance of both completion and utilization of nursing diagnosis. This study demonstrated that nurses can be taught to use nursing diagnosis in the clinical setting.     

Assessment: the first step in creating a more integrated system-wide approach to nursing practice

As complex healthcare systems are created, professional nurses in these systems must address the integration of nursing practice. To facilitate the transition to a more common system-wide approach to professional practice, leaders at one health system began by conducting an assessment of their current reality of nursing practice. The authors describe the assessment process, including the staff survey questionnaire and recommendations to strengthen nursing practice and make the transition to a more common system-wide approach to professional practice.     

Responding to health care reform by addressing the institute of medicine report on the future of nursing

The current health care environment has heightened the importance of achieving positive patient outcomes and excellent customer satisfaction. To remain competitive, health care organizations must adapt quickly to changing regulatory requirements, quality improvement initiatives, and customer expectations. To ensure nursing practice at the Saint Clare's Health System in Northwest New Jersey is at the forefront of leading change, the nursing staff has embraced the Institute of Medicine report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change. The empowered nursing team has applied Benner's Novice to Expert model and McCauley's Careful Nursing Theory as the foundation for nursing practice. The ability to apply evidence-based nursing research and cultivate professional development at the bedside has resulted in retention of expert nurses at the bedside. Engaging the nursing team has resulted in increased patient satisfaction and improved clinical outcomes. Advanced practice nurses play an important role to mentor the nursing staff and promote an interdisciplinary, collaborative relationship between all health care disciplines and community support programs. Nurses are recognized for their accomplishments and encouraged to obtain specialty certification, advanced degrees, and earn state and national recognition through professional organizations. The professional nurses at the Saint Clare's Health System are prepared to work in whatever environment the new normal creates.     

The impact of utilization review on nursing

At first glance, nursing's role in UR appears to be of strategic significance to the profession. But there are several issues that nurse executives need to consider. First, since UR departments are seldom part of the nursing department, UR nurses are practicing outside the realm of nursing. What responsibility, if any, does the nursing department have to nurses practicing in the hospital, yet not in the nursing department? What can the nursing department do to help UR nurses maintain their identification with the profession and appreciate the strategic importance of their role, with its legal and financial ramifications? Second, UR is changing the established role of the primary care nurse. In your institution UR may already have taken the staff nurses' discharge planning function. It appears that several factors are contributing to this role change. Patient acuity has increased the time needed to administer physical care. The nursing shortage means more patients are assigned to each professional nurse and paraprofessionals are doing more patient care. There is less and less time left for the primary nurse to practice the professional attributes of nursing, primarily discharge planning. This function is shifting to the UR Department. Is discharge planning a function nurse executives wish to relinquish? Finally, we are entering another period of severe nurse shortages, where recruitment and retention of staff are paramount. Actively competing for our staff are the UR departments. Forty professional nurses work in three regional centers of the American Health Network, American Group Insurance Company (Dallas, Texas). In one hospital of 450 beds, nine nurses are employed by the UR department.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A staff development programme to support the incorporation of the McGill model of nursing into an out-patient clinic department

In order to adopt a nursing model as a framework for professional practice in an out-patient department of a paediatric tertiary care hospital, a staff development programme was instituted The nursing model chosen was the McGill model of nursing, which emphasizes the complementary role of nursing and focuses on people's health, strengths and potentials Staff development initially consisted of a journal club and clinic nurses were exposed to such concepts as family, coping, and health As the nurses acquired theoretical knowledge, the staff development programme was concerned with applying this knowledge to clinical situations As well as the nursing in-service training, clinical supervision with small groups of nurses was instituted A study showed that staff development helped nurses to build a larger repetoire of family nursing skills The nursing role in the department evolved Nurses developed a more professional practice and provided health services which were complementary to those offered by other health professionals     

护理人员实施护理程序的现况调查

为了解我国护理人员实施护理程序的现状,采用问卷形式对我国１２所省市级医院２６８名护理人员进行调查。结果显示：９６．６４％的护理人员认为实施护理程序很有必要。２６８名护理人员认为实施护理程序的主要障碍为人员不足和知识缺乏,其中低学历护士知识缺乏程序较高（Ｐ〈０．０１）。大专以及上学历护士在准确应用护理诊断方面较好于中专学历护士。提示：程序已得到广大护理人员的认可。为了推动护理程序的深入发展和完善,应     

The impact of nurse managed care on the cost of nurse practice and nurse satisfaction

How are costs of nursing care effected when professional nurses practice nursing based on patient's needs as opposed to institutional policy? The author discusses a different nursing care delivery system that builds on primary nursing but frees the nurse from institutional constraints. The results were a 20 percent decrease in nursing costs and increased satisfaction among the nursing staff participants.     

The nursing shortage: dynamics and solutions. A supportive clinical practice model

In a large VA teaching hospital, the primary nursing care delivery model is established with an all-RN staff. Several new initiatives and incentives have been implemented to maintain nurse satisfaction during this period of nurse shortage, but the primary nurse's relationship with her or his patient is the most satisfying and rewarding opportunity in this setting. The professional profile of the nurse staff reflects high academic preparation, certification in clinical area of practice, and involvement in nursing organizations. Primary nursing is successful because of the availability of support services, which enable the nurse to remain with the patient on the nursing unit. The primary nursing care delivery model and staffing were evaluated and revised to include licensed vocational (practical) nurses as associate nurses. Nurses on staff affirm their authority and autonomy to make and carry out clinical decisions about the nursing care of their primary patients. Physicians recognize nurses as the co-primary care provider in a clinical practice atmosphere of mutual respect and collaboration. New opportunities for professional growth and self-actualization enrich the work environment.     

The development and current status of men in the nursing profession

Nursing has been a quintessentially female-dominated occupation throughout much of its history. Today, educational developments, changes in healthcare service models and promotion of gender equality in education and employment have opened the doors to males to play increasingly important roles in the healthcare services as nursing professionals. The responsibilities of male nursing staff are expected to continue to increase. It remains difficult for male nurses to escape traditional gender stereotypes in nursing. The impact of personal characteristics, occupational roles, and professional identification in real practice are major issues of concern. This study reviewed relevant literature to identify factors of influence on male nursing staff professional practice. We hope this study can be a reference for future research on male nursing staff development, and that male nurses will increasingly create personal core values in a multi-discipline, cross-professional healthcare team, and exercise their abilities as a complement to female nurses.     

Enhancing psychiatric nursing practice: role of an advanced practice nurse.

In response to demands for alternative health models that deliver cost-effective quality care, one large Midwestern medical center implemented a change in their nursing practice model. The change involved the introduction of unit-based nursing leadership teams that included advanced practice nurses (APNs). This article reports the findings from an investigation that employed a case study design to evaluate the process and outcomes of integrating an APN on a psychiatric unit with experienced nurses. Data collection methods included a nursing survey (n = 34), interviews with nine randomly selected nurses, and two multidisciplinary open forums. Consistent with the staff nurses' survey ratings of important advanced practice role functions, responses from the nursing interviews and open forums suggested nurses' professional development to be the most positive outcome. Role confusion was identified as a negative outcome. Recommendations for improved integration and use of APNs in today's psychiatric health environments were identified.     

Challenges to implementing an APN-facilitated falls management program in long-term care.

Although several clinical studies have demonstrated success in reducing falls among nursing home residents, the degree of adherence to these strategies varies widely among studies and facilities, especially following the removal of external consultants or advance practice nurses (APNs). This article identified contextual factors that challenged the effective implementation of a falls reduction program. For nurses, the major problems with implementing the project involved inadequate nursing assessment and clinical decision making. APNs who influence nursing staff behavior via education and individual resident consultation may fill the critical gap in professional nursing care in nursing homes.     

Learning needs assessment as a vehicle for integrating staff development into a professional practice model

Restructured nursing roles resulting from innovative professional practice models and participative governance systems create a demand for new and expanded competencies. The impact for nursing staff development is the concurrent requirement to develop programs that match the skill/competency requirements of nurses in emerging practice models. This article recounts how one nursing department implemented a learning needs assessment (LNA) process as a means of integrating staff development into professional nursing practice.     

Critical care competencies

In the absence of nationally accepted critical care competencies, each educational institution providing critical care programmes is forced to define the essential competencies necessary for practice, leading to variations in expected practice and the emergence of 'postcode' competencies. This research report aims to build upon competency activity for all areas of nursing practice within critical care levels 1, 2 and 3. A functional analysis to elicit core critical care competency statements was conducted and a modified Delphi technique was used to generate consensus opinion from a pan-London purposive sample of nurses working in critical care. The functional analysis group identified four competency statements and elements of competencies. Consensus agreement of 80% was achieved with mean agreement scores that exceed 97%. A core critical care competency framework was refined and developed by expert nurses drawing on their own experience and knowledge of critical care nursing. The framework could be useful to: educationalists designing competency-based curricula; critical care managers as a tool for recruitment and retention and for education and training of staff; individual critical care nurses to facilitate continuous professional development.     

Advanced and specialist nursing practice: attitudes of nurses and physicians in Israel.

BACKGROUND: With the introduction of new and advanced nursing roles, the nursing profession is undergoing dynamic change. Realizing changes will be easier to accomplish if the nursing community and other healthcare professionals welcome the process. Recently the nursing staff mix in Israel has been undergoing a transformation: encouraging registered nurses to enhance their status by acquiring academic degrees and advanced professional training, and initiating the adoption of new nursing roles. OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to evaluate Israeli nurses' and physicians' attitudes to the introduction of new nursing roles and to expanding the scope of nursing practice. METHODS: Two hundred and fifteen nurses and 110 physicians from three large general hospitals and 15 community clinics filled in a questionnaire. FINDINGS: In general the majority of the nurses supported expansion of nursing practice, and such expansion did not cause significant opposition among physicians. However when the task affected patients' health, physicians were less willing to permit nurses to perform skills previously their responsibility alone. In addition, using multiple logistic regressions, support of the expansion of nursing practice was significantly higher among nurses in management or training positions, and among academically accredited nurses. Support for expanded roles was prominent among hospital physicians, graduates from Israeli schools of medicine, and less-tenured physicians. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that confirmation by various groups of physicians and nurses of standardized definitions of the new boundaries in the scope of nursing practice roles could successfully promote development of new roles and facilitate integration of the Israeli healthcare system into the global context of change. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Inter- and intra-professional collaboration, agreement, and understanding regarding advanced nursing practice roles and their introduction into the healthcare system might improve the relationship between healthcare professions and ultimately increase quality of care and patient satisfaction.     

Staffing in acute hospital wards: part 2. Relationships between grade mix,staff stability and features of ward organizational environment

This paper explores relationships between grade mix, staff stability, care organization and nursing practice. The data were collected in the mid-1990s from a nationally representative sample of 100 acute hospital wards and 825 nurses. Analyses provides important insights for managers seeking to achieve the strategic aims set out in consecutive National Health Service (NHS) human resource management policies. Hypotheses about ward clinical grade mix were not well supported. Where there was rich grade mix, nurses reported better collaborative working with other disciplines and greater influence. However, it was expected that wards practising 'devolved' nursing would have a richer grade mix and that the latter would lead to more innovative practice and nurses experiencing greater job satisfaction. No evidence to support any of these hypotheses was found although the opposite scenario - a link between poor grade mix, unprogressive practice and perceived lower standards of care - was supported. Wards practising the 'devolved' system rely on adequate numbers of nurses rather than a rich grade mix, and do not necessarily provide a more stable, retentive work environment for nurses. By contrast, findings about staff stability were largely as expected. A strong link between staff stability and standards of professional nursing practice was found, indicating that staff stability is more important than a rich grade mix for achieving innovative, research-based practice. However, staff instability undermined cohesion with nurse colleagues, collaborative working with doctors, and nurses' ability to cope with the workload. Overall, both the papers demonstrate that staffing resources and prevailing ethos of care are more important predictors of care processes and job satisfaction than organizational systems. They identify the detrimental effects on nurses and their work of having few staff and a weak grade mix, and the importance of staff stability. Higher standards of nursing practice are achieved where stability is high, independently of staffing characteristics.     

Nursing and nursing education in Iraq: challenges and opportunities

BACKGROUND: There has been extensive damage to nursing education and training in Iraq over the last two decades through three international wars, counterinsurgency struggles in the north and south, 13 years of economic sanctions, dictatorship and foreign occupation. Fortunately, there is wide agreement that nursing is a key area for further attention. Many nursing leaders have emigrated and the numbers of nurses working in professional roles in Iraq declined sharply after 1990. ISSUES: The number of nurses per population has always been low in Iraq, and fell off precipitously after foreign workers left. There is less than one nursing staff of any kind for physician today. Few of the nursing staff are qualified to what would be minimal standards of professional practice in many countries. There is a strong educational base for nursing education in three Iraqi universities, but it relates little to other schools or hospitals. Military nurses, now being integrated into the public system of hospital care, are considered to have far more technical skill levels than non-military nurses. ACTIONS: Iraq needs a new generation of well trained nurses to develop primary care and health education activities. Programmes in nursing administration and community health nursing need to be developed. The World Health Organization has supported the development of training centres and short courses for nursing leaders. The former six levels of entry to nursing practice have been streamlined to three. Nursing salaries since the 2003 invasion have been greatly increased. These are good beginnings, and much more remains to be done to restore nursing in Iraq.     

A new paradigm for practice education

This paper explores the complex nature of professional practice. It suggests that educating for all practice disciplines is about to undergo a paradigm shift whereby the value of practical education and experience will be better understood, more rigorously analyzed and integrated with propositional knowledge in the construction of personal professional knowledge and identity. It relates this cross disciplinary position to the present problems of skills deficits which are evident in nurses at the point of registration and demonstrates how routinization and internalization of process and tacit knowledge can create problems for students and newly qualified staff nurses. It also suggests how this can be addressed.It discusses the present culture of 'clinical education by default', unavailability of mentors and resources, and general lack of formal collaborative structures between education and service institutions and suggests that the present system cannot sustain the complex demands, expectations and pace of the clinical context and the evolution of nursing practice. Clinical credibility is an issue as is the current heavy clinical workload of staff nurse mentors, and several collaborative clinical education models are outlined which ensure that staff nurses or resident clinical educators are available and can make clinical teaching their priority. History and the present crisis in nursing suggest that there is a case for mandatory collaborative education/service structures to ensure adequate funding and to monitor the effectiveness of selected models so that staff nurse mentors can work with lecturer colleagues to articulate and teach the complexities of clinical practice through related research.It is predicted that this collaborative approach is capable of addressing both the skills deficits and the wider intellectual challenge of developing a new paradigm of practice education and providing an integrated base for continuing professional development.     

Advancing working and learning through critical action research: creativity and constraints

Continuous professional development is an essential component within many health care ‘Learning Organisations’. The paper describes the first phase of an initiative to develop a professional practice development framework for nurses in an NHS general hospital. The project was undertaken within a critical action research methodology. A tripartite arrangement between the hospital, a university and professional nursing organisation enabled clinical, educational and research support for the nurses (co-researchers) engaged in the project. Initial challenges were from some managers, educationalists and the ethics committee who did not appear to understand the action research process. A multi-method approach to data collection was undertaken to capture the change process from different stakeholders’ perceptions. Triangulation of the data was undertaken. Despite organisational constraints, transformational leadership and peer support enabled the co-researchers to identify and initiate three patient-focused initiatives. The change process for the co-researchers included: enlightening personal journey, exploring the research–practice gap, enhancing personal and professional knowledge, evolving cultural change and collaborative working, empowering and disempowering messages. A hospital merger and corporate staff changes directly impacted on the project. A more flexible time-scale and longer term funding are required to enable continuity for trust-wide projects undertaken in dynamic clinical settings.     

Evidence-based practice: a practical approach to implementation

Organizations often do not have processes in place to support nurses through a systematic approach for developing and evaluating nursing interventions, protocols, critical pathways, and policies that are derived from scientific evidence. The development of a framework to guide inquiry will have a positive impact on patients. This process may foster a higher level of professional engagement by nurses that may, in the long-term, help improve nurse retention and recruitment. The authors discuss a nursing evidence-based practice model and guidelines that were developed by a team of hospital and academic nurse leaders and is practical and easy to use. This model has been successfully implemented across the department of nursing as a strategic initiative. Results of the implementation have shown that staff nurses can effectively use this model with the help of knowledgeable mentors.