Impact of Nurses On Health Care Quality

Impact of Nurses On Health Care Quality

The impact of nursing on the quality of care provided to patients is wide-ranging. Nurses possess adequate skills and knowledge that is used to serve patients with varied needs. Depending on the training and scope of practice of advanced nurse practitioners, nurses are able to take advanced roles in primary healthcare to address patients’ needs. Besides, nurses are equally informed on the expected health outcomes in the populations they serve thus are best placed to understand the services needed the most and those which are least needed. This means that a nurse’s working environment has a significant influence on the quality of nursing. The article by McHugh et al., (2013) titled lower mortality in magnet hospitals is chosen for the analysis of this paper. This article critically discusses the mortality and failure rescue rates among post-surgical patients in 56 Magnet and 508 non-magnet hospitals and the effect of nursing on the outcomes. Impact of Nurses On Health Care Quality

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Impact of Nurses on Healthcare Quality

            As noted by Friese, et al., (2015), since the year 1994, the criteria for Magnet designation has significantly changed with a continuous increase in the number of Magnet-recognized healthcare organizations. By being a Magnet hospital, the following aspects ought to be met; evidence of transformational leadership, impressive professional practice, innovation, new knowledge, structural empowerment, and continuous improvement. In the study conducted by McHugh et al., (2013), data on mortality rates, failure rates, and rescue rates were critically examined. More than 100,000 nurses were also surveyed and the results showed that nurses were well organized and had a good performance in Magnet institutions as compared to non-Magnet institutions.

It was also notable that, Magnet hospitals have a higher bed capacity and function as non-profit teaching hospitals as compared to non-magnet hospitals. As a result, they have a high potential for the latest healthcare innovations for BSN nurses or even those with higher qualifications. These findings are similar to Kutney-Lee et al., (2015) who mentions that, in Magnet hospitals, nurses take time to educate their patients on diseases processes that may be suffering from and provide them with the necessary resources needed to improve disease outcomes and overall health. Nurses in Magnet hospitals also reported better working environments as compared to those in non-Magnet hospitals (Friese et al., 2015). Impact of Nurses On Health Care Quality

Conclusion

            This article clearly outlined the differences which exist between Magnet and non-magnet hospitals from a statistical reference. Although it failed to mention whether Magnet designation influences high-quality patient outcomes, it revealed how nurses directly impact good patient outcomes and patient satisfaction.

References

Beck, S. L., Weiss, M. E., Ryan-Wenger, N., Donaldson, N. E., Aydin, C., Towsley, G. L., & Gardner, W. (2013). Measuring nurses’ impact on health care quality: progress, challenges, and future directions. Medical care, 51, S15-S22.

Friese, C. R., Xia, R., Ghaferi, A., Birkmeyer, J. D., & Banerjee, M. (2015). Hospitals in ‘Magnet’program show better patient outcomes on mortality measures compared to non-‘Magnet’hospitals. Health Affairs, 34(6), 986-992.

Kutney-Lee, A., Stimpfel, A. W., Sloane, D. M., Cimiotti, J. P., Quinn, L. W., & Aiken, L. H. (2015). Changes in patient and nurse outcomes associated with magnet hospital recognition. Medical care, 53(6), 550.

McHugh, M. D., Kelly, L. A., Smith, H. L., Wu, E. S., Vanak, J. M., & Aiken, L. H. (2013). Lower mortality in magnet hospitals. Medical care, 51(5), 382.

Richards, M., Lasater, K., & McHugh, M. (2017). A Race to the Top?: Competitive Pressure and Magnet Adoption Among US Hospitals 1997–2012. Medical care, 55(4), 384. Impact of Nurses On Health Care Quality