Identifying nursing outcome indicators

Patient outcomes...indicators..measurement. What do these concepts mean to you? More importantly, what do they mean to our customers, the patients? The department of nursing at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) embarked on a 6-month initiative to begin to identify the major outcome indicators of nursing practice. This article will discuss the outcome indicator project from its inception to the identification of the actual outcome indicators. The rationale for undertaking this project and the process of selecting the indicators also will be addressed.