The changing reimbursement landscape: nurses' role in quality and operational excellence

Operational excellence, care quality, and financial performance are increasingly linked as key drivers of hospital performance. This environment may be seen as a challenge, but it is also an excellent opportunity for nursing services to further demonstrate their value in patient care outcomes and support financial performance. Nursing contributions toward reduced complications, reductions in length of stay, and lower costs per case should be measured, rewarded, and made transparent to the public. Staff nurses should not view quality as simply another task on which to focus their attention, but rather a continuous process that requires critical thinking about how care is delivered and its effect on the entire care progression of a patient. Nursing management must focus on continually educating their staff on appropriate care, as well as developing and supporting a culture of safety and accountability. Nursing leadership must improve nurse retention and recruiting efforts, encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and, most importantly, demonstrate to the rest of the organization the value nursing brings to the organization through consistently tracking quality and financial indicators and tying them to nursing initiatives.