Nursing morbidity and mortality conferences: a tool for enhancing quality patient care

Morbidity and mortality conferences have been used to educate healthcare providers, to critique staff performance, and to improve patient outcomes since the early 1900s. Historically well documented in physician-focused journals, the use of morbidity and mortality conferences is less predominant in the nursing literature. This article highlights one hospital's experience with planning, implementing, and evaluating a nursing morbidity and mortality conference and identifies implications for use in professional nursing development.