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Published on: June 21, 2010
Identification of potential barriers to nurse-sensitive outcome demonstration
Jean Beckel1, Gail Wolf, Roxanne Wilson
1Author Affiliations: Magnet Program Director and Performance Improvement Analyst (Dr Beckel), St Cloud Hospital, Minnesota; Professor and Coordinator of Nursing Administration (Dr Wolf), School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Survivorship Director (Dr Wilson), St Cloud Hospital Coborn Cancer Center, Minnesota; Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President Patient Care Services (Ms Hoolahan), University of Pittsburgh, Passavant, Pennsylvania.
Barriers to demonstrating nurse-sensitive outcomes differ by role, impacting nursing leaders and direct care RNs. Addressing these role-specific challenges is key to improving patient care outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Nursing leadership
- Healthcare management
- Patient outcomes research
Background:
- Magnet Recognition Program® and other designations emphasize patient outcomes.
- Limited evidence exists on multi-level barriers to demonstrating nursing outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify differing perspectives on barriers to demonstrating nurse-sensitive outcomes among various nursing roles.
- To compare perceptions of chief nursing officers, Magnet® program directors, nurse leaders, and direct care registered nurses (RNs).
Main Methods:
- A Likert scale survey was administered to 526 attendees at the 2012 national Magnet conference.
- Survey items assessed perceptions of resources, benchmarks, process understanding, value, and competing priorities.
- Data analysis focused on identifying significant perception differences based on professional role.
Main Results:
- Significant role-based differences were found in perceptions of available resources, competing priorities, and understanding of the outcome demonstration process.
- No significant differences were observed regarding benchmarks or the perceived organizational value of the outcome demonstration process.
- These findings highlight varied challenges faced by different nursing roles in showcasing nurse-sensitive outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Nursing roles perceive different barriers to demonstrating nurse-sensitive outcomes.
- Systems and processes can be developed to mitigate these role-specific perceived barriers.
- Improving the demonstration of nurse-sensitive outcomes requires tailored strategies for different levels of the nursing workforce.
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