The professional practice climate and peer review

Peer review, a mechanism of professional self-regulation, should not be viewed in isolation. It is one element of a professional practice climate and is interrelated to primary nursing, evaluation of patient outcomes, quality assurance, and self-governance. Much has been written about peer review but little of it describes how staff nurses and administrators can collaborate to operationalize the concept. The peer review system described represents the efforts of one unit's nursing staff at University Hospitals of Cleveland.