Impact of Nurse Peer Review on a Culture of Safety

Nursing peer review (NPR) is essential in evaluating nursing practice. A common theme throughout the literature is that NPR holds nurses accountable for their practice.

The nursing profession has struggled to conduct peer review consistently due to lack of a standardized framework.

A NPR program was developed, implemented, and evaluated in a 355-bed acute care hospital in the Midwestern United States.

A pre- and postdesign using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture was used for evaluation. Paired t test results revealed statistically significant differences in group means for 2 questions: mistakes have led to positive changes here (P < .001, d = 1.31), and staff will freely speak up (P = .002, d = 0.67). Clinically significant differences in group means were noted for the remaining survey items.

Implementation of an NPR program is a promising means to improve the culture of safety in health care institutions.