Nursing surveillance: A concept analysis

To provide a framework to assess and evaluate nursing surveillance of patients.

The Nursing Interventions Classifications define surveillance as the purposeful and ongoing acquisition, interpretation, and synthesis of patient data for clinical decision making and is essential for improving patient safety.

The existing literature was searched using CINAHL, OVID, EmCare, and 11 ScienceDirect databases.

The Walker and Avant method was used to analyze the concept of surveillance.

Technology that facilitates surveillance in the community is ubiquitous in acute care settings. Nurses caring for patients use a tremendous volume of patient data to inform their clinical decision-making. Five attributes are associated with nursing surveillance: systematic process, pattern recognition, coordinated communication, the anticipation of problems of instability, and decision making. Surveillance is dynamic and extends over time. Antecedents to nursing surveillance include sufficient nurse education, nurse expertise, nurse staffing, as well as an organizational culture that supports nursing surveillance. When nursing surveillance is present, patient safety is enhanced and adverse events that harm patients are reduced. The concept of nursing surveillance is complex and defies empirical measurement, though it is possible to measure the attributes and outcomes.

Nursing surveillance is essential to the safe management of complex patient cases. Surveillance is more than monitoring or simple patient observation. Monitoring is an essential part of surveillance but incorporating the critical attributes of surveillance lead to improved patient outcomes.