Learning from experience: Revolutionizing vascular care through nursing morbidity and mortality conferences

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Patient Safety
• Vascular Surgery

Background:

• Traditional morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferences often exclude nursing perspectives, despite nurses' frontline role.
• Vascular surgery units identified gaps in nursing medical knowledge and confidence in escalating patient concerns.

Purpose of the Study:

• Implement structured, nursing-led M&M conferences.
• Enhance nurses' clinical knowledge, care confidence, and interprofessional collaboration in vascular care.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a project management system for case review selection (safety events, mortality, care themes).
• Two nurses reviewed each case, integrating literature reviews and evidence.
• Mentorship provided by nursing leadership and Advanced Practice Practitioners.
• Pre- and post-implementation surveys assessed knowledge, confidence, and escalation comfort.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements observed in medical knowledge (3.0 to 4.7) and care confidence (3.2 to 4.3).
• Increased comfort with provider communication (2.3 to 4.1) and concern escalation (2.2 to 4.3).
• Effectively addressed failure-to-rescue risks via improved complication identification and communication.

Conclusions:

• Nursing-led M&M conferences substantially improve clinical competence and interdisciplinary communication.
• Inclusive case review processes elevate nursing practice standards and enhance patient safety outcomes.