Related Experiment Videos
Quality nursing care: a qualitative enquiry
1University of Portsmouth, School of Health Studies, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, England.
Journal of Advanced Nursing
|January 1, 1995
Summary
Nurses define quality nursing care through structure, process, and outcome. They emphasize process and outcome more, as these aspects are directly controllable by nurses, unlike structural elements.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Healthcare Quality
- Qualitative Research
Background:
- Defining quality nursing care remains inconsistent despite extensive literature.
- A clear, nurse-centric definition is needed to align practice with perceptions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore practicing nurses' perceptions of quality nursing care.
- To develop a definition of quality nursing care based on nurses' perspectives.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study involving interviews with 18 nurses in a large English hospital.
- Analysis employed a modified grounded theory approach to identify key themes.
Main Results:
- Three core categories emerged: structure, process, and outcome.
- Nurses more frequently described quality in terms of process and outcome compared to structure.
- Nurses' own words were used to define the essential attributes of quality nursing care.
Conclusions:
- The study supports structure, process, and outcome as a framework for defining quality nursing care.
- Nurses' focus on process and outcome highlights their direct influence and control over patient care delivery.
- Managerial control over structural elements, influenced by external factors, may explain the lesser emphasis on structure.