Measuring nursing outcomes in a psychiatric setting

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Management
• Psychiatric Care

Background:

• Healthcare reform emphasizes the need for outcome data on healthcare services.
• Psychiatric nurses require research to validate the effectiveness of their care.
• Current documentation practices vary, necessitating standardized approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) nursing process documentation on patient outcomes in psychiatric care.
• To compare the effectiveness of NANDA-based documentation with a traditional medical systems approach.
• To identify implications for future psychiatric nursing research and practice.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study was conducted on two adult inpatient psychiatric units.
• The experimental unit utilized NANDA nursing process documentation linked to patient outcome criteria.
• The control unit employed a standard medical systems approach to documentation.

Main Results:

• The study reported on the results of the pilot, including significant findings.
• Specific patient outcomes associated with NANDA documentation were analyzed.
• Unanticipated findings were also documented and discussed.

Conclusions:

• The use of NANDA documentation in psychiatric nursing shows potential for improving patient outcomes.
• Standardized documentation approaches are crucial for demonstrating the value of nursing care.
• Further research is recommended to validate and expand upon these findings in clinical practice.