Running head: NURSING-SENSITIVE INDICATORS

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Nursing-Sensitive Indicators Christen Steele Western Governors University

NURSING-SENSITIVE INDICATORS Nursing-Sensitive Indicators The ANA has formulated a list of aspects of patient care that are impacted by nurses. These are called nursing-sensitive indicators (Sauls, 2013). . A knowledge of nursing-sensitive indicators is a way for nursing staff to impact the care that they give to patients and also a way that nursing can impact policy and procedure at the facilities that employ them. Identifying Issues With Nursing-Sensitive Indicators In the case of Mr. J, an understanding of nursing-sensitive indicators by the nursing staff is important in assisting those caregivers to identify issues that are interfering with Mr. J’s care. In this case, the nurses having knowledge that Mr. J’s decreased mental status due to receiving pain meds and being restrained to the bed increase his risk of acquiring a pressure ulcer on his bony prominences. With this knowledge, changes in Mr. J’s care, including regular position changes and perhaps changes in pain medications to decrease lethargy would be key in decreasing his risk of developing a hospital acquired pressure ulcer. Advancing Quality Patient Care With Nursing-Sensitive Indicators In the hospital setting, collecting data on specific nursing-sensitive indicators and reporting those results to the staff, can empower the staff to improve patient outcomes. Committees can be formed to address specific indicators whose data falls beneath standard benchmarks. In these committees, staff participate with the intention of improving policies and procedures to improve data scores and ultimately improve patient outcomes. When there is transparency in the reporting of the institutions scores and how its data measures up to national benchmarks, the staff are empowered to improve outcomes (IHI, 2014).

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NURSING-SENSITIVE INDICATORS In the case of Mr. J., if more emphasis was placed on the prevention of hospital acquired pressure ulcers and reduction in use of restraints, perhaps Mr. J’s outcomes would be different.

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Bringing these nursing-sensitive indicators to the front of the staff’s mind would improve patient outcomes. Resolving The Ethical Issue In this scenario, Mr. J. is a Jewish man. Judaism has many beliefs and principles that are specific to the Jewish faith. Not the least of which is dietary restrictions. Most Jewish people eat only “kosher” foods. Only animals that “chew their cud and have cloven hooves” are kosher. Under these restrictions; beef, lamb, goats sheep and deer may be eaten, while pork, camel and rabbits may not be eaten (Judaism…,2004). The kitchen staff should be made aware that these dietary restrictions are of utmost importance to this culture. The hospital is in a town that has few Jewish residents, but those residents are stated to seek medical care from a Jewish hospital in another city. The doctor in Mr. J.’s case is also Jewish, using him as a resource or asking for his input for a presentation on Jewish culture would be of benefit to the staff and patients. Perhaps there is a local Rabbi that can come to the facility to speak with staff about specific cultural differences that affect patient care in the hospital. It is also import to encourage the staff to be transparent and honest when mistakes such as this are made. Keeping communication open with the patient’s family members fosters a more trusting relationship.

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References Institute for Healthcare Improvement - IHI Home Page. (2014). Learning From Measurements. Retrieved September 14, 2014, from www.ihi.org Judaism. (2004). Retrieved September 14, 2014, from www.religionfacts.com/judaism Sauls, K. (2013). Retrieved September 14, 2014 from http://wgu.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=b9767cd8-e22b-4b84b22b-7b94acd643a1