C489
C489 Task 1 Nursing-Quality Indicators
Western Governors University
As nurses, it is crucial to understand and comprehend the concept of nursing-sensitive
indicators. The quality of nursing care influences the patient’s hospital stay and outcomes. To
help provide the best and safest patient care, the American Nurses Association has created a
national database of nursing quality indicators (NDNQI) to provide data collected from
thousands of facilities in the United States. This data analyzes a specific set of nursing quality
indicators and patient outcomes and considers how nurse’s play an important role in patient
outcomes (Montalvo, I. 2007). Nursing indicators such as development of pressure ulcers,
physical restraint prevalence and patient/family satisfaction can aid in interpreting hazardous
issues in patient care.
Hospital data on nursing quality indicators such as measuring pressure ulcers right away,
monitoring them for break down, and repositioning patients on a regular schedule, have shown to
help prevent additional skin breakdown (Montalvo, I. 2007). Hospital data on restraint
prevalence have shown restraints being used to prevent patients from falling by getting out of
bed without assistance, prevent from removing medical equipment, and reduce potential for
inflicting harm to self and others (Nursing skill mix, nurse staffing level, and physical restraint
use in US hospitals: a longitudinal study, 2017). Hospital data has shown the importance of
ongoing training for health care workers on indications, risks, complications, and procedures
related to restraint use and that health care personnel need continuing education on alternative
measures to manage vulnerable patients. A policy on the use of restraint and comprehensive
guidelines need to be available to guide health care practitioners in the management of patients
where restraint cannot be avoided (Nursing skill mix, nurse staffing level, and physical restraint
use in US hospitals: a longitudinal study, 2017).
