National Nursing and Midwifery Quality Care Metrics Project

Background Quality Care-Metrics are agreed measurements for nursing/midwifery care where processes can be monitored against agreed standards. The central driver for initiating the development and implementation of metrics is... [ view full abstract ]

Background
Quality Care-Metrics are agreed measurements for nursing/midwifery care where processes can be monitored against agreed standards. The central driver for initiating the development and implementation of metrics is to generate real time data to monitor care and promote a culture of quality and patient safety.
Aim & Objectives:
 Introduce and implement a standardised set of nursing/midwifery quality care-metrics across all health services.
 Introduce a national web tool to collate and report on results in a standardised format.
 Provide real time reports for nurses, midwives and their managers on the delivery of safe, quality care.
Methodology:
Metric indicators enable nurses/midwives from all services, to understand how procedures are progressing and how they can be improved. Establishing good processes improve the standard of care and create better outcomes for patients.
The collection of nursing/midwifery metrics provides valuable information to all nurses and midwives in understanding how well their individual wards and healthcare settings are managing the delivery of safe, quality patient care. Metrics may identify good practices which must be shared and celebrated, it may also highlight areas of poor performance.
The software used is a web based system designed to collect data and create reports instantaneously eliminating the need to manually create reports.
Metrics measure processes such assessing patients for risks relating to medication management, falls, observations, pressure ulcers and documentation. The introduction of metrics allows for consistency in data collection across all health services.
Findings:
Quality care-metrics provide reports individualised to each ward/service indicating targets achieved using a traffic light and percentage system. Metrics have the potential to support and improve nursing/midwives in all areas of care delivered throughout the Health service.
Conclusions:
Nursing/midwifery metrics offer an opportunity to maintain high nursing and midwifery standards, providing tangible measures of nursing and midwifery contribution to patient care.