RN Education/Certification

The National Database for Nursing Qualtiy Indicators currently collects data related to RN Education/Certification and the outcomes of nursing care. According to the Dunton (2008), "certificatiion is a measure of nursing specialty knowledge, skills and experience."The lastest research that was done by the NDNQI showed there is a decrease in patient falls on units where there is a higher percent of RNs who are certified. I had the assumption that there was not any difference in a nurse with an Associate Degree and one with Bachelor Degree. After starting back to school for my BSN, I no longer have that assumption. I definitely believe the nurse after receiving the BSN has a greater potential to be leader and has the abiltiy to critically think when it comes to complex situations. Do you agree? What differences do you see between an AD nurse and a BSN nurse?

Challenges with Nursing Quality

Evaluating the quality of nursing care started with Florence Nightingale. In 1998, the American Nurses Association established the first nursing quality measurement program called The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI). This program was developed to continue improving the quality of nursing care. During the last few years, NDNQI has submitted to the National Quality Forum (NGF) a list of nursing indicators which reflect staffing, nursing process and patient outcomes. The NDNQI collects and monitors data from participating hospitals and provides that data in order to help improve the relationship of patient care to outcomes. One of the latest researches by the NDNQI deals with how staffing and job satisfaction impacts patient outcomes. Do you believe that patient outcomes are effected by nursing care? If so, why? What are some of the staffing issues you believe to have an impact on patient outcomes?