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Inside scoop from our experts: Jumpstart a unit-based project with support

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, August 12, 2008

This week, a reader asks how to get nurses on the unit-based council to support an evidence-based practice project. Read the response from our advisor Gina Boring, RN, MSN, NE-BC, ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® director at Aultman Health Foundation in Canton, OH.

Q: How do you get nurses on the unit-based council to support an evidence-based practice project?

A: Gaining momentum for a unit-based shared decision-making project is a challenge. The first of these challenges is to have consistent meetings with your unit-based council nurse because it is nearly impossible for a process to infuse a culture of evidence-based practice if the council doesn’t support it.

To create consistent meetings with your unit-based council nurses, I would suggest you:

• Set the council schedule for at least six months at a time
• Find your key council members and ask them to participate in guiding the evidence-based practice project
• Involve the unit manager to facilitate the meeting schedule and hold nurses accountable

Once the meetings are set and council members are around the table, a great place to start is with your quality data. Are members familiar with the nursing dashboards and reports? Do they understand how they influence those numbers? Are they involved in the plan to improve the outcomes?

If shared decision-making is valued, it will be supported. This level of success will take some elbow grease. Nurses will need to see their efforts measured in outcomes in order for momentum to take them from a culture of “what now?” to an enthusiastic “what next?”

Editor’s note: Do you have a question for our experts? If you'd like us to consider your query for publication, please send it to associate editor Cameran Erny at cerny@hcpro.com.

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