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Weekly Q&A: Can we use the NQF instead of the NDNQI?

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, June 28, 2005

This week, a reader asks whether benchmarking nurse-sensitive indicators through the National Quality Forum (NQF) is an acceptable alternative to using the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI). Read the response below from our advisor, Katherine Riley, MSN, RN, CNA,BC assistant vice president of operations at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, VT.

Q: Our organization is considering the pursuit of ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® (MRP) designation. I've been studying NDNQI's nursing-sensitive indicators, but I've since read about the nursing-sensitive indicator project developed by the NQF. Can we use the NQF indicators as an alternative to NDNQI indicators to meet the MRP requirements?

A: The MRP criteria do not require participation in NDNQI. The standards do identify the general indicators that must be used, as appropriate for an institution's patient population. The requirements state that the indicators must be benchmarked at the broadest level possible, (e.g., national, regional, etc.), so the NQF quality indicators are an appropriate choice. I also know that several states are using some or all of the 15 NQF indicators as state-wide benchmarks of quality.

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