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Weekly Q&A: Visual displays of Magnet and JCAHO indicators

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, May 2, 2006

This week, a reader asks for ideas to visually display the Magnet program's nurse-sensitive quality indicators and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' (JCAHO) staffing effectiveness indicators. Read the response below from our advisor, Dorothy A. Garman, RN, MSN, Magnet coordinator and coordinator of professional development and patient education at Newport (RI) Hospital.

Q: We are evaluating the best way to graphically display the Magnet nurse sensitive [quality] indicators as well as the required JCAHO staffing effectiveness indicators. Has anyone developed graphs or a format that has been particularly effective for sharing with staff nurses? Also, what communication process or plan has been successful for sharing information?

A: We used scatter plots to identify and graphically represent the relationship between a nurse sensitive indicator and a staffing effectiveness indicator. The scatter plot is a very effective way to show correlation between two variables. We also used control charts with multiple indicators. Our data, however, did not reflect any correlation between staffing effectiveness and the direct or indirect care of the patient as measured by nurse sensitve indicators. But as we all know, JCAHO expects further drilling, so we dug down to the next level. For example, if data reflect no correlation between patient falls and the number of nursing hours per patient day, you could take it a step further and measure the number of falls that occur during change of shift. We are now in the process of developing a dashboard of indicators by patient care unit, which will be valuable for targeting future drill-down efforts.

When it comes to information sharing, data are shared at the nursing executive committee and at our nursing and patient care performance evaluation and improvement committee (i.e., nursing quality committee) on a scheduled basis. Staff nurses sit on these committees. The nursing directors also share data at nursing unit council meetings and at their unit-specific professional practice council meetings. Nursing staff have much opportunity to analyze the data and develop, if appropriate, subsequent interventions and a means of evaluation.

Editor's note: Do you have a question for one of our Magnet experts? If you'd like us to consider your query for publication, please send it to Jamie Gisonde using the subject line, MLW Q&A.

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