Quality & Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN)

This set of flashcards focuses on key terms and concepts related to Quality & Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN), aiming to enhance nursing competencies related to patient care, safety, and interprofessional collaboration.

QSEN

Quality & Safety Education for Nurses, aimed at preparing nurses with competencies essential for improving healthcare quality and safety.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

An organization that funds initiatives aimed at improving health and healthcare in the United States.

Goal

To alter nursing’s professional ‘identity’ so that when we think of what it means to be a respected nurse, we think not only of caring, knowledge, honesty and integrity but also, that it means that we value, possess, and collectively support the development of quality and safety competencies

Competencies

Essential skills and knowledge necessary for effective nursing practice. Includes Patient/Family Centered Care, Teamwork and Collaboration, Safety, Evidence-based Practice, Quality Improvement, & Informatics.

Critical Thinking/ Decision Making (Component: Knowledge)

The ability to analyze and evaluate information for better decision making.

Technical/Psychomotor Skills (Component: Skills)

Hands-on skills required for patient care and procedures.

Emotional Intelligence/ Interpersonal Skills (Component: Attitude)

Skills related to understanding and managing emotions in oneself and others.

Patient/Family Centered Care

Care that places the patient's preferences, values, and needs at the forefront.

Old (Patient/Family Centered Care)

Listen to patient and demonstrate compassion and respect

New (Patient/Family Centered Care)

Recognize the patient or designee as the source of control and full partner in providing compassionate and coordinated care based on respect for patient’s preferences, values and needs

Key Message for Patient/Family Centered Care

The patient and family are in a partnered relationship with their health care providers and are equipped with relevant information, resources, access and support to fully engage in and/or direct the health care experience as they choose.

Teamwork and Collaboration

Working effectively with others in healthcare to achieve optimal patient outcomes.

Old (Teamwork and Collaboration)

Work side by side with other HC professionals while performing nursing skills.

New (Teamwork and Collaboration)

Function effectively within nursing and inter-professional teams, fostering open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient care

Joint Decision Making

Involving joint ownership of decisions, Collective responsibility for outcomes, & Working across professional boundaries

Open Communication

Encouraging honest and transparent discussions among healthcare team members and patients.

Mutual Respect

Fostering a collaborative environment where all team members feel valued and respected, promoting positive interactions in patient care.

Shared Decision-Making

A collaborative process where patients and providers make healthcare decisions together.

Evidence-Based Practice

Integrating clinical expertise with the best available evidence and patient preferences.

Old (Evidence-Based Practice)

Adhere to internal policies and procedures.

New (Evidence-Based Practice)

Integrate best current evidence with clinical expertise and patient/family preferences and values for delivery of optimal health care.

Quality Improvement

The use of data to monitor outcomes and continuously improve healthcare processes.

Old (Quality Improvement)

Update nursing policies and procedures, chart audits of documentation.

New (Quality Improvement)

Use data to monitor outcomes of care processes and improvement methods to design and test changes to continuously improve quality and safety of health care systems

Key message for Quality Improvement

Improving patient care requires a systematic process of defining problems in order to identify potential causes and develop strategies to improve care.  The process requires the ability to measure care.  We can only improve if we measure how well we are doing and compare our performance against others.

Safety

Minimizing risk of harm to patients and healthcare providers.

Old (Safety)

focus on individual performance, vigilance to keep patients safe. 

New (Safety)

Minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance

What is patient safety?

Decreased risk of harm by individual actions or system design.

Who is responsible for patient safety?

All of us

When do we address a safety issue?

As soon as we see it

Informatics Definitions

Use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error and support decision-making

Old (Informatics)

timely and accurate documentation

New (Informatics)

Use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision-making

What is your responsibility?

Timely, accurate data collection

•Timely, complete documentation

•No falsification of information. 

•It is up to you to keep patient data “clear and concise”