Nursing Quality and Best Practices
Vision Statement
Quality Improvement and Evaluation within nursing professional practice at The Ottawa Hospital facilitates and supports excellence in patient care through evidence-based practice in a safe, caring, and collaborative environment
Quality at TOH (as defined by the Board of Governors, 2003) is: providing the patient with appropriate, consistent health care in a clean and safe environment in which the patient is treated with respect.
NQIWG Strategic Plan
Development of nursing sensitive indicators is at the core of the NQIWG strategic plan. Three evidence-based programs
linked to nursing sensitive indicators have been developed to support clinical practice:
- Falls Prevention Program
- Least Restraint Last Resort Program
- Skin Care Program
These programs are available on each clinical unit and available to outside agencies upon request.
Corporate Nursing Quality Improvement Work Group (NQIWG)
The Nursing Quality Improvement Work Group (NQIWG) is one of several work groups supporting clinical practice that report to the Nursing Professional Practice Committee (NPPC).
The group meets monthly to plan and implement, evaluate and monitor the quality of nursing care at TOH. Subgroups often involve multidisciplinary team members and focuses on specific patient care initiatives.
Representatives from all clinical programs and campuses make up the membership of the workgroup.
The NQIWG supports, promotes and disseminates the TOH Four Quadrants of Quality Model. Furthermore, the NQWG harmonizes its priorities and activities with the TOH Quality Plan.
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Responsibilities
At TOH, every employee is responsible for quality and we promote unit-based projects. By participating in Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) activities, nurses and other staff improve quality of care.
The Nursing Quality Improvement Coordinators provide quality improvement expertise to clinical teams, coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the Continuous Quality Improvements (CQI ) Program for nursing.
Clinical nurses collaborate on the identification of quality indicators and participate in Continuous Quality Improvements (CQI) activities and work groups.
The hospital administration believes in a unit-based quality approach and expects each clinical unit to engage in pertinent CQI projects. As a result, over 300 projects are underway at any given time.
Examples of Quality Improvement Projects
- An eye care protocol to deal with the concern of patient misinformation about eye care.
- Discharge teaching plans to deal with patient telephone calls to the unit following discharge.
- Information booklets to include frequently asked questions and answers about a test.
- Patient Mobility and Activity information sheet to be placed at the bedside for staff.
| 
