What do you consider to be “quality” in the context of health care and the practice of nursing? According to some nurses, quality is defined as effective interdisciplinary teamwork that results in better patient-health outcomes, whereas hospital administrators define quality as appropriately delegated responsibilities, completion of tasks, and efficient patient flow. Because of the subjective nature of the term, quality is a hotly debated topic in academia.

Standards have been developed in an effort to define quality in health care in order to ensure consistency and provide guidance to those who provide care. Detailed in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) are nursing-sensitive indicators that include scales for assessing both the quality of nurse professionals as well as the quality of patient care provided by nurses. You will evaluate the determinants of qualitym based on the NDNQI indicators and the theoretical underpinnings of these quality indicators in this week’s Discussion. Your current setting is assessed using nursing-sensitive indicators, and you determine how each definition of quality contributes to the concept of overall quality.

To get ready, do the following:

Examine the NDNQI indicators that are presented in the Learning Resources and that place a strong emphasis on quality. Concentrate on the indicators that are relevant to your practice environment.
It’s important to consider the impact of early quality improvement theories and philosophies on the development of those quality indicators.
Locate at least two scholarly research articles that discuss how quality indicators influence your practice setting by consulting the Walden Library’s online catalog.
Choose one definition of quality published by any peer-reviewed source that resonates particularly well with your own understanding of what constitutes quality.
By the third day,
Create an organized scholarly response that addresses the following points:

Identification and analysis of two nurse-sensitive indicators of quality that are related to patient care, and the influence of early quality improvement theories and philosophies on the development of those indicators are required. Selecting nurse sensitive indicators that are related to staffing levels will not be appropriate for this exercise.
Look for at least two nursing research articles that you can cite, and then evaluate how these indicators influence a practice setting in which you work.