Congress Abstracts 2003

15

MONITORING, MEASURING, AND MANAGING CANCER NURSING RESOURCES: RESULTS OF ONE INSTITUTION’S “REPORT CARD” EFFORTS. Selma Kendrick, RN, MSN, OCN^®, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ.

Purpose: To describe an administrative initiative to characterize nursing workforce demographics, quantify productivity, and measure satisfaction of oncology nurses by developing a “report card” on cancer nursing practice.

Background/rationale: The American Nurse’s Association delineation of a “report card” to document and evaluate nursing contributions to patient care has been broadly accepted as an effective tool to enhance intra- and inter-disciplinary understanding of key issues affecting nursing practice. Ongoing use of this strategy offers important information on trends in manpower, work conditions, quality of care, employee satisfaction, and costs. This strategy is most effective when staff are engaged in analyzing “report card” findings that relate to their work culture.

Intervention: “Report cards” tallied in August 2001 were disseminated to all staff and contained the following data elements: skill mix & demographic information (% licensed & unlicensed staff, years of experience, longevity in the system, % certified, highest degree earned) and clinical indicators (pain severity scores, # falls, code survival to discharge, line-infection rate). Work conditions were measured by quantification of hours of care and work intensity. Employee satisfaction was relayed by use of Press Ganey scores, results of the Nursing Work Index (Aiken, 1997), and the Q12 survey findings (Gallup Organization, 2000–2001). Financial indices (vacancy rate, # employees, turnover, % premium pay, cost per patient day, total paid in FTEs) were also shared. The “report card” also contained comparative data to other units and hospitals in our system. Following dissemination of this information to the oncology nursing staff, focus groups were formed to discuss options for improving the practice environment. Results of these numerous change efforts will be shared. Currently, one-year follow-up data is being tallied which will be compared with baseline survey findings.

Interpretation/discussion: The “oncology nursing report card” has proved to be an effective tool for change, collaboration, and innovation. Sharing our experience with this intervention will assist others interested in fostering improved communication between management and staff.