“What Can Nurses Study” Research and Nursing Quality Assurance In the Hospital

“You’ve got to be kidding!” “I barely have enough time to give patient care, and now I a m supposed to d o research studies?” This response is typical of any health care provider when asked to assume additional job responsibilities. This article describes one hospital’s plan to foster staff nurse research within a nursing quality assurance program. Nursing quality assurance is a n ongoing process. Through a planned, consistent, and frequently evaluated problem-oriented program, LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, is able to encourage cost containment and monitor the quality of care and patient satisfaction. The function of nursing quality assurance comes within this broad category of quality assurance. Nursing quality assurance should involve all levels of nursing personnel in an effort to ensure quality patient care and satisfaction as well as costcontainment measures. In order to develop a viable nursing quality assurance program at LDS Hospital, specific objectives were first determined using a Patient Bill of Rights. Nursing Standards of Practice and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) Manual. This paper will describe the evolution of nursing quality assurance activities at LDS Hospital.