JCAHO to study nursing care quality measures

Funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, JCAHO has announced plans to begin testing a comprehensive list of nursing-related performance measures. The idea behind the testing is to see whether the measures make sense, and should be used for national nursing quality improvement efforts. The measures, which are endorsed by the National Quality Forum, focus on hospital-based nursing, address patient outcomes, nursing-centered care interventions and process issues that tend to affect quality and safety of care. JCAHO expects the final measures, which will be tested for two years at volunteer hospitals, will eventually be used by CMS, the Hospital Quality Alliance and the quality agency itself.

To find out more about JCAHO's plans:
- see this JCAHO press release