Research project AG/HH/123 (Research action AG)
Internationally there is a spate of studies investigating the relationship between nurse staffing and the quality of care. Those studies show that there is sufficient evidence to assume that the higher the nurse staffing (number & educational level) is, the better the results of the care. The majority of these studies use retrospective research through administrative datasets. With the Nursing Minimal Data Set (NMDS) and the Hospital Discharge Dataset (HDDS), the Federal Ministry of Public Health has at its disposal two administrative databanks allowing similar research in the Belgian setting.
In order to make the relationship between the nurse staffing and the quality of care visible, two types of indicator sets have to be developed. A first set includes indicators concerning the nurse staffing levels. A second set of indicators should allow a mapping of the quality of care. The indicator development will contain two steps. In a first step, indicators will be selected based on scientific criteria. To achieve this, potential indicators will be listed through a systematic review. An international expert panel will be appointed to assess the content validity of the listed indicators. In a second step, the selected indicators will be translated to the context of the Belgian datasets through a national panel of data experts. Nurse staffing indicators will be deducted from the NMDS, quality of care indicators from the HDDS.
Feedback-tools will be developed to provide information on both indicator types. The programmation will facilitate the Ministry of Public Health to bring the feedback on-line. Hospitals will be able to login through a secured website and benchmark their data with other hospitals.
Projet Base de données qualité des soins infirmiers (Quali-NURS) : résumé
Bruxelles : Politique scientifique fédérale, 2007 (SP1768)
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Databank kwaliteitszorg verpleegkundigen (Quali-NURS) : samenvatting
Brussel : Federaal Wetenschapsbeleid, 2007 (SP1769)
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Project Database quality of nursing (Quali-NURS) : summary
Brussels : Federal Science Policy, 2007 (SP1770)
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