NURSING - QSEN Assignment (ZERO PLAGIARISM with APA FORMAT)

Quality and safety education for nurses

Linda Cronenwett, PhD, RN, FAAN Gwen Sherwood, PhD, RN, FAAN Jane Barnsteiner, PhD, RN, FAAN Joanne Disch, PhD, RN, FAAN Jean Johnson, PhD, RN-C, FAAN Pamela Mitchell, PhD, CNRN, FAAN Dori Taylor Sullivan, PhD, RN, CNA, CPHQ

Judith Warren, PhD, RN, BC, FAAN, FACMI

Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) ad- dresses the challenge of preparing nurses with the competencies necessary to continuously improve the quality and safety of the health care systems in which they work. The QSEN faculty members adapted the Institute of Medicine1 competencies for nursing (patient-centered care, teamwork and col- laboration, evidence-based practice, quality im- provement, safety, and informatics), proposing defi- nitions that could describe essential features of what it means to be a competent and respected nurse. Using the competency definitions, the authors propose statements of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) for each competency that should be devel- oped during pre-licensure nursing education. Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) faculty and advisory board members invite the profession to com- ment on the competencies and their definitions and

Linda Cronenwett is a Professor and Dean at the School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gwen Sherwood is a Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Jane Barnsteiner is a Professor and Director of Translational Research at the School of Nursing and Hospital of the University of Pennysylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Joanne Disch is Kathyrn R. and C. Walton Lillehei Professor and Director of the Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership at the School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Jean Johnson is a Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Health Sciences at The George Washington University, Washington, DC. Pamela Mitchell is Elizabeth S. Soule Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Dori Taylor Sullivan is an Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Nursing at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT. Judith Warren is an Associate Professor at the University of Kansas School of Nursing and Director of Nursing Informatics at Kansas University Center for Healthcare Informatics, Kansas City, KS. Reprint requests: Linda Cronenwett, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean and Professor, School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carrington Hall, CB #7460, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460. E-mail: [email protected]

Nurs Outlook 2007;55:122-131. 0029-6554/07/$–see front matter Copyright © 2007 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2007.02.006

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on whether the KSAs for pre-licensure education are appropriate goals for students preparing for basic practice as a registered nurse.

A series of national commissions have documented significant problems related to safety and quality in the US health care system.1–5 In light of these

problems, reports from multiple national committees con- cluded that if health care is to improve, providers need to be prepared with a different set of competencies than are developed in educational programs today.1,6 Health pro- fessionals, using scientific evidence, need to be able to describe what constitutes good care, identify gaps between good care and the local care provided in their practices, and know what activities they could initiate, if necessary, to close any gaps.7 Faculties of medicine, nursing, and other health professions are challenged by the 2003 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Health Professions Education report1 to mindfully alter learning experiences that form the basis for professional identity formation so that grad- uates are educated to deliver patient-centered care as members of an interdisciplinary team, emphasizing evidence-based practice, quality improvement approaches, and informatics.1

Will, ideas, and execution are required to incorporate the development of the above competencies in nursing education. Unlike medicine, where commitment to an adapted version of the IOM competencies is now in place for the continuum from medical school to resi- dency program to certification,8,9 nursing has no con- sensus on the competencies that could apply to all nurses—that would define what it means to be a respected and qualified nurse. At the core of nursing, however, lies incredible historical will to ensure quality and safety for patients. Evidence of valuing quality and safety competencies in nursing is evident in nursing publications,10 –12 standards of practice,13 and accredi- tation guidelines.14,15 The American Association of Colleges of Nursing Task Force on the Essential

Patient Safety Competencies for Professional Nurs-

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Quality and safety education for nurses Cronenwett et al

Table 1. Patient-centered Care

Definition: Recognize the patient or designee as the source of control and full partner in providing compassionate and coordinated care based on respect for patient’s preferences, values, and needs.

Knowledge Skills Attitudes

Integrate understanding of multiple dimensions of patient-centered care:

● patient/family/community preferences, values

● coordination and integration of care

● information, communication, and education

● physical comfort and emotional support

● involvement of family and friends ● transition and continuity

Elicit patient values, preferences and expressed needs as part of clinical interview, implementation of care plan and evaluation of care

Communicate patient values, preferences and expressed needs to other members of health care team

Provide patient-centered care with sensitivity and respect for the diversity of human experience

Value seeing health care situations “through patients’ eyes”

Respect and encourage individual expression of patient values, preferences and expressed needs

Value the patient’s expertise with own health and symptoms

Seek learning opportunities with patients who represent all aspects of human diversity

Describe how diverse cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds function as sources of patient, family, and community values

Recognize personally held attitudes about working with patients from different ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds

Willingly support patient- centered care for individuals and groups whose values differ from own

Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the concepts of pain and suffering, including physiologic models of pain and comfort

Assess presence and extent of pain and suffering

Assess levels of physical and emotional comfort

Elicit expectations of patient & family for relief of pain, discomfort, or suffering

Initiate effective treatments to relieve pain and suffering in light of patient values, preferences, and expressed needs

Recognize personally held values and beliefs about the management of pain or suffering

Appreciate the role of the nurse in relief of all types and sources of pain or suffering

Recognize that patient expectations influence outcomes in management of pain or suffering

Examine how the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of health care can be improved through the active involvement of patients and families

Examine common barriers to active involvement of patients in their own health care processes

Describe strategies to empower patients or families in all aspects of the health care process

Remove barriers to presence of families and other designated surrogates based on patient preferences

Assess level of patient’s decisional conflict and provide access to resources

Engage patients or designated surrogates in active partnerships that promote health, safety and well-being,

Value active partnership with patients or designated surrogates in planning, implementation, and evaluation of care

Respect patient preferences for degree of active engagement in care process

Respect patient’s right to access to personal health records

and self-care management

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in car

Quality and safety education for nurses Cronenwett et al

ing Care recently completed an enhancement to the Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Profes- sional Nursing Practice to include exemplars of qual- ity and safety competencies.16 But the ideas for what to teach, how to teach, and how to assess learning of the competencies are sorely lacking, and there are few, if any, examples of schools claiming to execute a com- prehensive quality and safety curriculum.

DEFINING THE COMPETENCIES Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN), funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was designed to address these gaps—to build on the will, to develop the ideas, and to facilitate execution of changes in nursing education. Before teaching strategies could be developed, however, the QSEN faculty needed to identify specifically what was to be achieved. Working with an Advisory Board of thought leaders in nursing and medicine (see acknowledgments), the authors re- viewed the relevant literatures and adapted the IOM1

competencies for nursing. The goal was to describe competencies that would apply to all registered nurses.

In Tables 1– 6, the definitions are shared with the profession with the hope that nursing, through its professional organizations, can benefit from the work. If nursing constituencies find these competency defini- tions clear and compelling, over time the competencies can serve as guides to curricular development for

Table 1. Continued

Definition: Recognize the patient or designee a compassionate and coordinated care based on

Knowledge

Explore ethical and legal implications of patient-centered care

Describe the limits and boundaries of therapeutic patient-centered care

Recognize t therapeut

Facilitate inf consent fo

Discuss principles of effective communication

Describe basic principles of consensus building and conflict resolution

Examine nursing roles in assuring coordination, integration, and continuity of care

Assess own communic encounte families

Participate i or resolvin context o

Communica and need transition

formal academic programs, transition to practice, and

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continuing education programs. In addition, the defini- tions can provide a framework for regulatory bodies that set standards for licensure, certification, and ac- creditation of nursing education programs.

PRE-LICENSURE NURSING EDUCATION The competency definitions provided a broad frame- work for QSEN’s work to define pedagogical strategies for quality and safety education; however, as is evident in the accompanying article in this issue, when the competency names and definitions were used alone, the vast majority of pre-licensure program leaders stated that they already included content related to the com- petencies in their curricula.17 Relying on the respondent to interpret the general definitions of the QSEN com- petencies, levels of satisfaction with the extent to which students developed these competencies were high, and program leaders believed that faculty possessed the necessary expertise to teach these competencies.

The QSEN faculty and advisory board members did not share the view that pre-licensure nursing students were graduating with these competencies. We knew that many students graduated without ever communi- cating a recommendation for a change in patient care to a physician. Many of us knew that students learned the “five rights” of medication administration but lacked the language of common concepts related to safety

source of control and full partner in providing ct for patient’s preferences, values, and needs.

ls Attitudes

undaries of tionships

d patient e

Acknowledge the tension that may exist between patient rights and the organizational responsibility for professional, ethical care

Appreciate shared decision- making with empowered patients and families, even when conflicts occur

f skill in patients and

ding consensus flict in the nt care

re provided each

e

Value continuous improvement of own communication and conflict resolution skills

s the respe

Skil

he bo ic rela

orme r car

level o ation

rs with

n buil g con f patie

te ca ed at

sciences or quality improvement methods. With the

T L O O K

Quality and safety education for nurses Cronenwett et al

Table 2. Teamwork and Collaboration

Definition: Function effectively within nursing and inter-professional teams, fostering open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient care.

Knowledge Skills Attitudes

Describe own strengths, limitations, and values in functioning as a member of a team

Demonstrate awareness of own strengths and limitations as a team member

Initiate plan for self-development as a team member

Act with integrity, consistency and respect for differing views

Acknowledge own potential to contribute to effective team functioning

Appreciate importance of intra- and inter-professional collaboration

Describe scopes of practice and roles of health care team members

Describe strategies for identifying and managing overlaps in team member roles and accountabilities

Recognize contributions of other individuals and groups in helping patient/family achieve health goals

Function competently within own scope of practice as a member of the health care team

Assume role of team member or leader based on the situation

Initiate requests for help when appropriate to situation

Clarify roles and accountabilities under conditions of potential overlap in team-member functioning

Integrate the contributions of others who play a role in helping patient/family achieve health goals

Value the perspectives and expertise of all health team members

Respect the centrality of the patient/family as core members of any health care team

Respect the unique attributes that members bring to a team, including variations in professional orientations and accountabilities

Analyze differences in communication style preferences among patients and families, nurses, and other members of the health team

Describe impact of own communication style on others

Discuss effective strategies for communicating and resolving conflict

Communicate with team members, adapting own style of communicating to needs of the team and situation

Demonstrate commitment to team goals

Solicit input from other team members to improve individual, as well as team, performance

Initiate actions to resolve conflict

Value teamwork and the relationships upon which it is based

Value different styles of communication used by patients, families, and health care providers

Contribute to resolution of conflict and disagreement

Describe examples of the impact of team functioning on safety and quality of care

Explain how authority gradients influence teamwork and patient safety

Follow communication practices that minimize risks associated with handoffs among providers and across transitions in care

Assert own position/perspective in discussions about patient care

Choose communication styles that diminish the risks associated with authority gradients among team members

Appreciate the risks associated with handoffs among providers and across transitions in care

Identify system barriers and facilitators of effective team functioning

Examine strategies for improving systems to support team

Participate in designing systems that support effective teamwork

Value the influence of system solutions in achieving effective team functioning

functioning

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Quality and safety education for nurses Cronenwett et al

goal of clarifying rather than prescribing current mean- ings of the competency definitions, we outlined the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) appropriate for pre-licensure education.

During 2 workshops and multiple email communica- tions, the authors led the process of KSA development. We focused on all of pre-licensure education (associate, diploma, baccalaureate, and master’s entry), because the ultimate goal is to assure that all patients will be cared for by nurses who have developed the KSAs for each com- petency. We tried to answer the question, “What should nursing promise with regards to its pre-licensure gradu- ates’ quality and safety education?”

At each step, we sought feedback from nursing faculty.

Table 3. Evidence-based Practice (E

Definition: Integrate best current evidence wit and values for delive

Knowledge

Demonstrate knowledge of basic scientific methods and processes

Describe EBP to include the components of research evidence, clinical expertise and patient/family values

Participate appropri other res

Adhere to (IRB) guid

Base individ patient v and evid

Differentiate clinical opinion from research and evidence summaries

Describe reliable sources for locating evidence reports and clinical practice guidelines

Read origin evidence of practi

Locate evi clinical p guideline

Explain the role of evidence in determining best clinical practice

Describe how the strength and relevance of available evidence influences the choice of interventions in provision of patient-centered care

Participate environm integratio standard

Question ra approac less-than adverse

Discriminate between valid and invalid reasons for modifying evidence-based clinical practice based on clinical expertise or patient/family preferences

Consult wit deciding evidence

In contrast to the results of the survey, when nursing

126 V O L U M E 5 5 ● N U M B E R 3 N U R S I N G O U

school faculty from 16 universities in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Health Professions Education Collaborative reviewed the KSA draft, they uniformly reported that nursing students were not developing these KSAs. Additional focus groups were held with faculty who taught pre-licensure students in QSEN faculty mem- bers’ schools, and the responses were the same. Although the faculty agreed that they should be teaching these competencies and, in fact, had thought they were, focus group participants did not understand fundamental con- cepts related to the competencies and could not identify pedagogical strategies in use for teaching the KSAs.

A chief nurse executive serving on the QSEN advi- sory board led a focus group of new graduates. Not only

ical expertise and patient/family preferences optimal health care.

Skills Attitudes

tively in ata collection and

activities

tional Review Board s

ed care plan on , clinical expertise

Appreciate strengths and weaknesses of scientific bases for practice

Value the need for ethical conduct of research and quality improvement

Value the concept of EBP as integral to determining best clinical practice

search and rts related to area

e reports related to e topics and

Appreciate the importance of regularly reading relevant professional journals

ucturing the work o facilitate new evidence into ractice

le for routine care that result in

ed outcomes or s

Value the need for continuous improvement in clinical practice based on new knowledge

ical experts before viate from d protocols

Acknowledge own limitations in knowledge and clinical expertise before determining when to deviate from evidence-based best practices

BP)

h clin ry of

effec ate d earch

Institu eline

ualiz alues ence

al re repo

ce

denc ractic s

in str ent t n of s of p

tiona hes to -desir event

h clin to de -base

did these nurses report that they lacked learning expe-

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nge

Quality and safety education for nurses Cronenwett et al

riences related to the KSAs, they did not believe their faculties had the expertise to teach some of the content.

In September 2006, three QSEN faculty leaders presented the competencies and KSAs in a special session of the National League for Nursing (NLN) Educational Summit. Over 100 ADN, diploma, and BSN faculty members listened to the results of the survey and contrasted those results with the responses from faculty focus groups. Once again, this audience confirmed the focus group feedback. Nurses and nurs- ing faculty hold commitments to patient-centered care and safety central to their professional identities. They consider their teaching approaches to be aimed at the

Table 4. Quality Improvement (QI)

Definition: Use data to monitor the outcomes of ca and test changes to continuously improve

Knowledge S

Describe strategies for learning about the outcomes of care in the setting in which one is engaged in clinical practice

Seek informatio of care for po in care setting

Seek informatio improvement care setting

Recognize that nursing and other health professions students are parts of systems of care and care processes that affect outcomes for patients and families

Give examples of the tension between professional autonomy and system functioning

Use tools (such cause-effect make proces

Participate in a analysis of a s

Explain the importance of variation and measurement in assessing quality of care

Use quality mea understand p

Use tools (such and run chart for understan

Identify gaps be best practice

Describe approaches for changing processes of care

Design a small t daily work (us learning meth Do-Study-Act

Practice alignin measures and involved in im

Use measures to effect of cha

development of these competencies. Yet when educa-

tors understand the competency definitions by seeing the KSAs, they acknowledge that the KSAs represent a new view of what is required.

One additional source of feedback was obtained through written requests to leaders of advanced practice organizations that represent nurse practitioner and clin- ical nurse specialist faculties and accrediting bodies for nurse anesthesia and nurse-midwifery programs. We asked whether the competency definitions were appro- priate for all nurses, including advanced practice nurses, and were told they were. We received helpful comments on the KSAs, and respondents supported the assessment that they were appropriate for pre-licensure

cesses and use improvement methods to design uality and safety of health care systems.

Attitudes

ut outcomes ions served

ut quality cts in the

Appreciate that continuous quality improvement is an essential part of the daily work of all health professionals

w charts, ams) to care explicit

cause el event

Value own and others’ contributions to outcomes of care in local care settings

to ance

ntrol charts t are helpful ariation

n local and

Appreciate how unwanted variation affects care

Value measurement and its role in good patient care

change in n experiential ch as Plan-

aims, nges ng care

luate the

Value local change (in individual practice or team practice on a unit) and its role in creating joy in work

Appreciate the value of what individuals and teams can to do to improve care

re pro the q

kills

n abo pulat

n abo proje

as flo diagr ses of

root entin

sures erform

as co s) tha ding v

twee

est of ing a od su

)

g the cha

provi

eva

graduates.

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Quality and safety education for nurses Cronenwett et al

More presentations to faculty at national meetings are scheduled, and we expect the profession’s vision for pre-licensure KSAs to evolve over time. The current versions of the KSAs are included in Tables 1– 6. Although it is beyond the scope of this article to describe and reference every idea presented, we include in the section below a few comments and references for each competency.

DISCUSSION OF KSAs Patient-centered Care

The essential features of this competency were derived from work by Bezold,18 the Picker Insti- tute,19 and Lorig.20 Educators have worked hard on

Table 5. Safety

Definition: Minimize risk of harm to patients an individual

Knowledge

Examine human factors and other basic safety design principles as well as commonly used unsafe practices (such as work-arounds and dangerous abbreviations)

Describe the benefits and limitations of selected safety-enhancing technologies (such as barcodes, Computer Provider Order Entry, medication pumps, and automatic alerts/alarms)

Discuss effective strategies to reduce reliance on memory

Demonstrate and standa support saf

Demonstrate to reduce r

Use appropria reliance on functions, c

Delineate general categories of errors and hazards in care

Describe factors that create a culture of safety (such as open communication strategies and organizational error reporting systems)

Communicat related to h patients, fa team

Use organiza for near-mi

Describe processes used in understanding causes of error and allocation of responsibility and accountability (such as root- cause analysis and failure mode effects analysis)

Participate a errors and improveme

Engage in ro than blami misses occ

Discuss potential and actual impact of national patient safety resources, initiatives, and regulations

Use national own profes focus atten settings

the issues related to diversity during the last years,

128 V O L U M E 5 5 ● N U M B E R 3 N U R S I N G O U

and curricula generally address principles of commu- nication, physical comfort, emotional support, and education. The QSEN faculty and advisory board members believed greater attention might be needed to KSAs that are concerned with eliciting and incor- porating patient preferences and values in the plan of care, valuing the patient (or surrogates) as partners in care, appreciating the legal and ethical dilemmas posed by shared decision-making, and developing expertise in managing conflict. New graduates who develop the KSAs would be advocates for removing barriers to the presence of patient surrogates and would invite patients or surrogates to partner with them, for example, in safe medication administration

viders through both system effectiveness and rmance.

Skills Attitudes

tive use of technology d practices that nd quality

tive use of strategies harm to self or others

rategies to reduce ory (such as, forcing

lists)

Value the contributions of standardization/reliability to safety

Appreciate the cognitive and physical limits of human performance

ervations or concerns s and errors to

, and the health care

error reporting systems error reporting

Value own role in preventing errors

riately in analyzing ing system

use analysis rather en errors or near-

Value vigilance and monitoring (even of own performance of care activities) by patients, families, and other members of the health care team

t safety resources for development and to n safety in care

Value relationship between national safety campaigns and implementation in local practices and practice settings

d pro perfo

effec rdize

ety a

effec isk of

te st mem heck

e obs azard

milies

tional ss and

pprop design nts

ot-ca ng wh ur

patien sional tion o

and safe transitions in care.

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Teamwork and Collaboration The essential features of this competency include

sections related to self, team, team communication and conflict resolution, effect of team on safety and quality, and the impact of systems on team functioning.21–25

Although educators devote curricular time to fostering teamwork competence with members of the nursing team, faculty focus group participants acknowledged that little is done to foster shared mental models and communication styles essential to inter-professional team functioning. A mandate to strengthen teamwork and collaboration skills is derived from knowledge of the relationships between quality of team communica- tions and clinical outcomes.23,24 New graduates who develop the KSAs would use team communication practices25 and seek system support for effective team functioning wherever they worked.

Evidence-based Practice (EBP) This competency provoked lengthy discussions

about KSAs that would be relevant to all of pre- licensure nursing education. Many impressive guides to EBP in nursing26 –28 include approaches that require competencies not universally developed in undergrad-

Table 6. Informatics

Definition: Use information and technology to co support de

Knowledge

Explain why information and technology skills are essential for safe patient care

Seek educ informat settings

Apply tech manage safe pro

Identify essential information that must be available in a common database to support patient care

Contrast benefits and limitations of different communication technologies and their impact on safety and quality

Navigate t record

Document in an ele

Employ co technolo for patie

Describe examples of how technology and information management are related to the quality and safety of patient care

Recognize the time, effort, and skill required for computers, databases, and other technologies to become reliable and effective tools for patient care

Respond a decision alerts

Use inform tools to m care pro

Use high q of health

uate students. The QSEN faculty and advisory board

desired a set of KSAs that would be achievable in all pre-licensure programs, recognizing that some bacca- laureate and graduate-entry programs might choose to devote additional curricular time to develop additional KSAs for this competency. Currently, all programs were perceived to be lacking in sufficient development of KSAs that go beyond “understanding of basic scien- tific methods and processes.”29 New graduates who develop the KSAs would differentiate between clinical opinion and various levels of scientific evidence30 and value the need for continuous improvement based on new knowledge. They would also understand that EBP is about more than evidence—that it involves patient preferences and values and the clinical expertise nec- essary to understand when it is appropriate for clini- cians to deviate from evidence-based guidelines in order to deliver high quality, patient-centered care.

Quality Improvement Although nurses value highly their contributions to

quality care, the KSAs associated with this competency present unique challenges to most nursing faculty. Course coordinators who design curricula, by and large, have not been exposed to improvement methods and

nicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and -making.

kills Attitudes

about how managed in care

providing care

y and information tools to support

s of care

Appreciate the necessity for all health professionals to seek lifelong, continuous learning of information technology skills

ectronic health

plan patient care ic health record

nication to coordinate care

Value technologies that support clinical decision- making, error prevention, and care coordination

Protect confidentiality of protected health information in electronic health records

priately to clinical ng supports and

management or outcomes of s

electronic sources information

Value nurses’ involvement in design, selection, implementation, and evaluation of information technologies to support patient care

mmu cision

S

ation ion is before

nolog ment cesse

he el

and ctron

mmu gies nts

ppro -maki

ation onit

cesse

uality care

tools for understanding variations in care.10 Although

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Quality and safety education for nurses Cronenwett et al

faculty are aware of and concerned about the IOM Quality Chasm1–5 reports and their implications for nurses, most are unprepared to teach quality improve- ment concepts or demonstrate them in practice. Faculty development and new partnerships with preceptors, nurse managers, physicians, and other health profes- sional colleagues in clinical settings will be required if students are to acquire the skills described in Table 4.31

New graduates who develop the KSAs would learn and use improvement methods as part of their coursework and clinical practica, and they would enter the work- force prepared to participate in improvement work as a part of their daily work as health professionals.

Safety Faculties take seriously their role in preparing nurses

to deliver safe care to patients. One could argue that the entire curricula and supervised hours of clinical practice are designed with future safety for patients in mind. The bulk of the focus, however, is on teaching students the knowledge they need to care for individual patients, with limited—if any— emphasis on the im- mense system problems in safety.4,5,32 The QSEN faculty and advisory board members felt it was crucial, therefore, to have a separate “safety” competency for nursing, with KSAs related to system effectiveness and reliability in addition to the traditional foci on individ- ual performance. Educational needs assessments have been published,33 and faculty are beginning to address safety issues in new ways, such as medication errors involving students.34,35 New graduates who develop the KSAs will know about human factors and safety design principles, understand the importance of error reporting and safety cultures, and value vigilance and cross- monitoring among patients, families, and members of the health care team.

Informatics In the QSEN survey17 as well as another recent

survey, where the topic was solely about informatics,36

it is clear that nursing faculty are uncertain about what and how to teach about informatics. Yet health profes- sionals and patients will rely increasingly on informa- tion technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision-making.37,38 The QSEN faculty and advisory board members argued that basic informatics KSAs were essential for developing the other 5 QSEN competencies. New graduates who develop the KSAs in informatics will be able to participate in the design, selection, and evaluation of information technologies used in the support of patient care. They will learn to navigate an electronic health record and experiment with communication technolo- gies to support coordination and safe, effective transi-

tions in care.

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SUMMARY At the core of nursing lies incredible historical will to ensure quality and safety for patients. Many current endeavors such as the work occurring in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-sponsored project, Trans- forming Care at the Bedside, demonstrate how quality/ safety/improvement work attracts the hearts of nurses, resulting in the “joy in work”7 that retains the health care workforce. Attending to the development of QSEN competencies may help nurses—who love the basic work of nursing—love their jobs, too.

To assure new graduate competencies in patient- centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence- based practice, quality improvement, safety, and informat- ics, all of nursing education must embrace the need for change. These competencies cannot be mastered through a didactic approach nor developed in a single course or web-based module. Every clinical instructor will have to engage differently with the inter-professional team on patient care units where they are teaching. Simulation cases will include components that address the QSEN competencies. Reflective papers and case studies will be used to deepen understanding of the values and attitudes required for quality and safety work. By the time this article is published, the www.qsen.org Web- site will be populated with dozens of beginning ideas for teaching the development of the QSEN competen- cies in classrooms, clinical settings, and skills/simula- tion labs. We invite the profession to use, critique, and continuously improve the KSAs, submit strategies to the QSEN Website, and share what is learned as we attempt, each in our own way, to create a future where nurses are prepared with the competencies called for in the IOM Health Professions Education1 report. As the most trusted profession, we owe ourselves and our patients nothing less.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the following QSEN faculty and Advisory Board members for their contributions to the development of the competency definitions and KSAs: Paul Batalden, MD, (Dartmouth); Geraldine Bednash, PhD, RN, FAAN, (American Asso- ciation of Colleges of Nursing); Jean Blackwell, MLS (UNC-Chapel Hill); Lisa Day, PhD, RN (UC-San Francisco); Karen Drenkard, PhD, RN, CNAA, (Inova Health System); Carol Durham, EdD(c), MSN, RN, (UNC-Chapel Hill); Leslie Hall, MD (U Missouri-Columbia); Pamela Ironside, PhD, RN, FAAN, (Indiana University); Mary (Polly) Johnson, MSN, RN, FAAN (NC Board of Nursing); Maryjoan Ladden, PhD, RN, (Harvard); Shirley Moore, PhD, RN, FAAN, (Case Western Reserve University); Audrey Nelson, PhD, RN, FAAN (Veterans Administration-Tampa); Elaine Smith EdD(c), MBA, MSN, RN, CNAA (UNC-Chapel Hill); M. Elaine Tagliareni, EdD, RN (Community College of Philadelphia). Quality and Safety Education for Nurses is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Principal Investigator, Linda R. Cronen- wett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

REFERENCES 1. Institute of Medicine. Health professions education: A

bridge to quality. Washington, DC: National Academies

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