Older patients make up the largest proportion of acute hospital inpatient populations across all countries. Common hospital acquired adverse events in this group contribute to higher healthcare costs, lower quality care, and less satisfactory patient experiences overall. Pneumonia, delirium, urinary tract infections and pressure injuries are four commonly acquired complications which occur in older patients, known collectively as ‘Failure to Maintain (F2M)’ events. These are nurse-sensitive patient outcomes, predominantly affected by the quality of nursing care provided. When essential nursing care is Msed or incomplete, the risk of developing one of these adverse events increases. Despite the prevalence of these preventable events, they are neither well documented nor reported, and therefore can be overlooked by those concerned with measuring patient outcomes, thus limiting the potential for improved outcomes.
In this study we will determine how these nurse sensitive outcomes are currently represented in rountinely available national discharge (HIPE) data in Ireland and verify rates through a chart review in one hospital. Through the development of this key set of nurse sensitive indicators, ongoing and sustainable measurement of these outcomes can occur after the lifetime of the project. The cost of these events to the Irish health service will be calculated. Through surveys we will further examine the human costs of Msed care to both patients and care givers, and propose ways that ongoing measurements can enhance patient safety and quality of care. This project offers a smart, scalable and sustainable solution to a contemporary healthcare challenge, and enables opportunities for benchmarking of important and costly nurse sensitive events along with a practical quality improvement initiative in acute hospitals in Ireland.
