Nurses Push for Increased Patient Engagement
Nursing leaders have unveiled an ambitious plan to push the profession to dramatically improve care delivery by making nursing even more attuned to patients.
Released by the Nursing Alliance for Quality Care (NAQC), Fostering Successful Patient and Family Engagement: Nursing’s Critical Role calls for supporting nurses in increasing patient engagement and supporting patients and their families in meeting the challenges of making health and health care decisions.
“Nurses are the eyes and ears of the health care system-the most trusted of all health care professionals-and patients rely on nurses to be their advocates and safety nets,” said Mary Jean Schumann, executive director of the Nursing Alliance for Quality Care. “Through more complete and effective patient engagement we can prevent harm, reduce readmissions and improve patient safety. The cross-cutting role played by nurses across most settings, provides the profession with the strategic leverage to change not only nurses’ own practices but also transform health care delivery in the direction of person-centered care.”
The paper outlines a strategic plan encompassing six areas of opportunity that are essential to transforming patient engagement. These include:
1. Ensuring that nursing education emphasizes patient engagement.
2. Amplifying the professional standing of nurses as champions for patient engagement.
3. Strengthening support for nurses as advocates in the care environment of patients.
4. Aligning payment incentives to encourage patient engagement.
5. Enforcing regulatory expectation and standards that support patient engagement principles in practice.
6. Intensifying efforts to conduct and disseminate research on patient engagement.
“It is imperative that the nursing profession strongly commit to patient engagement,” said Pamela Thompson, NAQC Board member and chief executive officer of the American Organization of Nurse Executives. “Together we represent every patient care setting and every population. By coming together to provide a strong commitment to this plan, we can transform the way health care is delivered, ensure that patients are at the center of care, and that they receive the highest quality of care possible.”
The paper was developed through a national consensus process, including input from a panel of national nursing experts, a national conference and the NAQC board of directors and staff. The white paper builds on the Guiding Principles of Patient Engagement that was released in July 2012. The development of the white paper, and the organization, is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest health care philanthropy. The project was also supported by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
NAQC, an alliance funded through a combination of grants, membership dues and program fees, is based at The George Washington University School of Nursing in Washington, D.C.