Satisfaction with managed care.

This article reports the findings of 1996, 1997, and 1998 patient satisfaction surveys administered to managed care enrollees in Utah. More than 14,000 managed care enrollees (both Medicaid and commercial) were selected randomly and contacted by telephone. The 38-question survey was based on Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) measures.

Integration of nurse executives into executive level administration in Utah hospitals.

Nurse executives (NEs) in Utah acute care hospitals perceive that they are integrated into executive level administration. This perception is shared by NEs' career supporters and hinderers. To integrate NEs, influential colleagues used active methods, especially involvement.

Room at the top?

Nurse executives have joined hospital administrative teams, but are they accepted as fully integrated team executives? Learn how nurse executives and their influential colleagues view integration and its influences.

Implementing differentiated practice: personal values and work satisfaction among hospital staff nurses.

This project was part of a collaborative model for nursing staff development and student education. Personal values and work satisfaction of 49 staff nurses working on three hospital units were compared. One of the units employed differentiated practice.

Using an interview guide to identify effective nurse managers: phase II, outcomes.

The investigators report validation of a survey tool called the Interview Guide to assist in the selection of nurses who will be effective as managers. Nurse administrators rated nurse managers at six months and two years after hire. The Interview Guide rated the management qualities "seeing the big picture" and potential for "rehire" as the best predictors of managerial success.

Implementing a caring model to improve patient satisfaction.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of implementing a Caring Model on patient satisfaction.

Background: Patient satisfaction has become an important indicator of quality care and financial success of healthcare institutions. Acknowledging the importance of nurse caring behaviors and the impact on patient satisfaction has been relatively recent.

Effectiveness of nurse executives: measurement of role factors and attitudes.

This article describes the outcome of a survey of 40 nurse executives and 56 influential colleagues. Both groups agreed that leadership was the most important quality for the executive role. The nurses' primary focus was resolution of patient care problems.

Elderly patients' perceptions of care in the emergency department.

Objective: Patients' perceptions and satisfaction are areas of growing concern in health care research, but little has been reported from the perspective of elderly persons. The purpose of this study was to describe elderly patients' perceptions of care in the emergency department.

Methods: A qualitative, descriptive study design was used.

Nurse executives' leadership roles. Perceptions of incumbents and influential colleagues.

The authors present a leadership profile of employed nurse executives (NEs). Interviews and survey data show that the typical NE is a married, middle-aged woman who has a masters degree in clinical nursing and extensive clinical experience. When comparing NEs' and influential colleagues' perceptions of the effectiveness of NEs leadership skills, the former rate themselves higher than the latter, and both groups perceive that NEs' leadership styles are more "task motivated" than "relationship motivated.

Hospital CEOs, CFOs, and nurse executives: opportunities for a new alliance.

This article examines the involvement of Utah acute care hospital nurse executives (NEs) in financial management roles. The authors surveyed NEs and their career supporters and hinderers. Findings suggest that NFs: 1.

The national Healing Web partnership. An innovative model to improve health.

The authors describe the Healing Web, a partnership between nursing service and education that encourages the best use of nurses education clinical experience and personal competencies. Based on differentiated practice and education of nursing students in multi-level roles the Healing Web partnership is demonstrating at multiple institutions, that education and nursing service can work collaboratively to position the profession of nursing for maximum effectiveness in the 21st century.

Care coordination in an academic medical center.

Care coordination/case management models provide a method to measure expenditures within the context of health-care outcomes. High costs are predictable in a high skill, technology-intensive service industry such as academic medical centers. A care-coordination model provides a means to reduce the cost per case and influence patient satisfaction.

Nurse/physician collaborative practice: improving health care quality while decreasing cost.

Significant variations and inconsistency in both the physician's and nurse's approach to the treatment of neonates with a "rule-out sepsis" (R/O sepsis) diagnosis is seen as both high cost and low quality. Because R/O sepsis is seen as a diagnostic dilemma for practicing clinicians, there has been a widespread tendency to readily initiate antibiotic treatment, without adequate consideration of the high financial and morbidity costs associated with the complications of treating the noninfected infant. This study demonstrates that the use of an agreed upon risk profile facilitated the collaborative standardization of diagnosis and treatment of the R/O sepsis patient, improved quality, and reduced costs (by minimizing over treatment) without increasing risk.

How to critique a research study.

The article presents guidelines for nurses who must evaluate research reports and interpret authors' findings. The described strategy is particularly useful for advanced practice nurses who seek practical outcomes that are applicable to their clinical practice.

Patient perceptions of nursing care: an emerging theory of interpersonal competence.

Nurse-patient interactions were examined to identify elements of interpersonal competence among nurses from the perspective of patients. Forty patients and 12 nurses participated in this qualitative study at a private acute care hospital. Two-hundred and forty-five observations were completed.

Using an interview guide to identify effective nurse managers. Phase 1, Qualitative tool construction and testing.

Hiring effective nurse managers is key to the success of today's healthcare institutions. The authors describe the development of a pre-employment interview guide to assist in the selection process of nurse managers. Characteristics and competencies of effective nurse managers are delineated from the qualitative data.

Setting standards and evaluating nursing performance with a single tool.

Establishing standards for the desired quality of nursing care requires identifying clear expectations for professional practice and evaluating related performance by objective, quantifiable criteria. The authors describe development of a job description/evaluation tool, the analysis of that process, and the initial findings of pilot testing.

Nursing costs/DRG: a patient classification system and comparative study.

This study establishes the actual cost of nursing care for 13 diagnosis related groups (DRGs) at one hospital and relates them, within the limits of available statistics, to other published data. The impact of acuity levels involving both direct and indirect factors in nursing and of "outliers" is emphasized as critical in working within the preset reimbursement schedule of DRGs. More clearly defining these highly variable components of nursing care costs can assist nurse administrators to determine inadequate practice patterns and, by revising them, to decrease costs.