Direct Care Nursing News

February 9, 2009 

Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence 

Statewide Committee Assembled to Study the Effectiveness of Nurse Involvement

DENVER – A statewide committee has been assembled to plan a research study on the effectiveness of nurse involvement in decision-making. The committee is an outgrowth of the Governor’s Task Force on Nurse Workforce and Patient Care which examined critical nursing issues in Colorado, including nurse staffing and retention of nurses in hospital settings. 

Sen. Betty Boyd and Rep Jack Pommer sponsored Senate Bill 08-188 that legislated the statewide research study.  The planning phase will last six months through February 6, 2009, followed by 18 months of study. The statewide study will be guided by prominent nursing work environment researcher, Dr Janet Houser from Regis University.  The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence is serving as the administrator for the project.

Colorado’s study is unique in that it will help determine how to best include and involve direct care nurses in decisions that affect them in their ability to provide patient care. The Governor’s Task Force recognized the importance of an evidence based approach to inform public policy and to fully understand the complexity of the nursing work environment.  Their recommendations were supported by the Colorado General Assembly, which also partially funded the study. 

Since nurses are the heart of patient care delivery, the study will focus on the direct care nurse, the front line nurse who works at the patient’s bedside to deliver patient care. Direct care nurses are members of the planning committee and also will be involved in all phases of the research. The study also must examine nurse’s involvement at the unit level, where care is directly provided.

Another distinction of Colorado’s approach is the broad representation by key stakeholder organizations on the planning committee.  The 14- member Pilot Program Implementation Committee (PPIC) – which is the formal name of the committee, includes representation from: 

·          Colorado Hospital Association,

·          Colorado Organization of Nurse Leaders,

·          Service Employees International Union (SEIU),

·          Colorado Council on Nursing Education,

·          Colorado Nurses Association,

·          Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence,

·          Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment,

·          Two direct care nurses appointed by the Governor.

Staff nurses are represented in the group through two appointments from the Governor’s office as well as with the representatives from SEIU.  The Governor’s appointees are:  Lysa ErkenBrack and Lydia Handberry

The committee is charged with formulating guiding principles to develop and implement a pilot program for hospitals and their direct-care nurses to model professional nursing practice involvement in the decision-making process in planning for staffing and other issues.  The pilot program will investigate the effective participation of direct care nurses in decision-making processes at the unit and hospital level.  The committee will develop recommendations for best practices and implementation strategies.

The legislative declaration in the bill noted that the general assembly identified five reasons for the establishment of the committee:

·         Evidence indicates that involving nurses in decision-making that affects nursing practice is beneficial.

·         Nursing participation needs to be evident at both the organizational level and at the direct care or unit level.

·         Nurses, in providing direct care, have critical information and knowledge to provide in planning for patient care and they need to be key participants in the planning process.

·         The nursing work environment includes multiple factors that impact nursing satisfaction and care.

·         The identification of an effective model or models for professional nursing practice involvement in decision-making and planning for staffing and other issues related to patient care has to have demonstrated value and efficacy before implementation on a larger scale.

The committee is being co-chaired by Fran Ricker, (Executive Director Colorado Nurses Association) and Carolyn Sanders (Associate CNO – University of Colorado Hospital and Colorado Hospital Association representative.) Two professors from Regis University’s Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions (RHCHP) have been named to lead the research study.  Dr. Janet Houser, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development in RHCHP, was named primary investigator/research advisor for the study.  Dr. Phyllis Graham-Dickerson, a professor in the RHCHP Loretto Heights Department of Nursing, was named the implementation team leader. Dr Joyce Verran, Fellow at the University of Colorado Denver College of Nursing will serve as an expert research consultant and external reviewer.

Contacts:

 Carolyn Sanders

(Office) 720-848-7841

carolyn.sanders@uch.edu