What can nurses learn from their patients in developing a learning culture to improve quality of care?

There is a movement toward delivering more appropriate care. Nurses can contribute to this by developing a learning culture focused on quality improvement that incorporates evidence-based practice and patient needs. These insights come from the research that is part of the ZonMw project Improve! and the PhD program of Jeltje Giesen (IQ Health). Ilse Timmerman (Department of Psychiatry, Radboudumc) participated as part of her graduation research.

Patient participation is very important in nursing care and essential for providing appropriate care. It contributes to the quality of care and has proven to have a positive impact on patient outcomes. Despite nurses' empathetic and compassionate approach, patients' wishes are not yet adequately considered in Evidence-Based Practice (EBP), quality improvements or learning activities. To ensure good and future-proof nursing care, a shift to continuous quality improvement based on EBP, also known as Evidence-Based Quality Improvement (EBQI), is necessary. Including patient opinion is important in this, to create a sustainable learning culture in which nurses work with their patients to improve care.

Through qualitative research on two hospital wards and in a district care team, insights were gained into patients' needs and desires regarding their involvement in care processes. These insights can contribute to the development of an EBQI learning culture within nursing teams. A total of 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients, which were analyzed using the Fundamentals of Care Framework. The analysis revealed that patients need proactive nurses who provide them with clear, honest and appropriate information and involve them in shared decision-making. This type of information delivery prevents a disturbed care relationship and patient mistrust, which is often difficult to repair.

The insights gained are important when nurses implement changes in care. Meeting patients' needs is essential for successful implementation of quality improvements and contributes to the development of a learning culture within nursing teams.

Giesen J, Timmerman I, Bakker-Jacobs A, Berings M, Huisman-de Waal G, Van

Vught A, Vermeulen H. What can nurses learn from patient's needs and wishes when developing an evidence‐based quality improvement learning culture? A qualitative study - Giesen - 2024 - Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences - Wiley Online Library. Scand J Caring Sci. 2024 Mar 25. doi: 10.1111/scs.13252. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38525853.