title: Nurses' accountability for stroke quality of care: part one: Review of the literature on nursing-sensitive patient outcomes.
abstract: Over the past decade, an exciting area of research has emerged that demonstrates strong links between specific nursing care activities and patient outcomes. This body of research has resulted in the identification of a set of "nursing-sensitive outcomes"(NSOs). These NSOs may be interpreted with more meaning when they are linked to evidence-based best practice guidelines, which provide a structured means of ensuring care is consistent among all health care team members, across geographic locations, and across care settings. Uptake of evidence-based best practices at the point of care has been shown to have a measurable positive impact on processes of care and patient outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic, narrative review of the literature regarding the clinical effectiveness of nursing management strategies on stroke patient outcomes sensitive to nursing interventions. Subsequent investigation will explore current applications of nursing-sensitive outcomes to patients with stroke, and identify and validate measurable NSOs within stroke care delivery.
authors.affiliation: University of Calgary, Calgary Stroke Program, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, AB. greentl@ucalgary.ca
authors.forename: Theresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kelloway
authors.forename: Corrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Davies-Schinkel
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: M Patrice
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Lindsay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D020521:Stroke / Q000451:nursing*