Glasgow Plays Key Role in Ireland’s New Nursing, Midwifery Quality-Care Standards

School of Nursing Dean Dr. Mary Ellen Glasgow played an important role in the development of a new standard set of quality-care metrics recently introduced in Ireland for nurses and midwives.

The Nursing and Midwifery Quality-Care Metrics were developed by Health Service Executive Ireland. Launched this summer, they were established to assist Irish health care organizations assess the extent to which nursing and midwifery interventions have an impact on patient safety, quality and professional work environments. In addition, the quality-care metrics will help nurses and midwives gauge their contributions to care that is safe, beneficial, patient-centered and efficient.

As part of the National Nursing and Midwifery Quality-Care Metrics Project Team, Glasgow reviewed and contributed to the set of quality metrics and, in 2016, was asked to be the international external reviewer of the project.

“How do you measure whether what you’re doing is of great quality if there aren’t standards or if you don’t know the key metrics that can be improved,” Glasgow said. “We began by looking at every specialty in the country and did research studies with nurses to determine the most important items from each specialty that should be measured.”

Glasgow, whose work as a Robert Wood Johnson fellow included quality and safety metrics, also provided feedback. Among the numerous metrics determined to be measured are nursing documentation, style of nurse management, work environment and mental health assessments.

“Without standards, there can be no improvement,” Glasgow said. “You need to have a culture that is open to improving quality and not one of blame if there is an error. A ‘just culture’ is one in which people are encouraged to report errors for the patient’s sake, one where people are comfortable enough to say ‘we need to do this better’ or ‘we had a near mistake because there’s distraction in this area.’”

Glasgow gave a presentation on the importance of having standards, metrics and a “Just Culture” in Cork, Ireland, at the June 26 launch of the new quality-care metrics.

In the School of Nursing, students participate in simulations that emphasize the importance of safety in patient care. “The simulation is kind of a dress rehearsal,” Glasgow said. “They can actually watch a video of their simulation, see what they have done and debrief with faculty. They can then integrate what they have learned into their own clinical experience.”