Professional Accountability Governance

Every nurse has the opportunity to make a positive impact on the profession through day-to-day advocacy for nurses and the nursing profession. In this article the author defines advocacy; describes advocacy skills every nurse can employ to advocate for a safe and healthy work environment; and explains how nurses can advocate for nursing as part of their daily activity whether they are point-of-care nurses, nurse managers, or nurse educators. The advocacy practices discussed are applicable whether advocating on one’s own behalf, for colleagues at the unit level, or for issues at the organizational or system level.

This framework is intended to guide decision-making about staff mix through four phases: assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. Staff mix decision-making is an ongoing process, and the evaluation of outcomes will continually provide new insights and, possibly, the need for adjustments.

 

The framework outlines key client factors, staff factors, organizational factors and outcome indicators to be considered when assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating staff mix decisions. The list of factors and outcomes is not exhaustive, and not every practice setting will include all types of care providers that are identified.

The aims of this paper are to present the findings from a discursive analysis of key issues associated with providing excellence in nursing care; and to provide an exemplar framework to support excellence in nursing care and describe the potential benefits when excellence in nursing care occurs.