Background: Nurses play a pivotal role in improving patient care. To maximize nurses' impact on quality, nurses must have quality improvement (QI) competence and engage fully in QI initiatives.
Purpose: To describe QI competence (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) among frontline nurses and leaders; and compare variations in competence among nursing roles, experience, and specialty areas.
Methods: A total of 681 nurses at one heath system fully completed the Nursing Quality Improvement Practice tool electronically.
Findings: Half of the respondents reported QI engagement (53.6%). Mean knowledge scores were 5.08 (SD 1.16, 7 items). Skill proficiency was low (M = 2.82, SD = 1.03; range 1-6) although QI attitudes were favorable (M = 3.76, SD = 0.63; range 1-5). Significant differences in skills and attitudes were identified by role. QI competence among nurses employed in various specialty areas were similar.
Discussion: Strategies for increasing QI competence and engagement of nurses must be created and deployed in order to improve quality and safety.
Keywords: Attitudes; Competence; Front line nurses; Knowledge; Leadership; Nurse engagement; Quality improvement; Skills.
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