The process of change in nursing audit

Abstract

This article reviews the current literature on change in nursing audit in order to develop a strategy for nursing staff. It suggests that the model for change will affect the nature of the measurement phase of audit, and proposes that an open systems model be adopted and a change agent incorporated to manage the audit cycle.

An evaluation of the quality of nursing care in orthopaedic units

“…Miller-Keane (1992) considers audit to be a systematic review and evaluation of records and other data to determine the quality of services or products in a given situation. Auditing involves a cycle of activity which includes the systematic review of practice, identification of problems, and possible solutions, implementation of the change, and is followed by further review (Malby, 1992). Bailit et al (1975) state that the most important factor in improvement of the quality of care is that quality is, in fact, being evaluated (cited from Chance, 1997).…”

Review : Maintaining and measuring quality care: a discussion of the Maxwell Approach

“…Many other groups feel that they know what is best, and if midwives and nurses fail to take the initiative, measures will be imposed upon them by external authorities (Girvin, 1990;Mackenzie, 1992;Malby, 1992), as also forecasted in reviews of the Griffiths Report (Griffiths, 1983). In the past, external factors have impinged upon or eroded the nurse's role and place in the organisation (Auld, 1992).…”

Changing surgical practice through feedback of performance data

“…The authors state that in part this is because effecting change is not a clear aim of many audit studies, which merely document suboptimal care or make general recommendations. In order to undertake a comprehensive audit, an understanding of the planning and process of change is essential, as is an understanding of the climate in which creative solutions to problems identified by audit can be reached (Malby 1992). Changing practice through audit is commonly attempted by feedback of performance data measured by the audit.…”

“…It has been suggested by Malby (1992) that audit might be considered to be normative re‐educative in approach if the feedback process is active. Here, active feedback is defined as a process whereby the interest of health care workers is engaged in a particular aspect or aspects of practice, with the information forming a basis for discussion, education or standard setting (Mugford et al .…”