Quality Assurance & Standards Flashcards

Which organization publishes the foundational Scope and Standards of Practice that parish nurses use to benchmark their care quality?

Answer: American Nurses Association (ANA)

The ANA, in collaboration with the Health Ministry Association, publishes the Scope and Standards of Practice for faith community nursing.

A parish nurse wants to measure whether her blood pressure screening program is effective. Which quality indicator is MOST direct?

Answer: Percentage of participants achieving controlled BP at 6-month follow-up

Outcome indicators like controlled blood pressure at follow-up directly measure the health impact of the intervention.

What does a 'process standard' evaluate in faith community nursing quality assurance?

Answer: How nursing care activities are carried out

Process standards evaluate how care is delivered, such as whether assessment, planning, and intervention follow accepted protocols.

During a quality review, a parish nurse finds that only 40% of home visit notes are completed within 24 hours per policy. The BEST next step is to:

Answer: Identify barriers to timely documentation and develop an improvement plan

Quality improvement requires identifying root causes of gaps and creating structured plans to address them.

Which ethical principle is MOST directly supported by quality assurance activities in parish nursing?

Answer: Nonmaleficence

Quality assurance helps ensure care does not harm congregants, directly upholding the principle of nonmaleficence (do no harm).

A faith community nursing program decides to use the Donabedian model for quality assessment. Which triad does this model evaluate?

Answer: Structure, Process, Outcome

Donabedian's model evaluates quality through three lenses: the structure of care, the processes of care, and the outcomes of care.

A parish nurse documents a congregant's refusal of a referral to mental health services. This documentation PRIMARILY serves which quality assurance purpose?

Answer: Legal accountability and continuity of care

Documenting informed refusal protects legal accountability and ensures future caregivers understand the congregant's stated wishes.