NURSING HOME QUALITY INDICATORS DISSEMINATION CONFERENCE

Foundation For Long Term Care, Albany NY

Investigators

Abstract

The FLTC proposes a dissemination conference in a train-the-trainer format for nurse managers to advance education and understanding of the practical applications of health outcomes research in the nursing home setting. The purpose of the conference is to educate nurse managers in nursing homes on: (1) home to use quality indicators based on minimum data set (MDS), the comprehensive uniform assessment instrument for nursing home residents, to result in improved quality of care for nursing home residents; and, (2) how to train others to do so. Participants in this conference will be nominated by their peers. The FLTC possesses great expertise in nursing home quality indicators (QIs) based on the MDs. To assure that we disseminate this expertise in a way that is useful to practitioners, we will convene a project advisory board which will include clinical specialists from the two major nursing home associations in New York state and representative directors of nursing in long term care. We plan a one-and-a-half day train-the-trainer conference, which will provide a workable, systematic process for using MDS QI data in real- world cases of problem identification, evaluation, resolution and ongoing quality improvement. Nursing staff will learn what the numbers mean, how to read and interpret the reports, how to use the information to target real problem areas, how to make nursing homes responsive to these problem areas most importantly of all how to make this information accessible to other nurse managers so that this dissemination conference has a multiplier effect.