Measurement Tools for Quality Assurance for Nurse Practitioners

Nurse practitioners are advanced-practice nurses who completed graduate-level education and training in the medical management of diseases. They must hold national certifications in the specialty they practice -- whether it is family practice, pediatrics, adult care or acute care -- and are licensed through state nursing boards. Quality assurance allows nurse practitioners to meet patient health expectations in the medical outcomes related to care provided. Some areas that need to be monitored are patient-care issues such as health management, wound care, pharmacological prescribing to meet illness needs, patient satisfaction and infection control.

Pressure Ulcers

• Determining types of pressure ulcers is necessary to provide proper treatment. Poor identification can lead to increased medical costs, further destruction of tissues and ultimately death. Medicare criteria for identification of pressure ulcers that all nurse practitioners should use -- for clinical and billing purposes -- is developed by the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel; tools for identification are found at npuap.org.

Infection Control

• A nurse practitioner should perform a review of policies and procedures to ensure infections are identified, treated and not spread. The Centers for Disease Control has developed learning aids and quality assurance tools related to preventing the spread of infections at cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp.

Drug Interactions

• Taking a patient's medical history and physical are necessary to identify any medications a patient is receiving. All medications -- including over-the-counter, herbal and vitamins -- should be disclosed during the patient's initial history portion of the quality-assurance proceess. Numerous drugs react poorly -- and some are life threatening -- if mixed with another type of drug. After the full medication profile is compiled the nurse practitioner should reference her drug book of choice for policy and procedures or contact a pharmacist to ensure prescribing of medication in a safe manner.