Quality and Safety Education

for Nurses (QSEN)

Krishanda Decker, RN
Brooke Heater, RN
Sarah Knoll, RN
Brittany Pharo, RN

What is Quality and Safety Education

for Nurses?

It is a project started to prepare future nurses with the

proper knowledge, skills and attitude (KSAs) for quality
and safety for the healthcare areas they will be working
for (About QSEN, 2012).

Who Founded QSEN?

QSEN began in 2005.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
funded the project by contributing $590,000
Led by Dr. Linda Cronenwett
The project had three phases between 2005 and 2012.

Phase 1

An interdisciplinary team formed key concepts to be

implemented in nursing programs to improve quality
and safety of the nursing field.

Phase 2

Fifteen schools assimilated the six competencies into

their current classrooms, labs and clinical curriculums.
Monitoring of these pilot schools was performed to
evaluate this new curriculum's effectiveness and
develop and test teaching strategies

Phase 3

Building on the first phases, two grants were

awarded to continue the development and evaluation
of methods to assess student learning associated
with six competencies. One grant was given to
University of North Carolina and the other to
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

Initiatives

Pre licensure competencies were defined and given targets for

KSAs.
Completed national surveys to see if people believe the
competencies are included in current curricula. The surveys also
gauged the level of satisfaction with student competency
achievement and gauged the level of faculty expertise in
teaching the competencies.
Drafts of proposed KSAs and targets for graduate education
were made with help from representatives of organizations that
represent advanced practice nurses.
Funded work with 15 pilot schools who committed to active
engagement in curricular change to incorporate quality and
safety competencies (About QSEN, 2012).

Six Competencies

Patient-centered Care
Teamwork & Collaboration
Evidence-based Practice
Quality Improvement
Safety
Informatics

Patient-Centered Care

Patient-centered care focuses on the patient and the

individuals particular health care needs. The goal of
patient-centered health care is to empower patients
to become active participants in their care. (Reynolds,
2009)

Teamwork and collaboration

Function effectively within nursing and interprofessional teams, fostering open communication,
mutual respect, and shared decision-making to
achieve quality patient care. (Nursing, 2012)

Quality Improvement

Use of data to monitor the outcomes of care

processes and use improvement methods to design
and test changes to continuously improve the quality
and safety of healthcare systems. (Nursing, 2012)

Evidence Based Practice

Integration of best current evidence with clinical

expertise and patient/family preferences and values
for delivery of optimal health care.

Safety

Minimize risk of harm to patients and providers

through both system effectiveness and individual
performance. (Nursing, 2012)

Informatics

Use information and technology to communicate,

manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support
decision making. (Institute, 2012)

QSEN has continuously strived to bridge the gap

between practice and academia to develop
practitioners who are knowledgeable and capable in
demonstrating these critical competencies. (Brown,
Feller, & Benedict, 2010)

Short QSEN video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-LzIlm2b2U

How can Nurses bridge this gap in

our day to day practice?

Put your patient first.

GET INVOLVED!
Know the policies and procedures for your unit.
Utilize your resources (books, computers, charts,
physicians, each other)
Attend seminars and educational forums.
Check, check, check your work.

2013 QSEN National Forum

The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN)

National Forum is designed to attract innovators and
nurture faculty and nursing leaders for the improvement of
quality and safety education through sharing of:
Innovations in curricular design and teaching strategies
that accomplish QSEN competency development
Research related to quality and safety education in prelicensure, advanced practice programs, and clinical practice
http://qsen.org/conferences/2013-qsen-national-forum/

In my current practice area of medical/surgical nursing,

QSEN practice standards influence my nursing practice
by allowing me to feel comfortable and prepared with
the patients I take care of. Im able to give quality care
and do it safely with the knowledge, skills, and attitude
that QSEN promotes. Brooke Heater, RN

 Quality and safety education plays in integral role in

my nursing capacity as I have learned through the
educators at Spectrum Health to triple check my work
before administering any form of treatment to my
patient. It may have evoked a scare tactic but I feel
confident that I am practicing safely and within my
scope of practice. Sarah Knoll, RN

The practice standards set forth by QSEN influence the way

nursing students are taught with the focus on safety and quality.
The goal is to decrease health care errors, and focus on patients
overall safety. In my current position as an emergency department
nurse, the QSEN practice standards influence my nursing by
incorporating continuing education for safety and quality nursing
practices. Also, as my individual education continues, the
competencies set forth by QSEN continue to be included. A large
component of continue education is evidence based practice. This
is changing the overall care of patients based on actual studies
proving the effectiveness or in-effectiveness of certain aspects of
care and I foresee that it will over my career. Krishanda Decker

"In my position as an Emergency Department nurse, I try to encourage my

patients to feel like we are partners in his or her care. I take the time to
listen to his or her question and explain what I'm doing. Nobody comes to
the ER because they're feeling well, but by following the QSEN practice
standards I am providing my patients with safe, quality care and I am
constantly striving to make my patients' ER experience the best that it can
be." - Brittany Pharo, RN

References
About QSEN. (2012). Retrieved April 22, 2013, from QSEN Institute website:
http://qsen.org/about-qsen/
Brown R., Feller L., Benedict L., 2010. Reframing nursing education: the quality
and safety education for nurses initiative. Journal of Nursing Education. 5. P 115118.: doi: 10.3928/01484834-20091113-10
Hawk, A. (N.D.). Qualtity and safety education in Nursing. Retrieved April 26, 2013
from www.ehow.com/facts_7392552_quality-safety-education-nursing.html.
Institute, Q. (2010). QSEN Informational Video, part 2. Retrieved from youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-LzIlm2b2U
Nursing, A. C. (2012). QSEN Competencies: Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes.
Retrieved from QSEN Education Consortium:
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/faculty/qsen/competencies.pdf
Reynolds, A. (2009). Patient Centered Care. American Society of Radiologic
Technologists, 81(2), 133-147.