Capturing Data and Measuring Progress State-wide

Purpose:   Data on Utah’s nursing profession is critical to measuring our state’s progress in meeting the Institute of Medicine’s goals on the future of nursing.  Prior to 2013, there was no centralized tracking of nursing data and data was collected ad hoc by different groups for varying purposes.  A Nursing Data Center was needed to house the nursing data and to update the data being collected on a timely basis.  At the same time, implementing nurse residency programs in Utah was identified as the number one priority by the Utah Action Coalition for Health (UACH).   UACH members hypothesized that nurse residency programs would reduce the nursing turnover rate, increase job satisfaction, and improve the skill level of newly graduated nurses.   A data collection system had to be developed that was easy for nurses to use and collected key metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the nurse residency programs. 

Background/Rationale/Best Practices:  In 2014, the Utah State Legislature approved the creation of the Utah Nurse Data Center as part of the Utah Medical Education Council (UMEC).   The Utah Nurse Data Center was created through broad-based efforts of the state nursing associations convincing legislators of the need for a centralized nursing data repository.    With the support of UACH, UMEC has expanded their analytic capabilities and applied for the designation as the nationally recognized Utah Nurse Data Center.  The Utah Nurse Data Center has developed data sets for the RN and APRN profiles in Utah, including supply and demand data.    

To collect data on the effectiveness of the nurse residency program, a data collection system “REDCap”, based on a model by Vanderbilt University, was used to track nurse demographics, job satisfaction and skill competencies.  A nationally recognized survey tool, the Casey-Fink scale, was used to track the above variables.  This data system, easy to use by nurse residents, has provided Utah with a wealth of data on nurse residency program outcomes.

Outcomes Achieved:   Utah now has a wealth of statewide nursing data, housed in the UMEC Nursing Data Center,  capturing RN and APRN analytics in the following areas:  1)existing supply and pipeline data, 2) current workforce profile and projected workforce needs.  The nurse residency programs currently have data on nurse residents’ demographic profiles, Casey-Fink data at baseline, 6 months, and annually, and evaluation of nurse resident’s competencies by their assigned preceptors at 6 months and annually.

Conclusions/Implications for Clinical and Educational Practices:   To create a statewide repository for the RN and APRN data necessitated a centralized data source be created that was recognized and sanctioned by the Utah State Legislature.    Different agencies could provide this function in other states as long as broad-based support from the state’s nursing organizations was achieved.  To demonstrate the effectiveness of nurse residency programs, a simple to use data system, such as REDCap, is essential to a sound data collection system.