Quality assurance and the critical care nurse

Care of the critically ill has become increasingly challenging due to demands from external sources to measure the quality and appropriateness of care provided. Quality assurance is the responsibility of every critical care nurse and requires vigilance as well as a knowledge of the principles of standards, monitoring and evaluation. Through quality assurance activities, the contribution of critical care nurses in the achievement of patient outcomes can be measured. Quality assurance challenges us to evaluate the way we practice, and assists us to continuously improve the way we provide care to critically ill patients.