Outcomes measurement in healthcare. New imperatives for professional nursing practice.

Quality of healthcare is measurable and nurses in all settings are increasingly being expected to actively participate in identifying and measuring patient outcomes. To do so requires an understanding of the tools and processes currently being used to measure the quality of healthcare in this country. This article provides an overview of current efforts in the healthcare field to develop a shared outcome language and standardized national quality indicators. The challenges professional nurses face in identifying and measuring nursing-sensitive patient outcomes and the responsibility to use that data to shape nursing practice are emphasized.