Capacity and competence: nurse credentialing and privileging.

Ideally, patient needs are carefully matched with nursing skills, but despite the use of tools such as patient classification systems, matching needs with capabilities remains problematic. To effectively confront this problem, hospitals have a model to manage professionals with disparate education, training and experience--the medical staff credentialing and privileging program. Although adaptation of this model requires a significant cultural change for most nursing departments, it offers the benefits of fostering professionalism and increasing accountability in addition to better meeting patient care needs. In return for their initial investment, nurse executives may see results that include a more responsive, professional staff and increased customer satisfaction, both internal and external.