Feasibility of using the Omaha System to represent Nurse Coaching practice

Abstract

ObjectivesNurse coaching is an important strategy for improving the health of populations. Effective interventions for nurse coaching (NC) practice, fair value outcome measurements, and standardization of terms have yet to be determined. As healthcare systems adopt electronic medical records and as nurse coaching practice evolves, it is important to capture and identify NC interventions. The long-term goal is to improve patient-centered practice by using standardized interface terminology and to examine the feasibility of using the Omaha System to represent NC practice. The three aims were to evaluate content validity of NC case studies, test accuracy of NC graduates identifying Omaha System terms for NC interventions, and explore the feasibility of analyzing NC case study data. DesignThis survey research evaluated NC case studies that were developed for this study by the first author and mapped to Omaha System intervention terms. SampleSurveys were emailed to 400 graduates of two nurse coach education programs. Nurse Coaches self-reported little to no experience using standardized terminologies for documentation. MeasuresThe Omaha System was used to describe the interventions found in the NC case studies. ResultsAcross the three case studies, 95.7% of NCs agreed that the case studies were realistic, and 89.3% agreed that they would use similar interventions; NCs identified Omaha System interventions for the case studies accurately 84.3% of the time, and feasibility of analyzing NC practice data was demonstrated through use of case study data in aggregate. ConclusionThe Omaha System has potential for use as a NC documentation tool and should be considered for development of a standardized, evidence-based guideline for NC practice.