Standard Work for Nurse Leaders: A Quality Improvement Project

Providing role clarity and defining the standard work of nursing leaders is essential to reduce burnout, increase the quality of care provided, and ensure there is an adequate supply of qualified nurse leaders (Kelly & Adams, 2018; Seichter, 2018).Standard work is the established best and most reliable method and sequence of work to minimize waste and maximize performance providing routine and structure to create clear expectations for the nurse leader (Thomas Jackson, 2012). The additional responsibilities of leadership can lead to burnout, and the risk is further perpetuated when a leader does not effectively understand the complexities of their role (Kelly & Adams, 2018). Nurse leaders are critical to a healthy work environment as they can unintentionally create a trickle-down effect on those with whom they work. The impact of lower staff engagement correlates to lower-quality patient care, patient experience, productivity, and an increased potential for medical errors and workplace accidents (Seichter, 2018). Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework, best practices, and recommendations from subject matter experts in collaboration with current nurse leaders, this project created and piloted standard work tools related to financial management for nurse leaders of ICUs at a large academic health center in the Midwest. Although the standard work tools will require revision, 100% of the nurse leader participants suggested the continuation and further development of standard work tools to support improving clarity regarding the expectations of the nurse leader role