Nursing Care Delivery

Minnesota Nurse Practice Act

Registered nurses practice under the rules and regulations of the Minnesota Nurse Practice Act. The practice of professional nursing includes independent nursing functions, interdependent functions and delegated medical functions which may be performed in collaboration with other health team members or may be delegated by the professional nurse to other nursing personnel.

The Code of Ethics

Nursing’s Code of Ethics is the promise that we as RNs are doing our best to provide care for our patients and communities, supporting each other in the process so that all RNs can fulfill their ethical and professional obligations.

The Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice

The Scope and Standards express a level of performance to characterize, measure, and provide guidance for achieving excellence in practice. They define the expectations for a Professional (RN), Advanced (APRN), and Practical (LPN) nurse. The Standards reflect the values and priorities of the profession and are based on research and knowledge from nursing and various other sciences and disciplines. They also describe the full range of practice outlining the expectations of the professional role within which all RNs must practice. Standards of Practice (Nursing Process) – Assessment, Diagnosis, Outcomes Identification, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation Standards of Professional Performance – Quality of Practice, Culturally Congruent Practice, Education, Professional Practice Evaluation, Communication, Collaboration, Ethics, Evidence-Based Practice and Research, Resource Utilization (enhancing value and efficiencies), Leadership, Environmental Health.

Coordination of Care

The coordination of care model describes the integration of patient- and family-centered care within a collaborative multidisciplinary team environment. Care is provided based on the identification and prioritization of patient needs, complexity, referrals, and level of coordination of care needed. The outcome of coordination of care is a patient with healthy balance of mind, body, and spirit. Clinical RNs assess patients for anticipated discharge needs and plan for transition to the next level of care, through the IDEAL model.

Care Management

Care management is a collaborative practice which includes patients, nurses, social workers, providers, professional disciplines, caregivers, and the community. Care management supports the achievement of optimal health, access to care, and appropriate utilization of resources, balanced with the patient’s right to self-determination.

Nursing Provision of Patient Care

We strategically and proactively plan for the provision of nursing care by evaluating our patient care delivery models. Effective staffing, identifying and maintaining the appropriate number and mix of nursing staff, is crucial to the delivery of safe, quality patient care. Multi-dimensional data is gathered and reported to support informed and effective decision-making. RNs are proactive participants in staffing and assignment practices including self-scheduling. Through our PPM, RN retention and recruitment is identified as a high priority.