Streamline Your Nursing Policy Review Process for Improved Efficiency

Nurses and healthcare professionals are jugglers. We have many competing responsibilities to keep up with. An important, yet often overlooked, responsibility is to maintain healthcare policies. While this is an essential task, it can be time-consuming and tedious. Fortunately, there are ways to simplify the nurse policy review process. Use these steps to make it easier to stay up-to-date and compliant with the latest regulations.

 

 

Simplify the Nursing Policy and Procedure Process

 

It doesn’t have to be hard to keep nursing policies up-to-date and organized. Below are four steps to achieve a simplified policy system for your facility.

 

Step 1: Establish a Committee

 

The first step to a simplified nursing policy review process is to designate who will maintain your facility’s policy library. Without a centralized group dedicated to policy maintenance, review and updating policies and procedures will become scattered and difficult to maintain.

Traditionally, policy maintenance and creation fell to management. Today, managers have so many other tasks they must fulfill daily, meaning policy management can fall by the wayside. This trend is dangerous, as policies need to be up-to-date to maintain compliance.

Bedside nurses are the ideal people to recognize and implement evidence-based policies. Many nurses already want to be more involved in decision-making. They want to make an impact on r patient care. To attract nurses, incentivize joining the policy committee. Offer career advancement and opportunities for raises through a clinical ladder program. Alternatively, offer more flexibility with hybrid work-from-home capability to attract candidates to the role.

 

Step 2: Use a Policy Database

 

When it comes to policy review, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel! Creating policies and procedures from scratch requires hours of research. Most of us don’t have this kind of time. Utilizing a policy or procedure database will help your team quickly and easily keep your facility’s policies and procedures current and compliant. 

 

MCN’s Policy Library is the most extensive policy and procedure library available, placing 75+ manuals of customizable templates at your team’s fingertips. Simplify the policy writing process by editing an existing template to fit your unique needs. 

 

Step 3: Implement a Schedule for Reviews

 

The next step to a sustainable and simplified nursing policy review process is to implement a schedule for policy review. Policies guide patient care through evidence-based practices. It is necessary to review policies on a regular basis to ensure they are up-to-date, meet regulations, and are applicable. 

 

Policy Manager sends automatic reminders to update and review policies per an established schedule. This feature ensures your facility meets compliance needs by setting everything on auto-pilot. Your team will easily maintain an entire library of policies and procedures. There is no need to keep track of spreadsheets, checklists and dates.

 

Step 4: Utilize Appropriate Tools

 

The final and arguably most important step to simplifying the nursing policy review process is to utilize the right tools for the job. Just like you need the right equipment to take care of your patients, you need the right program to manage your policies. The right policy management program will simplify and automate the process, saving you time and frustration.

 

MCN’s Policy Manager streamlines the policy process. The program automates everything for you and your committee. Stop wasting mental space and energy!

 

Another tool for your box is StayAlert! email notifications. Simplify keeping your policies current by receiving timely emails containing key compliance-related information. From there, quickly and easily update your policies to stay on top of changes in regulations and accreditation standards.

 

Keep Healthcare and Nursing Policy Simple

 

Policies and procedures are a critical part of excellent and compliant patient care. Unfortunately, creating, maintaining, and reviewing policies and procedures is time-consuming. There are several ways to simplify the policy review process. These include creating a committee, using a policy database, implementing a review schedule, and utilizing the appropriate tools.

 

Sources

 

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). AHRQ. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2023, from https://www.ahrq.gov/ 

 

Anders RL. Engaging nurses in health policy in the era of COVID-19. Nurs Forum. 2021 Jan;56(1):89-94. doi: 10.1111/nuf.12514. Epub 2020 Oct 6. PMID: 33022755; PMCID: PMC7675349.