Quality of nursing care at Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital

This article describes the journey towards continuous quality improvement of patient care undertaken by Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in 2004, which has led to Accreditation for the status being awarded by the Joint Commission International (JCI). An operational plan was studied by the office of the Chief Medical Officer in close collaboration with the nursing staff. This plan consisted of various phases such as staff education, mapping and identifying specific problem areas, focused action on priority areas, preparation of policies, procedures and job descriptions and the development of performance evaluation schemes. The identified priority areas have become the healthcare literature integrated with the implementation of the personalized assistance model, paediatric pain assessment scores and the adhesion to the plan “Towards a pain-free hospital”. Another priority area of concern was the induction of newly hired nursing staff. After two years since the introduction of the nursing literature a research project on the correct compliance has given and overall satisfying result and has evidenced the critical areas to improve. The JCI accreditation project has been an occasion for a professional development in order deliver a continuous and better quality assistance to young patients and to their families.