The overarching theme of the Professional Practice Model lies within the UCI Health mission: Discover. Teach. Heal.
Relationship-based Care, a central tenant of the Professional Practice Model, is a culture transformation model and an operational framework that improves safety, quality, patient satisfaction and staff satisfaction by improving every relationship within an organization. Relationship-based Care is the way care is provided for patients, their families and each other. Relationship-based Care identifies three essential relationships for the provision of humane and compassionate healthcare. These three relationships are the nurse’s relationship with the patient/family, relationships among colleagues and the nurse’s relationship with self. It includes principles that shape caring behaviors, and these principles guide the transformation of infrastructure, processes, systems and practices to support caregivers in all disciplines in creating therapeutic relationships with patients and families.
The foundation of the Professional Practice Model is the ARIISE values, which consist of Accountability, Respect, Innovation, Integrity, Service and Excellence.
At UCI Health, our beliefs about the nursing practice are grounded in caring theories. We embrace the organizational mission, vision and values. Our vision for nursing excellence guides our selection of specific goals to enhance overall organizational goals and advance nursing science.
Nursing makes a unique contribution through focusing on creating a holistic, caring, patient-centered, compassionate environment to facilitate healing and to optimize health and well-being. This is accomplished by employing a shared governance model and providing competent, inspiring leadership. UCI Health professional nurses strive to provide safe, competent, compassionate patient care based on mutual respect and personal integrity. Our nurses make use of advocacy, critical thinking and accountability in evidence-based practice that benefits the patient. As members of an academic health system, our nurses participate in research and in the support of professional education.
The practice of Nursing Quality, Research & Education encompasses the five dimensions of advanced practice in nursing: clinical leadership, research, education, consultation and clinical practice.
The mission of the Department of Nursing Quality, Research & Education is to promote a culture of safe, quality patient care by providing:
- An environment that promotes lifelong learning
- Current and innovative information that will enhance critical thinking and provide evidence for best practices
- Learning experiences for nurses, care partners and nursing students who want to become clinical experts, educators and leaders
Our team members are experts in their fields and enjoy the opportunity to interact and serve as a resource to the entire organization. The role of the clinical nurse specialist and clinical nurse educator encompasses a wide array of activities including:
- Guiding experienced nurses to UCI Medical Center and educating them through our orientation program
- Working with nursing students at the bedside, as a preceptor, as a clinical instructor or as a lecturer
- Working with clinical staff to develop new skills, discover new research and develop innovative strategies to meet the demands of our challenging healthcare environment
- Creating innovative educational experiences
Nursing Quality, Research & Education team members have a shared vision to:
- Ensure nursing services provide a comprehensive, consistent, evidence-based approach to clinical practice
- Ensure nurses new to UCI Medical Center receive a comprehensive, consistent, evidence-based orientation
- Promote professional development and education of the nursing staff
- Evaluate and oversee nursing quality and practice
- Evaluate and oversee nursing-sensitive outcomes
- Review current evidence and develop nursing performance improvement and research projects
