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The UVAHS Professional Nursing Staff Organization Peer Review |
Peer review has an essential role in strengthening professional practice. The professional practice model at UVAHS incorporates formal and informal peer review into annual performance appraisals, Clinical Career Ladder processes and daily practice. The PNSO provides opportunities to build skills and confidence in this important professional behavior.
A Valued, Essential Professional Skill
Peer review is an essential component of clinical care. It is the process by which clinical performance is measured and assessed by peers; it allows the examination of health care; and it is part of a process to determine ways to improve care. Peer review is central to the drive for excellence. Nurses at all levels use peer review to strengthen the professionalism of the nursing staff and to guide professional development. In fact, peer review was established as an essential element of the UVAHS Professional Practice model in 1992. At that time, a Peer Review Task Force adopted the ANA's definition of peer review:
Peer review is an organized effort whereby practicing professionals review the quality and appropriateness of services ordered or performed by their professional peers. Peer Review in Nursing is the process by which practicing Registered Nurses systematically assess, monitor and make judgments about the quality of nursing care provided by peers, as measured against professional standards of practice.
- ANA, 1988
Peer review is used to provide individual nurses with the feedback they need to plan and pursue their professional growth and to improve the care they provide. As such, it is an adjunct to self-assessment, professional-goal setting, portfolio enhancement, Clinical Career Ladder Panel review, competency assessment and annual performance appraisal.
Professional nurses are expected to demonstrate that they participate in peer review in an ongoing manner. Peer review is a component of any performance improvement plan for individual nurses. It is expected that professional nursing at UVAHS is practiced in an environment in which nurses openly share feedback on a consistent and constructive basis. Peer review is a required component of portfolios for Clinical Career Ladder validation, revalidation and advancement, as well as annually in most practice areas with Performance Appraisals. Portfolio Development classes, offered by HRCOD, support skill-building to help clinicians gain confidence in providing and soliciting peer review.
Nurse administrators seek formal peer review as part of their annual performance review. The CNO includes feedback and any recommendations for improvement in the formal appraisal.
Developing Peer Review Skills
In 2005, the PNSO featured peer review at the 2005 Summer Leadership Forum. This focus was selected to enhance nurses' skills and confidence in peer review and to provide a forum in which to emphasize its importance to professional practice. "Crucial Conversations: In the Moment Feedback" was the focus for a panel discussion and presentation.
To develop written peer review skills, nurses may seek out the Portfolio Development classes offered by HRCOD; review the NetLearning course offering schedule.
The PNSO Professional Development Committee has developed a Peer Review form that can be used in conjunction with the yearly Performance Evaluation. This Peer Review form is not to be used for Advancement on the Clinical Ladder. The Professinal Development Committee feels strongly that individualzed reviews are more appropriate for an applicant's portfolio.
The Professional Development Committee is continuing to work on resources and educatinal opportunities for our peers to make this a valued process.