Measuring Geriatric Initiatives
Before implementing a NICHE program, a hospital uses the Geriatric Institutional Assessment Profile (GIAP) to assess its organizational readiness to improve geriatric care.50,51 The GIAP is an online survey, completed by staff, that assesses attitudes regarding the care of the older adult patient, knowledge of best practices, and perceived institutional strengths and barriers to evidence-based care of older adults. Results are benchmarked against other hospitals (similar in size and teaching status) and provide information to prioritize educational and operational initiatives. To date, approximately 50 000 respondents have completed the GIAP, of which about 7500 work in critical care.
The GIAP is offered to NICHE hospitals on an annual basis, along with benchmarked data on pressure ulcers, falls, injurious falls, CAUTI, and restraint use. Thus, clinical data are triangulated with staff knowledge and perceptions of the care environment to establish educational and clinical priorities for improvement. Other measures used by NICHE sites include patient satisfaction, staff satisfaction, length of stay, and readmission rates. In addition, case studies supplement the data providing compelling information about “lessons learned” and the experiences of both patient and staff.