The power of peer review: A pathway to professionalism.

Abstract

Peer review is one strategy used to create the constructive work environments needed for positive patient care outcomes. The American Nurses Association (ANA) first defined peer review in 1988—a definition that remains relevant today. Peer reviews should be performed on a continuous basis, practice-focused, timely, based on the reviewed nurse’s experience level, and implemented by nurses of the same rank.1 More recently, the ANA reaffirmed the need for peer review of all practicing nurses to promote reflection and practice improvement.2 The American Nurses Credentialing Center also recognizes the necessity of peer review and mandates its completion for healthcare facilities to meet the exemplary professional practice component of Magnet® recognition.3 However, despite recommendations to improve nursing practice and care quality through peer review implementation, many nurse managers only utilize peer review annually and often don’t follow the ANA guidelines.4 We conducted a pilot study of an innovative peer review committee to determine if peer reviews positively influence nurses’ professionalism. (See Figure 1.)