Improving unit performance with a staff-driven peer review process.

PURPOSE: A staff-driven peer review process was developed and implemented to determine if it would improve the perception of the quality of nursing care delivered and unit performance. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived quality of care, as measured on the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators Survey, improved by the second year after all nurses had completed the process. The unit performance improvement indicators showed improvement in the first year after implementation, with further improvements noted the second year. PRACTICE IMPLICATION: This project demonstrated that staff nurses could and would autonomously improve practice and unit performance based on unit data.