Benchmarking school nursing practice: the North West Regional Benchmarking Group

It is essential that the quality of care is reviewed regularly through robust processes such as benchmarking to ensure all outcomes and resources are evidence-based so that children and young people’s needs are met effectively. This article provides an example of the use of benchmarking in school nursing practice. Benchmarking has been defined as a process for finding, adapting and applying best practices (Camp, 1994). This concept was first adopted in the 1970s ‘from industry where it was used as a structured approach to quality measurement and improving services’ (Royal College of Nursing (RCN), 2014: 5). The first ‘paediatric clinical benchmarking group was set up in the North West in 1994 in response to the Chief Nursing Officer requiring a quality tool for paediatric practice’ (RCN, 2007: 2). Since this initial benchmarking group being developed the North West has continued to lead the way in benchmarking in other areas of clinical practice such as cardiac surgery, neonatal and neurosurgery. The benefits of benchmarking include (RCN, 2007): reflective practice; sharing of innovative practice; reducing duplication and repetition; promoting a bottom up approach to quality improvement; evidence base for outcomes and resources; providing an avenue for implementing change in practice