Introduction: Accreditation of hospitals is a program for standardisation with an emphasis on the patient safety and quality of care. It represents means of continual improvement of hospitals. Two basic forms of hospital accreditation exist: national and international. National accreditation of hospitals is performed by national accreditation agencies. International hospital accreditation is performed by independent and acclaimed international accreditation agencies. Republic of Slovenia does not have a national accreditation agency due to the small size of the country and the lack of financial resources needed for a functional national accreditation agency. The accreditation of hospitals is therefore performed by international accreditation agencies. The most common hospital accreditation standard in use in the republic of Slovenia is DNV – GL (Det Norske Veritas – Germanic Lloyd). In the other parts of the world the most common hospital accreditation standard in use is JCI (Joint Commision International). International accreditation standards differ and are therefore not equally suited for use in every hospital segment. One of such hospital segments is intensive care 3, where the patients who are most ill, and need artificial life support, are treated and the demands for excellency are the highest. Aim: The aim of this graduation thesis is to compare the DNV – GL and the JCI hospital accreditation standards with regards to the field of nursing in intensive care 3. Goal of the comparison is to ascertain whether any differences between the standards exist and if so, which of the two standards is best suited for the use in the field of nursing in intensive care 3. Methods: The method used in the graduation thesis was the review of literature. Results: None of the two international accreditation standards (DNV-GL, JCI) has a chapter dedicated to the intensive care. JCI standard prescribes the standards valid for the anesthesiology to be valid in the intensive care also. The reason for doing this is the use of deep sedation in the field of intensive care. The review of literature found important differences between the both standards in the general structure of standards, in the field of preparation and administration of intravenous drugs, hospital infections, postoperative treatment of patients, pain control, patient information management and others. The JCI standard was found to be most stringent and demanding of the two standards. Conclusion: Given the results we fell that the JCI international accreditation standard of hospitals is much more suited for the use in the field of nursing in the intensive care level 3.
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