Getting ahead of Joint Commission’s new patient safety goal
Coauthored by Nicole George, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, Vice President, Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Press Ganey.
On January 1, 2026, the Joint Commission will roll out National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) 12—a new performance measure focused squarely on one of the most critical foundations of quality care: nurse staffing.
This new requirement, which is aligned with CMS Conditions of Participation (CoPs), requires hospitals to be adequately staffed to meet patient needs, and that all nursing staff are competent to deliver safe, high-quality care. Under NPSG 12, nursing leadership will need to:
- Lead the nurse staffing plan
- Define appropriate policies and staffing levels/skill mix
- Ensure continuous RN coverage
- Document staffing structures and decisions across inpatient and designated ambulatory settings
A long-awaited win for nurses—and patients
For nurses, the new performance goal represents long-overdue recognition of what we’ve always known: Staffing is essential for patient safety. For nurse leaders, it creates a clear imperative that staffing adequacy and competency must be governed, measured, trended, and formally analyzed as part of performance improvement efforts. And for patients and families, it signals a system-level assurance of safer care.
Using NDNQI to operationalize NPSG 12
Hospitals participating in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI®) will have an advantage in meeting NPSG 12 requirements. NDNQI provides nurse leaders with the unit-level, longitudinal data needed to measure, evaluate, and document the effectiveness of their staffing plans—exactly the kind of visibility and analytics that the Joint Commission expects under NPSG 12.
NDNQI staffing indicators, which align with National Quality Forum (NQF) standards, include:
- RN hours per patient day (RNHPPD) and total nursing hours per patient day (TNHPPD) to monitor productive direct-care hours by unit, on a monthly basis
- Skill mix to evaluate productive hours by role (RN, LPN/LVN, and UAP), and home in on the percentage of productive hours worked by RNs
- Supplemental/agency utilization to track your reliance on supplemental staff and identify potential stability or risk concerns
Data that tells the full story
When the NDNQI staffing indicators are paired with NDNQI’s powerful nursing-sensitive outcomes—like falls with injury, hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI), and device-related infections—nurse leaders can uncover meaningful insights about how staffing impacts patient outcomes. This is the same analytic lens hospitals will need to demonstrate compliance with NPSG 12.
For some organizations, this kind of recurring, data-driven analysis—linking staffing adequacy and competency to quality outcomes—will be a new concept. But you don’t have to start from scratch—Press Ganey’s NDNQI platform and advisory team are here to guide you every step of the way.
Safe staffing has always underpinned nursing excellence. Now, it’s a national patient safety imperative, fueled by measurement, transparency, and accountability.
With NDNQI, you have the tools, insights, and expert support, to not only comply with NPSG 12, but to elevate the standard of nursing practice in your organization.
Because when nurses are supported, patients are safer.
Reach out to our nursing experts to learn how your organization can harness the power of Press Ganey’s NDNQI.