GUIDEBOOK TO STANDARDS FOR NURSING EXCELLENCE - 2nd Edition - Effective from January 2026

Sep 21, 2026

Guidebook to Standards for Nursing Excellence sets out NABH’s framework for delivering nursing services that advance patient safety and quality across healthcare organisations in India. It explains that the objective elements are informative rather than prescriptive, helping hospitals conduct operations with a consistent focus on safety. The second edition, effective from January 2026, expands nursing excellence standards through seven chapters covering nursing resource management, professional nursing practice, medication management, education and communication, infection prevention and control, governance and leadership, and continuous quality improvement, supported by references and stakeholder inputs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages182

Reading Time7 h 39 min

AccessFree to download

About NABH

Scope and Purpose of the Standards

Overview of the NABH Certification Process

How to read the Standard?

System Documentation

Summary of Chapters, Standards and Objective Elements

Summary of Changes

Abbreviations

Chapter 1: Nursing Resource Management (NRM)

Chapter 2: Professional Nursing Practice (PNP)

Chapter 3: Management of Medication (MOM)

Chapter 4: Education, Communication and Guidance (ECG)

Chapter 5: Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)

Chapter 6: Governance, Empowerment and Leadership (GEL)

Chapter 7: Continuous Nursing Quality Improvement (CNQI)

Glossary

GUIDEBOOK TO STANDARDS FOR NURSING EXCELLENCE National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) GUIDEBOOK TO STANDARDS FOR NURSING EXCELLENCE ISBN 978-81-980234-5-2 9 © All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission in writing from the author. 2nd Edition-Effective from January 2026 National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH), is in its 20th year of creating an ecosystem of quality in healthcare in India. NABH standards focus on patient safety and quality of the delivery of services by the hospitals in the changing healthcare environment. Without being prescriptive , the objective elements remain informative and guide the organisation in conducting its operations with a focus on patient safety. Over the years , successive NABH standards have brought about not only paradigm shifts in the hospitals' approach towards delivering the healthcare services to the patients but have equally sensitised the healthcare workers and patients towards their rights and responsibilities. It is my privilege and pride to release and dedicate this 2nd Edition of Nursing Excellence Certi􀃀cation Standards for Hospitals of NABH to all the Nursing Professionals. The Nursing professionals are the cornerstone of any quality related programme in a healthcare organisation. Keeping this in mind, Nursing excellence standards have been framed with a view to lay down the guidelines for evaluating the nursing services being provided by a healthcare Organisation. The second edition of the nursing excellence standards is divided into seven chapters, focusing on various professional, administrative and governance aspects of nursing. The chapter on Nursing Quality Improvement is now replaced with Continuous Nursing Quality Improvement (CNQI) to increase the focus on this critical aspect of healthcare and chapter on Infection Control Practices is changed to Infection Prevention and Control. The Chapter on Nursing Care of Patient is now replaced with Professional Nursing Practice (PNP) . The chapter on Empowerment and Governance is now Governance, Empowerment and Leadership (GEL) . Each chapter now has a bibliography for reference, and this will provide organisations with a resource for taking quality beyond the requirements of the objective elements. I sincerely hope that all healthcare organisations will certainly bene􀃀tfrom the collective efforts of technical committee of NABH and practical suggestions of thousands of Quality Champions from India and abroad. NABH remains committed to its mission of taking Quality Safety and Wellness to the last man in the line. Jai Hind ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge the contributions of the following in preparing this 2nd Edition of Nursing Excellence Certi􀃀cation Standards for Hospitals of NABH. I would place my heartfelt thanks and deepest gratitude to Shri Jaxay Shah, Chairman, Quality Council of India for his vision to take quality to the grassroots and permeate the idea of quality in the DNA of each and every citizen in every part of India. Mr. Rizwan Koita, Chairman, NABH, has been the guiding light throughout the development of this Second Edition of Nursing Excellence standards. I thank him for his active participation , support and invaluable suggestions despite his busy schedule. I sincerely thank Mr. Chakravarthy T. Kannan , Secretary General of Quality Council of India for his guidance and continuous support by making adequate resources available for this process. I thank all board members of NABH in giving signi􀃀cant suggestions for betterment of the standards and the guidebook. The Expert Committee and Technical Committee of NABH have undertaken this work with utmost diligence to embed globally recognized best practices in patient safety and nursing excellence. The development process involved extensive review of academic evidence and incorporation of valuable inputs from al

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the NABH Nursing Excellence Guidebook?

It provides guidelines for evaluating nursing services with a focus on patient safety and quality in a changing healthcare environment.

When does the 2nd edition take effect?

The 2nd Edition is effective from January 2026.

How is the content of the standards structured in the second edition?

The standards are divided into seven chapters covering professional, administrative, and governance aspects of nursing, and each chapter includes a bibliography for reference.

Sep 21, 2026

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