Abstract: Objective: To construct sensitive quality indicators for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) nursing in tertiary hospitals and conduct a cross-sectional survey, providing a tool for the quality management and continuous improvement of TCM nursing. Methods: Based on Donabedian's theory, sensitive quality indicators for TCM nursing in tertiary hospitals were constructed through two rounds of Delphi consultation. From January to June 2024, a convenience sampling method was used to select 290 tertiary hospitals in 26 provinces to investigate the current situation of sensitive quality indicators for TCM nursing. Results: The sensitive quality indicators for TCM nursing in tertiary hospitals include 4 first-level items, 7 second-level items, and 28 third-level items. The cross-sectional survey shows that the bed-to-nurse ratio in hospitals was 1:0.52, the proportion of nurses with a college degree or above in the entire hospital was 94.77%, and the proportion of national TCM nursing backbone nurses was 0.95%; the application rate of TCM nursing plans for 52 diseases was 87.67%, and the admission management rate of TCM nursing technique practitioners was 78.58%; the proportion of completed follow-up evaluation of TCM nursing adverse events was 76.63%. Conclusion: The constructed sensitive quality indicators for TCM nursing in tertiary hospitals have good reliability and scientificity. The structure of TCM nursing human resources is stable at the basic level, but the structure of high-level and specialized talents needs to be optimized. The application of TCM nursing plans and techniques is widespread, but the admission assessment mechanism needs to be standardized. The management mechanism for TCM nursing adverse events has been initially established, but the risk point control needs to be managed in a closed loop.

Key words: Traditional Chinese Medicine nursing; sensitive quality indicator; adverse event; Donabedian's theory; Delphi technique