Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Dr. Marilyn Losty

Abstract

Dementia is an umbrella term that describes a clinical syndrome of progressive cognitive decline. The prevalence of a dementia diagnosis increases with age, making it a common occurrence within the older population. In long-term care facilities, where 5% of the older population reside, antipsychotic medications are the first line of defense and the choice of treatment among patients diagnosed with dementia. Recently, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new goal of decreasing antipsychotic medication usage by 15% by the end of 2019. Guided by Watson’s Theory of Caring, this project was conducted to determine if an educational intervention geared towards nonpharmacological interventions increased knowledge among nurses working in a long-term care facility with the hope that the increased knowledge would be translated into practice and in lieu of use of antipsychotic medications, the nurses would implement nonpharmacological interventions when caring for residents with dementia who display challenging behaviors. Nurses working on a dementia unit were targeted for this project, and 10 nurses volunteered to participate in the educational intervention. The average age of the nurses in attendance was 47.20 years of age (SD = 9.79) with 80% (n = 8) of the participants being female. A Wilcoxon Signed Ranked test showed a statistically significant difference between the pre- and posttest scores, with the posttest scores being higher that the pretest score (z = -2.83, p < 0.01), indicating an increase in knowledge among the participants. It is hoped that the increased knowledge among the nurses will be translated into practice and, as a result, will enhance positive patient and organizational outcomes as well as positive social change.

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