Date of Conferral
2021
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
School
Nursing
Advisor
Rachel Pitman
Abstract
The focus of this doctoral project was increasing knowledge of underutilization ofhospice services for African Americans (AAs) and the need to increase cultural competence among nurses regarding this issue. The identified gap in practice was nurses’ lack of cultural competence and knowledge regarding the underutilization of hospice specific to AAs. The practice-focused question focused on whether a staff educational intervention increased nurses’ knowledge of the cultural implications regarding the introduction of hospice services for AAs. The education was guided by the Purnell model for culturally competent health care, Healthy People 2030, and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organizations AA Outreach Guide. Ten nurses in the southwest received an educational intervention and answered pre and posttest data on cultural competence and understanding of hospice services. Descriptive statistics of the pre and posttest scores resulted in a 47.6% increase in nurses’ knowledge of underutilization of hospice services by AAs and their understanding of the cultural implications of patient education. Additional evaluations with larger populations and in other geographic areas is needed. Further research should be conducted on the impact of the educational intervention on quality of care provided by the nurses as evidence of practice change. The potential positive social change of this project is the increased nursing ability to provide care for ethnically diverse patients who would benefit from earlier and improved access to hospice care at the end of life.
Recommended Citation
Schmidt, Vicki, "Increasing Nurse Knowledge of the Underutilization of Hospice Services for African Americans" (2021). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 11228.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/11228
