Date of Conferral
2021
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
School
Nursing
Advisor
Donna Bailey
Abstract
AbstractMental health patients have a history of decreased follow-up appointments, poor diet, and medication noncompliance after discharge from inpatient facilities in addition to multiple co-morbidities, making a return to the community difficult. The practice problem was an increase in hospital readmissions of mental health patients within 30 days postdischarge due to inadequate post-discharge education and follow-up communication. Using Rodgers’s recovery on mental health theory and Revan’s action learning theory, a staff education program was developed to educate 10 nursing staff and two social workers on how to effectively implement postdischarge communication at 3 days and 30 days after discharge from an inpatient mental health facility. The program included content on using a postdischarge communication algorithm and the brief psychiatric rating scale, which is used to rate patients’ condition at the end of the contact. Pretests were administered before the education, and posttests were administered after the education to determine knowledge gain. The results showed an average of 82.75% knowledge gain using the knowledge gain formula. The pre-test mean score was 16.7 and the posttest mean score was 29 (p< 0.00). These results demonstrate the project positively impacts the staff’s ability to teach patients how to adhere to their discharge plan, promoting social change. This patient population can positively grow and thrive in the community due to effective postdischarge communication.
Recommended Citation
Garrison, Paula Renee, "Effective Postdischarge Communication from Nursing Staff to Mental Health Patients" (2021). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 12359.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/12359
