Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Robert Mcwhirt

Abstract

AbstractPatients have the right to self-determine how and in what manner they desire to make end-of-life decisions. The use of advance directives (AD) is the focus of the Patient Self Determination Act (PSDA). The PSDA permits the use of legal documents to outline the patient’s end-of-life decision when they can no longer communicate to the medical community. Because individuals with chronic diseases are living longer the medical community must stay abreast on current laws and protocols to provide the care needed and address patient’s wishes for end-of-life needs. Nurses would be ideal to provide education on AD to patients upon entry into practice as they are the first to work with a patient. Unfortunately, AD completion rates are at all-time low. Despite the championing done for AD, completion rates for the United States AD rate remains 30%. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive correlational design was to examine the survey responses from 10 primary care nurses in a local facility. The objective was to increase AD completion rate by increasing staff knowledge and attitudes towards AD so they would have the desire to initiate AD conversations. The descriptive findings resulted in a two-fold increase in responses from Section I of the survey on general AD knowledge. The health belief model guided the research using the Knowledge-Attitudinal-Experiential-Survey (KAESAD), to obtain rich data on nurses’ AD knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with AD completion. The findings give rise to an organized and strategic nurse training program for AD that will be implemented in a local facility. Instead of waiting until post hospital admissions, positive social change will occur by initiating AD completion upon new patient arrivals into practice.

Download

Included in

Nursing Commons

Share

 
COinS