Date of Conferral

2-18-2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Kristina Bohm

Abstract

This staff education project was aimed at improving registered nurses’ (RNs) knowledge on the impact of medication adherence in patients with bipolar disorder. Up to 60% of patients fail to take their prescriptions as recommended, which increases the risk of recurrence and hospitalization and lowers quality of life. The practice-focused question is: Does comprehensive and targeted staff education improve knowledge of healthcare professionals regarding how to optimize medication adherence among patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder? I sought to provide RNs with evidence-based medication adherence and patient care measures to close the knowledge gap. Pre and post-tests were used to assess nurses’ insights regarding pre- and posttraining programs. Knowledge gain was assessed using descriptive statistics and a paired sample t test. The paired t test results confirm that the difference in scores is statistically significant, with a p value of 0.0004. This suggests that the educational program had a meaningful impact on nurses' understanding. Nurses’ awareness of medication adherence and evidence-based strategies to encourage adherence improved. The educational approach worked as post-intervention ratings showed a statistically significant increase in scores from pre- to post-test reflecting an improvement in terms of nurses’ knowledge, with average scores increasing from 60.29% to 85.14% (p = 0.0001; t = 9.05). This study is intended to improve nurses’ competency in terms of medication adherence, which can improve patient results and quality of life. The initiative also promotes fair care, reduction of health inequalities, and broad culturally-competent approaches to promote social transformation. Findings show such educational initiatives improve healthcare provision for patients and experts.

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