Date of Conferral

5-22-2025

Date of Award

May 2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Sue Subocz

Abstract

Summary Documentation is a part of a daily task that all nurses undertake. Its purpose is to provide validation of care rendered to patients. In the hospice setting, nurses’ documentation is crucial, as it supports whether a patient qualifies to receive hospice services. If proper documentation is not recorded, patients can lose services and organizations can face a loss of revenue and potential fines. At a hospice organization in the Southeast United States, there was little emphasis of the importance of documentation that adheres to guidelines set by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Therefore, nurses’ documentation lacked the appropriate verbiage that supports continued participation of hospice benefits. Consequently, the nurses had insufficient knowledge of the guidelines and necessary terminology to be used in narrative documentation. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project provided a 30-minute educational session for nurses on hospice documentation. The presentation was conducted with PowerPoint and handouts at a live meeting. Using pre- and post-test questionnaires, the project explored the effectiveness of the educational session on nurse-reported knowledge of hospice documentation. A total of seven nurses participated in the educational session on hospice documentation. All completed the pre-and post-test questionnaires. The questionnaires indicated an increase in knowledge of documentation guidelines and use of supporting documentation in narrative notes. Nurses in hospice settings require ongoing education on CMS guidelines and supportive verbiage to document hospice eligibility adequately and effectively. With education on documentation, nurses can use the knowledge to develop standardization of hospice documentation. Improved documentation assures equitable care for all patients.

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