Date of Conferral
11-13-2025
Date of Award
November 2025
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
School
Nursing
Advisor
Barbara Gross
Abstract
This report presents the outcomes of a quality improvement (QI) DNP practicum project situated at an outpatient facility. The preparation for the practicum project included a situational assessment to determine feasible changes and an appropriate strategy of change leadership. The target practice problem is missed appointments. Keeping appointments is a defining element of plans for care for medical services that require regular assessments and updates. In psychiatric nursing, reminders dictate schedules for the nurse practitioners because they indicate expected encounters and commitments. At the same time, unplanned changes could demand a change of the appointments or rescheduling. Best practice guidelines could improve long-term outcomes of care, hence the goal to create the best clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). The project’s objectives and assessment metric answered the question, How does creating CPGs around appointment reminders appeal to subject matter experts using the AGREE II Tool? using a panel of four experts (N = 4). Evidence with item ratings from 5 to 7 (highly agree) with Domain scores from 89 to 100 supported the quality of the CPG and using technology-driven interventions for enhancing healthcare outcomes. CPGs emphasize the importance of collaborative practices, which ultimately improve the quality of care by aligning with evidence-based methods. Among these innovations, mobile message-based interventions have shown promise in improving medication adherence across diverse patient populations. Additionally, messaging has demonstrated effectiveness in promoting patient engagement, particularly by serving as reminders that increase attendance at clinical appointments. These encouraging results anchor a need to create or update CPGs to reflect the best current evidence and sustain improvements.
Recommended Citation
Numfor, Goretti, "Enhancing Patient Follow-Up: Creating and Evaluating Clinical Practice Guidelines on Appointment Reminders Using the AGREE II Tool" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 18704.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/18704
