Date of Conferral

11-12-2025

Date of Award

November 2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Andrea Jennings

Abstract

Medication nonadherence remains a key deterrent to high-quality care in the outpatient environment, resulting in ineffective disease control, preventable hospitalization, and rising healthcare costs. Nearly half of patients with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and mental disorders, do not take medication as prescribed. Outpatient nurses, who are at the core of mandating compliance, are often not provided with much formalized education to effectively promote compliance. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project addressed this knowledge gap through the development and implementation of an educational module to enhance nurses’ knowledge about measures for medication adherence. The practice question was: In outpatient nurses, how does participation in a nurse-delivered medication adherence educational module, compared to standard practice, impact provider knowledge of medication adherence strategies within a 2-week implementation period? Pre- and posttests were administered to 32 outpatient nurses to gauge their knowledge before and after the educational intervention. There was a highly significant increase in nurse knowledge such that pretest scores averaged 6.34 (SD = 1.41; 52.9% of maximum), rose to 9.78 (SD = 1.48; 81.5% of maximum) posttest, with statistical significance achieved at p < 0.001. This initiative facilitates positive social change by illustrating how formal nurse education regarding medication adherence improves healthcare professionals’ knowledge for equitable, patient-focused care. With this program, health systems will be able to achieve improved patient experiences as well as reduced hospitalization and costs.

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