Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Joan Moon

Abstract

Compassion fatigue (CF) is a problem seen within healthcare institutions worldwide, especially critical care units and emergency departments (EDs). The problem identified in this quality improvement (QI) project was CF, experienced by nurses in the ED. The effects of CF cross nurse-patient boundaries and negatively impact a patient's expectations of having a quality care experience. The Iowa model's evidence-based team approach was used to guide the development of the education initiative for nurses on recognizing, preventing, and identifying methods of coping with CF in the ED. The outcome products for the project included an extensive review of the literature, a curriculum plan to educate ED nurses on CF, and a pretest/posttest to validate ED nurses knowledge about CF. The content of the project was measured by 2 master's-level prepared education experts using a dichotomous scale. The format evaluated content material using total scores of 1 for content (not met) and total scores of 2 for content (met). The average score was 2, which demonstrated the objectives for the education initiative were identified and the goals were met. The content experts also conducted content validation of each of the 14 pretest/posttest items using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not relevant) to 4 (highly relevant) that resulted in a content validation index of 1.00, showing that the test items were covered in the curriculum. Recommendations were made for item construction improvement and omission of the Iowa model from the curriculum plan and pretest/posttest. The project promotes social change through the facilitation of patient satisfaction, quality of patient care, and prevention of CF on nursing staff.

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