Date of Conferral

2015

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Mary Verklan

Abstract

The evolution of person-centered healthcare reinforces the need for nursing to provide effective patient education. Literature suggests nurses desire to provide strong discharge education to patients, but are challenged by knowledge gaps and other barriers. This DNP project developed a plan for integrating teach-back on a 30-bed cardiac unit, focusing on heart failure patients. Following a logic model, the process improvement plan to implement teach-back includes education on teach-back, empowerment of unit champions to support the project and evaluation of effectiveness of the education plan and impact on heart failure patients. The sample size of 15 cardiac nurses provides a group representative of other cardiac units and allows for testing and data collection to support spread of the project. Collaboration with the unit leadership to sequence the implementation of the project will direct the timeline for execution and minimize competing priorities that could impede the success. Evaluation of the project takes into account the implementation processes that focus on resources such as education hours needed to implement and heart failure patient outcomes related to readmission rates. Pre- and post-implementation heart failure patient readmission rates as supplied by the site quality improvement team will be analyzed using ttest to correlate the education intervention on heart failure readmission rates. Nursing will drive improved patient outcomes and promote positive social change by using an evidence-based teaching methodology that allows for better patient understanding of how to manage their health. Empowered and better prepared heart failure patients enjoy autonomy with their health management and with reduced readmissions, decrease health care costs.

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