Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Mattie Burton

Abstract

At the project site in New Jersey, eligible patients were leaving the hospital without receiving the influenza or pneumococcal vaccine. The field site has an established, evidence-based, nurse-driven protocol. The purpose of this project was to increase adherence to the current influenza and pneumococcal nurse-driven protocol on one medical-surgical unit. This unit had experienced low adherence rates to the nurse-driven protocol for vaccines, not reaching the New Jersey state target of 96% administration prior to discharge. The practice-focused question was: Will increasing awareness of evidence-based practice increase adherence to the influenza and pneumococcal vaccine protocol? A quality improvement plan was developed to address a gap in practice using the plan-do-study-act model. Internal vaccination data was the source of evidence used to drive this project. Baseline data was used from 2 months prior to the December 2017 start of the project. Once the quality improvement plan was implemented, data were collected and analyzed weekly with the quality improvement team. Findings for the pneumococcal vaccine demonstrated reaching 96% or higher while the influenza vaccine exceeded the state target reaching 100% of discharged patients being vaccinated. Implementing large surveillance boards into clinical rounds promoted increased adherence to the protocol, achieving a positive social change. Leadership worked directly with the staff to use evidence-based practice and promote nursing autonomy to administer the vaccines. An increased number of vaccinated patients leaving the medical-surgical unit was achieved.

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