Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Mary T. Verklan

Abstract

This evidence-based project (EBP) was developed to increase postpartum appointment attendance to improve maternal outcomes for postpartum women. The practice problem was that the postpartum women who received prenatal care failed to return for postpartum care at a community clinic in north east Texas. The practice-focused question explored whether an educational intervention with the nursing staff would increase postpartum appointment attendance. The framework used was Pender’s Health Promotion Model. The preintervention data were retrieved from an electronic medical record (EMR) generated report that provided the number of postpartum appointments attended 30 days before the intervention. The nursing staff received a one hour in person training about how to educate the patients on the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrical, and Neonatal Nurses POSTBIRTH warning signs document. The training was developed so that the nurses would provide standardized postpartum education to their patients. They also received training on how to schedule a postpartum appointment in the EMR system and use the patient identifiers in the EMR system to identify the postpartum women. Postintervention reports showed that the patient postpartum appointment attendance increased by 15.92% in a 30-day period. The implications of this project for social change include educating the nurses who work in the postpartum setting to improve their knowledge about the importance of postpartum care. By improving the knowledge level of the nurses, the patients will receive education that will allow them to become more educated, and more engaged in their health care which improves the population’s health and reduces the maternal mortality rate.

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