Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Nursing
Committee Chair
Lenora Smith
Subject(s)
Geriatric nursing, Medical protocols, Older people--Medical care, Pneumonia--Treatment, Lungs--Diseases, Obstructive--Treatment, Congestive heart failure--Treatment
Abstract
Problem: Medicare and Medicaid eligible nursing home residents are susceptible to being admitted to hospital settings unnecessarily due to lack of evidence-based pneumonia protocol in this setting. Research Question: In seniors living in nursing homes, will implementing the clinical protocol suggested in this project reduce the pneumonia hospitalization rates in nursing home residents participating in this study in contrast to those not participating in a three-month period? Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework comes from Betty Neuman’s Systems Model. Patients living a nursing home have many weak defenses, are vulnerable, and in risk of mortality. The nurse practitioners along with the healthcare team attempt to strengthen the nursing home patient to obtain dynamic equilibrium. Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention is used based on assessment, plan of care, intervention and evaluation. Implementation: Nurse practitioners led the care provided to patients using clinical protocol for treating patients with pneumonia to reduce potential hospital admissions. Evaluation: Prevalence, incidence and hospitalization rates indicate that this project’s protocol is effective in reducing hospital admissions in nursing home residents experiencing pneumonia, CHF, and/or COPD.
Recommended Citation
Carrion, Bertha, "Scholarly quality improvement project to reduce hospitalization rates due to pneumonia in the nursing home population" (2017). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). 12.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dnp/12