Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Nursing
Committee Chair
Rita Ferguson
Subject(s)
Medication errors--Prevention, Patient education, Communication in medicine
Abstract
Effective communication is crucial in healthcare, as it plays a major role in patient outcomes. Medication errors, a common occurrence in hospitals, are harmful and costly. The use of effective communication to achieve adequate medication education for patients is key to preventing medication errors and related adverse events. Teach-back method is an excellent approach in verifying that the information has successfully reached the recipient. Using the teach-back approach makes the communication individualized. Individualized communication that addresses patient’s concerns and challenges promote trust in the healthcare provider and increase patient satisfaction. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is a standardized survey tool utilized by hospitals throughout the United States to measure patients’ perspectives on hospital care. The HCAHPS survey includes 21 patient perspectives on care relevant in nursing domains such as communication with nurses and communication about medications. The HCAHPS question addressed by this study was related to the nurses teaching patients of new medication and potential side effects. Teach-back is an evidence-based strategy that has successfully been used to educate individuals of any age or culture. This methodology is suggested and supported by healthcare accrediting agencies to promote patient-centered care. Teach-back verifies the patient’s understanding by asking the patient for a return demonstration regarding the understanding of provided teaching. This project focused on an acute care facility’s consistently low HCAHPS satisfaction scores on medication education. Despite patient medication education provided by nurses, this acute care facility's HCAHPS scores reflected low and erratic patient satisfaction. Guided by the logic model, this process improvement project aimed at improving the nurse to patient communication on a medical unit using the teach-back method.
Recommended Citation
Punchamannil, Jolly M., "Improving a medical unit's medication education by integration of a teach-back program" (2017). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). 9.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dnp/9