Date of Graduation
Spring 5-2019
Document Access
Project/Capstone - Global access
Degree Name
Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
College/School
School of Nursing and Health Professions
First Advisor
Francine Serafin-Dickson
Second Advisor
Robin Jackson
Abstract
The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey has recognized the need for medication education with communication about medication as a patient satisfaction indicator. Literature shows a medication guide or tool that is readily accessible and easy to understand for the patient can help provide nurses with a teach back method to help increase patient knowledge about common medications. Continued use of this tool will then positively affect communication between patients and providers thereby increasing medication communication related HCAHPS survey scores. Review of current Stanford Health Care HCAHPS survey data shows that all nursing units are continually well below the benchmark target goal of 70.7% for medication education. The goal of this improvement and education plan is to make a medication education tool (MET) nurses can provide to patients during admission that can be helpful in teaching patients about common medications used while in the hospital. After implementation, audits were performed to see if nurses were using the medication education tool and if patients were hearing about side effects related to medications. HCAHPS scores were reviewed monthly to track the effectiveness of the medication tool on patient satisfaction indicators. In conclusion, results were found to be unremarkable on patient satisfaction scores and use of the MET by nurses was inconsistent. However, many barriers were encountered throughout the project, such as, high staff turnover, multiple unit changes and patient condition, that may have negatively impacted the use of the MET. Despite the negative findings, research shows this education tool can have positive aspects if used appropriately. Thus, next steps should be to analyze these barriers and inconsistencies in order to find a means to ingrain the use of the MET into unit culture.
Recommended Citation
Orgon, Elizabeth, "Enhancing patient medication knowledge: Utilizing an educational tool to improve patient satisfaction scores" (2019). Master's Projects and Capstones. 891.
https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/891
