Date of Graduation

Spring 5-14-2020

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

Department/Program

Nursing

Program

Family Nurse Practitioner

First Advisor

Dr. Jo Loomis

Second Advisor

Dr. Sandhu

Abstract

Problem: Patients spend considerable amounts of valuable time waiting to be seen by physicians in outpatient clinical settings. Many consider waiting as wasted time, inactive time, or as a lost opportunity which can cause frustration. Research suggests that long clinic wait times have a major impact on patients with cancer causing a significant amount emotional distress. Context: At the hospital and thoracic oncology clinic implementation site which is located in northern California, the target time for a New Patient Visit (NPV) is less than or equal to 90 minutes, and less than or equal to 60 minutes for a Return Patient Visit (RPV). For the months of January 2018-May 2018, approximately 70% of NPV appointments were greater than 90 minutes and approximately 65% of RPV appointments were greater than 60 minutes. Intervention: A DNP student developed a project in the thoracic oncology clinic utilizing entertainment and education through technology to help address dissatisfaction with long waiting times. Measures: The ‘Entertainment Options’ portion utilized post-intervention questionnaires to evaluate if an iPad used for entertainment makes clinic wait times more tolerable. The ‘Education video’ portion used a post-intervention test to evaluate efficacy of a chemotherapy education video in patient knowledge retention. Results: Ninety-three percent of the patients who used the iPad for entertainment either ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that using the iPad while waiting to see a provider made the wait time more tolerable thus increasing overall satisfaction with the visit. The patients who watched the chemotherapy education video received a score of 80% or greater on the chemotherapy posttest indicating knowledge retention. Conclusion: To effectively improve patient satisfaction with waiting and improve chemotherapy medical knowledge, integration of iPad tablets used for both entertainment and education is an effective method.

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