Date of Award

Spring 4-4-2022

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

First Advisor

Sheri Jacobson, PhD, RN

Second Advisor

Christina M. Kelly, DNP, APRN, AGCNS-BC, CCRN-K, CNE, NPD-BC, NE-BC

Abstract

Practice Problem: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) readmissions severely impact patients’ health, mortality, and quality of life and increase unnecessary healthcare use and spending. Utilization of a protocol and discharge care bundle to reduce the readmission rate for COPD patients is critical to combat the problem.

PICOT: The PICOT question that guided this project was in adult patients 65 years or older admitted to a hospital acute care unit for acute exacerbation of COPD (P), does a protocol and discharge care bundle (I) compared to no protocol and no discharge care bundle (C) reduce the 30-day hospital COPD readmission rate (O) within 10 weeks (T)?

Evidence: A review of the evidence supported the implementation of a discharge care bundle to reduce the COPD readmission rate for this project.

Intervention: The evidence-based intervention utilized the implementation of a protocol and discharge care bundle. The bundle included COPD education, action plan, inhaler technique, referral to smoking cessation or pulmonary rehabilitation programs, and a follow-up visit.

Outcome: Results showed an 18.2% readmission rate for the pre-intervention group and a 16.7% readmission rate for the post-intervention group; both were lower than the national average of 19.6%. However, data analysis using a two-tailed paired samples t-test found the findings were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: The project achieved a COPD readmission rate less than the national average, but the results were not statistically significant. However, the project demonstrated clinical significance in providing a foundation to improve the clinical care process for COPD patients.

Comments

Scholarly project submitted to the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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