Date of Award

Spring 4-5-2023

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

David Liguori, DNP, NP-C, ACHPN

Second Advisor

Dorothy C. Foglia, PhD, RN, NEA-BC

Abstract

Practice Problem: Suboptimal patient flow throughout the hospital has resulted in an increased length of stay (LOS) for emergency department patients and the potential for adverse events.

PICOT: In admitted and discharged emergency room patients (P), how does a hospital-wide surge plan (I) compared to current throughput plan (C) affect the length of stay (O) within 8 weeks?

Evidence: The literature evidence reviewed supported the implementation of a hospital-wide surge plan approach positively impacts the emergency room length of stay and patient outcomes.

Intervention: The primary intervention for this project was the implementation of a hospital-wide surge policy. Targeted interventions focused on protocols for all areas to expedite processes to improve throughput and decrease the LOS for ED admitted and discharged patients.

Outcome: While the post-data results did not have a statistically significant change in the ED length of stay (LOS) for admitted and discharged patients, the results nevertheless, demonstrated a significant clinical impact on hospital-wide throughput and clinical outcomes.

Conclusion: Using a hospital-wide surge plan effectively improves hospital throughput and can lead to a decrease in ED length of stay for admitted and discharged patients. This project helped the leaders implement new processes to improve collaboration and throughput in the organization.

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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