Date of Award
12-1-2025
Document Type
Scholarly Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
First Advisor
Hillary Morgan
Second Advisor
Laurie Duckworth
Third Advisor
Laurel Barwick
Abstract
Practice Problem: Effective discharge planning for premature infants in the NICU requires collaboration and coordination among multidisciplinary interprofessional (IP) teams. Ineffective communication during care transitions is a well-documented contributor to adverse patient outcomes, including prolonged hospitalization.
PICOT: For multidisciplinary, interprofessional teams in the NICU (P), how does the introduction of an institution-specific discharge checklist (I), compared to the current unit discharge process (C), affect multidisciplinary, interprofessional team compliance with completing weekly discharge rounds (O) within 6 weeks (T)?
Evidence: The reviewed literature supported the use of a discharge checklist tool to facilitate effective team communication and care coordination with parents and family caregivers during discharge planning.
Intervention: Implementing an institution-specific discharge checklist was anticipated to improve IP team compliance with attending discharge rounds, which focus on coordinating activities to prepare patients for NICU discharge.
Outcome: The evidence-based institution-specific NICU discharge checklist utilized during the intervention period of the process improvement produced a statistically significant increase in IP team attendance at weekly rounds compared to the baseline period. Improved attendance by the IP team at weekly rounds led to enhanced communication among the team, which was clinically meaningful for infants and their families.
Conclusion: Incorporation of a checklist by the IP team improves discharge care coordination activities ensuring that both clinical and psychosocial milestones are addressed to improve patient safety and care efficiency.
Recommended Citation
Lawson, L. A. (2025). Implementation of an Institution-Specific Checklist to Improve Compliance with Discharge Round Completion in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. [Doctoral project, University of St Augustine for Health Sciences]. SOAR @ USA: Student Scholarly Projects Collection. https:/doi.org/10.46409/sr.LQBD2975
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
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