LanguageTerm (authority = ISO 639-3:2007); (type = text)
English
Abstract (type = abstract)
Annually, in the United States alone, over 5.7 million patients are admitted and treated in intensive care units (ICUs) with associated costs totaling over $80 billion. Patients and/or surrogate decision makers in ICUs are expected to make complex medical decisions that can have irreversible effects on healthcare outcomes. Literature review reveals that 1) communication practices in ICUs are poor, 2) that ICU nurse report inadequate skill, training and discomfort as barriers to quality communication, 3) that lack of education, varying degrees of experience and inconsistent communication strategies contribute to dissatisfaction with communication practices and 4) less than 60% of critical care family members were satisfied with communication practices. A comprehensive communication improvement initiative was developed including communication education for ICU bedside nurses and the implementation of a nurse-drive communication protocol/ documentation bundle. Results were evaluated using a pre- and post- survey design measuring nurses' reports on communication practices using a 1-10 scale. Post-intervention surveys revealed that participants reported statistically significant (p <0.05) increases in both comfort discussing prognosis with patients/family members and with the self-reported quality of communication between themselves and patients /family members. Post- intervention surveys revealed that implementation did not significantly affect 1) witnessed communication quality observed between healthcare providers and patients/family members, 2) nurses' comfort discussing goals of care with patients/family members, 3) communication quality between the participant and members of the healthcare team, 4) the consistency of communication from healthcare providers to patients/ family members and 5) the level of confidence arranging a family meeting.
Subject (authority = LCSH)
Topic
Communication in nursing
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_10048
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (52 pages) : illustrations
Note (type = degree)
DNP
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
School of Nursing (RBHS) DNP Projects
Identifier (type = local)
rucore10004500001
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.