Date of Paper/Work
6-2019
Type of Paper/Work
Doctor of Nursing Practice Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Graduate Programs Faculty
Department/School
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Abstract
A home care agency provided a program for nurse delivered essential oil aromatherapy. Little documentation of the utilization of essential oils in client care was found two years after initial implementation. The aromatherapy program lacked clear guidance on how to apply the six stages of the home care nursing process. The Project Lead wrote an Evidence-Based Clinical Guideline for the home care agency Aromatherapy Program, including all six stages of the nursing process. Empowered Holistic Nurse Education theory guided the creation of nurse education materials to teach nurses to use the clinical guideline. Components of the nurse education theory were paired with the stages of rapid cycle quality improvement, Plan, Do, Study, Act. Improvement in the rate of documentation of the program indicated the project was successful with all participating homes achieving better than zero times of documentation per week and improved nurse scores on a Pre- and Post- Test of aromatherapy knowledge. Difficulties with implementation included lack of training time outside of regular duties and accessing online materials. A finding from the Pre- and Post-Implementation Surveys was an increase in nurses’ perceived authority to implement evidence-based practice change. Nurse education theory is useful for nurse leaders who want to promote changes in nursing practice. Teaching and learning circles of nurses in practice co-create quality improvements in patient care. Empowered nurses contribute practice-based evidence to evidence-based practice. Areas for further study include engaging nurses in the forty to sixty-year-old demographic and working with clients who have their own aromatherapy practices.
Recommended Citation
Ness, Anne Teresa. (2019). Improving an Aromatherapy Program by Implementing an Evidence-based Clinical Guideline Using Empowered Holistic Nursing Education. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/dnp_projects/103