Date of Paper/Work

5-2018

Type of Paper/Work

Doctor of Nursing Practice Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Janet Benz

Department/School

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Abstract

Two Interprofessional teams addressed the issue of resident pain at St Gertrude's Health and Rehabilitation Center (SGHRC). The groups included members of Saint Catherine University Clinical Scholars Program and clinical staff from SGHRC. Both teams utilized evidence-based practice and the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) quality improvement method as a model for implementation, leading to valuable insight into how to approach change when working with interprofessional teams in the long-term care (LTC) and transitional care unit (TCU) settings.

Exploration of the evidence resulted in the development of a quality improvement initiative to improve pain scores for LTC and TCU residents. The application of the plan-do-study-act method allowed for the evaluation of staff education, pain assessment, and integrative pain reduction methods on pain management. The rapid-cycle approach permitted for and determined changes needed to improve procedures and an organized way of implementation (healthIT.gov, n. d.). An educational component on pain assessment in the TCU and integrational pain reduction methods in the LTC unit provided by nursing assistants, nurses, and therapy associates was developed to reduce moderate to severe pain.

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