Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
9-21-2026
First Advisor
Lisa Drake
Second Advisor
Beverly Clark
Abstract
Medication-related surgical cancellations disrupt patient care, increase healthcare costs, and contribute to inefficient use of perioperative resources. Evidence supports standardized education and communication to improve perioperative medication safety. This quality improvement project aimed to improve staff self-efficacy in communicating medication instructions and reduce surgical cancellations associated with sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, and phentermine. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory and Lewin’s Change Model guided the project. A quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design included perioperative staff who provided medication instructions across two settings within an academic health sciences center. Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework, interventions included standardized staff education, patient portal messaging, an electronic health record practice advisory, and improved cancellation documentation. Staff self-efficacy was measured using an adapted General Self-Efficacy Scale, and cancellations were obtained from EHR and scheduling data. Self-efficacy remained high from preintervention (n = 16, median = 38.5) to postintervention (n = 13, median = 39), with no statistically significant difference (U = 100.5, p = .892). Medication-related cancellations decreased from 6.67 to 5.00 per month, an approximately 25% reduction. Limitations included a small, primarily nursing sample, measurable change in self-efficacy, unmatched surveys, a short intervention period, and limited organizational tracking of rescheduled surgeries. Findings suggest standardized medication communication and workflows may reduce preventable cancellations despite no significant change in staff self-efficacy.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Jefferson, Demetria, "A Quality Improvement Project: Impacting Communication Perceptions Among Nursing Staff and Providers Regarding Perioperative Medication Management Impacting Anesthesia Care" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 401.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/401
