Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
2017
Upload Date
2024
First Advisor
Angela Schmidt
Abstract
Heart failure creates a significant economic burden for the United States (Ambrosy et al., 2014). In an effort to better coordinate care for patients with advanced heart failure, the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association developed guidelines for the management of heart failure and suggest integration of palliative care services (Yancy et al., 2013). Palliative care is defined as specialized medical care for patients with serious illness to improve quality of life by focusing on symptom control (Hospice and Palliative Care Association, 2017). The aim of this scholarly project was to translate research into practice by developing a nurse driven protocol, for use with current palliative care policies, to increase palliative care consults in patients with advanced heart failure through leadership and education. A protocol was developed and education on the new process was provided to hospital staff responsible for heart failure education and palliative care consults. A pre and post education survey was done using the End of Life Professional Caregiver Survey (EPCS) tool (Lazenby, Ercolano, Schulman-Green, & McCorkle, 2012). After development, implementation, and education on the new protocol, palliative care consults increased from 43% to 72%; however, this did not result in a statistically significant improvement in palliative care consult rates in advanced heart failure patients
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Calendar, Amber, "Development And Implementation Of A Nurse Driven Protocol To Increase Palliative Care Consults In Patients With Advanced Heart Failure" (2017). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 7.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/7
