Document Type

DNP - Open Access

Award Date

2017

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Graduate Nursing

First Advisor

Mary Minton

Keywords

advance care planning, advance directives, nurse practitioner, community-based seminar, end of life, quality of life

Abstract

Healthcare workers care for patients with many comorbidities- many of whom enter the system without a clear understanding of their values and preferences. Private discussions about advance directives (ADs) are effective, but cost-prohibitive. Community-wide education campaigns may result in improved quality of life (QOL) (Blackford & Street, 2012a; Bomba & Orem, 2015; Pecanac, Repenshek, Tennenbaum, & Hammes, 2014; Wilson, Kottke, & Schettle, 2014). The purpose of this project was to determine whether community-based seminars about advance care planning (ACP) increase knowledge in decisional adults 18 and older. This project combined discussion format with an ACP presentation. The presentation was delivered by a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student for a convenience sample of decisional adults (n = 42) ranging in age from 22-80 years of age. A pre/post ACP/AD Knowledge Survey was utilized to measure change in knowledge, and a demographic survey was administered to gather sample descriptives. A Wilcoxon signed rank test was statistically significant (p = .0004) for ACP/AD knowledge increase. These findings support that nurse practitioners are well poised to address ACP in the community setting. Their advanced knowledge of disease processes and patient centered care places them in an ideal position to promote patient understanding of ACP/AD processes. . Delivering ACP education in a community-based setting allows for dissemination to a large group of individuals at little to no cost to organizations and saves time for providers and patients alike – as well as allowing for meaningful discussions.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Advance directives (Medical care)
Patient education
Older people -- Education
Communication in medicine

Description

Includes bibliographical references (pages 70-78)

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

121

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Included in

Nursing Commons

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