Date of Award
Summer 2024
Document Type
DNP Executive Summary
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
Department
Nursing
Faculty Chair
Dr. Laura Barrow
Preceptor
Dr. Ashlie Barnes
Mentor
Jessica Molay, RN
Abstract
Background: In-hospital cardiac arrests (IHCA) have negative outcomes on patients and can prolong hospitalization or lead to death. The rate of IHCA has been increasing over the past few years in the United States. A medical intensive-care stepdown unit in a level three trauma center has an incidence of IHCA above the national average and a survival-to-discharge rate less than the national average.
Purpose: The project aimed to improve patient outcomes and reduce the rate of IHCA by placing infographics containing evidence-based practice in the unit with the highest incidence.
Methods: A pre-post implementation quality improvement design was used to compare the incidence of IHCA before and after the placement of infographics in common areas of the unit.
Results: The results of the two-proportion z-test yielded a z-value of -0.78 and a p-value of 0.435. These findings indicate that there was no significant change in the proportion of patients who coded before and after the introduction of the infographics. Despite the efforts to enhance awareness through the infographics, the incidence of code events increased from 19.6 per 1,000 to 37.7 per 1,000 admissions between the two periods.
Conclusion: The use of infographics did not reduce the rate of IHCA in the unit with the highest incidence. Factors such as lack of buy-in from staff, increased number of travel nurses on the unit, and increasing patient complexity negatively impacted the project. There was inconsistent use of the MEWS protocol by the nursing staff due to no automated alerts of critical MEWS scores. Re-education and automated activation of the RRT may be necessary to reduce the IHCA rate.
Recommended Citation
Pope, Alexis Morgan, "Reducing the Incidence of In-Hospital Cardiac Arrests (IHCA) by Utilizing Infographics" (2024). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 120.
https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/etds_nursing/120
DNP Project Poster
Pope DNP Slide Presentation.pdf (1455 kB)
DNP Slide Presentation