Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Final Projects

Disease burden is higher in the United States than in comparable countries. The Patient Self Determination Act of 1990 requires healthcare facilities to provide Advance Care Planning (ACP) information to all Medicare patients. The healthcare staffs’ (n=7) commitment to 3-days of ACP training increase ACP rates in the primary care setting. The Medicare Incentive Program is the platform for this initiative. This quantitative project used a valid and reliable pre and posttest design that consisted of 27 items on a Likert-scale. A 3.5-month chart audit (n=91) was conducted to assess the completion rate. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the demographic data.

The results of the two-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank test were significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, V = 0.00, z = -2.37, p = .018. There was a significant increase in the post-readiness to change average scores. A Mann Whitney test was used to analyze the statistically significant difference between the averages in two ACP types and electronic health record documentation (EHR). Staff did not always code (Mdn = 0.00) but they documented in the EHR (Mdn =1.00; 512.00, p = 0.003). ACP discussion was performed 63% of the time during Annual Wellness Visits (AWV), and there was a 49% increase in the EHR documentation. Trained staff are key stakeholders in guiding ACP conversations. They understand the barriers, impact, and consequences related to the lack of advance directives.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to implement health promotion education for overweight and obese adults with endocrine disorders. The overarching goal was to change dietary intake and improve exercise to reduce the incidence, prevalence, and impact of comorbidities associated with obesity.

Background/Synthesis: Obesity is a significant epidemic facing the nation today with multiple impacts on the national healthcare system. There is often an association between obesity and endocrine disorders such as type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. Both obesity and diabetes cost the nation billions of dollars annually in healthcare costs. Evidence shows that lifestyle modifications related to nutrition and physical activity are effective in weight reduction and prevention of chronic disease, especially when given by a healthcare provider.

Methods: Fifteen adult patients at an endocrinology office in Arizona received individual counseling using the teach-back method focusing on health promotion behaviors through nutrition and exercise with a two-week follow-up phone call. Short-term outcomes measured in this project included changes in dietary intake and exercise behaviors through a pre- and post-test adapted from an obesity-screening tool developed by Greenwood et al. (2008).

Outcomes/Results: Participants were primarily Caucasian and Hispanic, married, female, average age of 50 years, average BMI of 34.5, and some college education. There was a statistically significant increase in health promoting behavior on posttest scores (M=66, SD=6.23, range=58-76) compared to pretest scores (M=61, SD=4.72, range=50-66), t(14)=-2.55, p=0.023.

Conclusions and Implications: Overall, patient health promotion behaviors increased with this educational intervention. Clinical implications include a potential decrease in patient comorbidities related to overweight and obesity. Implications for the greater healthcare system include decreased comorbidities, utilization of healthcare resources, and costs associated with overweight and obesity. Future recommendations would include determining weight and BMI changes over a longer period of time for even better outcome measures.

Keywords: obesity, obese, overweight, health promotion, health education, diet, exercise, nutrition