How Important is Patient

Satisfaction?

Thaynara Carvalho, Kasey Mitchell, Peyton McLaughlin, Tiffany Fernandez, Bianca Morales
THE PROBLEM: HCAHPS SCORES

● Memorial Regional Medical Patients who reported that staff “always” explained medications before giving them.

Center (MRMC) scored 61%

when patients were asked if
“staff always explains
medications before giving
them”.
● This score is 3% lower than
the Virginia state average,
(U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2020)
which is scored at 64%.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ISSUE
Macro Description
● Ineffective patient education
regarding medication is an
ongoing concern in healthcare
(Jones & Coke., 2016).
● Medication education can
improve patient satisfaction,
confidence, safety, and well-
being (Ghorbani et al., 2014).
Micro Description
● When looking at HCAHPS data
related to “Patients who have
reported that staff always
explained about medicines
before giving it to them”, MRMC
scored 61% when compared to
the Virginia state average of 64%
(U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,
2020).
ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUE

● Nurses report that excessive

workload, inadequate time, and
lack of educational facilities were
the biggest barriers to providing
the education (Ghorbani et al., 2014).

● Additional literature shows that

heavy workload, multiple patient
assignments, language barriers,
and inadequate nursing confidence
were classified as significant
barriers to patient education (Che et
al., 2016).
Nurses acknowledge their
responsibility to educate patients
about prescribed medications
(Jones & Coke, 2016). However, patient
satisfaction related to medication
education remains a problem
within the hospital system.

ROOT CAUSE
On account of the overwhelming literature
support for this assertion, we believe that heavy
nurse workload is the root cause for insufficient
patient medication education at MRMC.
Heavy nurse workload has
been identified as a
significant barrier to
providing satisfactory
patient medication
education (Che et al., 2016; Ghorbani
et al., 2014; Gilliam et al., 2016).
 AIM STATEMENT
● By decreasing nurse workload, we
aim to increase HCAHPS scores
regarding patient satisfaction with
medication education to above
64% at MRMC, by June 30th, 2021.
HYPOTHESIS
● If nurses have easier access to
medication education tools, then
nurse workload will be decreased. By
decreasing nurse workload,
medication education can be
completed effectively, thus,
increasing patient satisfaction
HCAHPS scores.
THE SOLUTION

Implement changes within the

EPIC system and utilize “badge
buddies”
THE SOLUTION...

● Placing a on the
“indications” section when
ordering medications.
○ This would require
providers to state why
the medication is being
prescribed.
● This solution is obtainable
per EPIC personale (D. Hetrick & J.
Smith, personal communication, October 29,
2020).
THE SOLUTION CONTINUED...

● Unit specific “badge

buddy” that include
most common
medications and
top side effects
LOGISTICS

● Collaborate with EPIC to

create an Indications New
changes
hardstop to
● Collaborate between charge decrease
nurses and floor nurses to workload

create a “badge buddy”

● Utilize BSMH print shop to
print and laminate “badge
buddies”
● Educate employees on
change
 KEY STAKEHOLDERS

BSMH IT Acute Care Nurses

Nursing and
Department and
Executives/Nurse
Print Shop EPIC team Physicians
Managers and Leaders
COST

CHANGES BADGE STAFF

WITHIN EPIC BUDDIES TRAINING

ONLY $0.15 per

1-hour of work 15 minutes
badge buddy!
TIMELINE - 2021
Evaluate
effectiveness of the
implemented
All staff changes. HCAHPS
Januaryeducated
20XX scores are expected
on changes to increase by this
time.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Reassess
effectiveness of
Changes implemented implemented
changes.
 HCAHPS Scores
DATA
COLLECTION
Nurse Survey
 NURSE SURVEY
Did the implementation of a hardstop in
the medication indications section
decrease nurse workload?
Yes
No

Did the implementation of the badge

buddy with the most common side effects
of medications decrease nurse workload?
Yes
No
REFERENCES

Che, H.-L., Yeh, M.-Y., Jiang, R.-S., & Wu, S.-M. (2016). Taiwanese nurses’ experiences of difficulties in providing patient education in

hospital settings. Nursing & Health Sciences, 18(1), 113–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12266

Ghorbani, R., Soleimani, M., Zeinali, M. R., & Davaji, M. (2014). Iranian nurses and nursing students’ attitudes on barriers and

facilitators to patient education: A survey study. Nurse Education in Practice, 14(5), 551–556.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2014.06.003

Gillam, S.W., Gillam, A.R., Casler, T., & Curcio, K. (2016). Education for medications and side effects: A two-part mechanism for

improving the patient experience. Applied Nursing Research, Vol. 31, 72-78

Jones, T. R., & Coke, L. (2016). Impact of standardized new medication education program on postdischarge patients’ knowledge and

satisfaction. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 46(10), 535-540. doi:10.1097/nna.0000000000000398

REFERENCES CONT.

U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2020, October 21). Hospital Compare: Memorial Regional Medical Center survey

of patient experiences. https://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare

Questions?