Award Date

5-1-2019

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing (ND)

Department

Nursing

First Committee Member

Mary Bondmass

Second Committee Member

Sheniz Moonie

Third Committee Member

Alona Angosta

Fourth Committee Member

Necole Leland

Number of Pages

53

Abstract

A combination of asthma evidence-based education by nurse practitioners and other healthcare providers as well as self-management by patients with asthma and their caregivers are necessary to provide effective asthma care. According to the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) guidelines from the National Institute of Health (NIH), effective asthma care includes a detailed Asthma Action Plan (AAP). However, despite this evidence-based recommendation for all patients with asthma, studies suggest many healthcare providers do not routinely utilize an AAP.

The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to develop and evaluate a process for the integration of an AAP into everyday practice for healthcare providers. The population of interest included pediatric healthcare providers who manage asthma for children ages 7 to 17 years and their caregivers.

The setting for this project was a small outpatient pediatric clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada. A simplified AAP was developed and pediatric healthcare providers were given the AAP to use with their patients with asthma to assess its ease-of-use and potential benefit to both the providers and patient. Over the course of six weeks, pre- and post-questionnaires were given to healthcare providers (n = 4) at the clinic. Descriptive analyses using frequencies and percentages were performed to tabulate responses on the questionnaires. Paired-samples t-tests were utilized from interval data to compare pre-and post-intervention responses (scores) on the questionnaires.

Results demonstrated overall improvement on the pre- and post-questionnaire scores. An improvement was also seen in the barriers of time used to apply the AAP and no accessible AAP templates. A post-intervention in-person interview provided suggestions for continued AAP use including financial incentives, patient and caregiver empowerment, and AAP reminders for providers.

Evidence suggests that the NAEPP’s recommendation for an AAP is effective. Therefore, nurse practitioners and other healthcare providers may help reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with asthma in children by using an AAP. This DNP project demonstrated the ease of implementation of an AAP and may serve as an example for future quality improvement projects and research studies. By continuing to translate research evidence into everyday clinical practice, nurse practitioners and others involved in pediatric care may continue to improve practice by providing effective asthma management to children.

Keywords

Albuterol; Child; Inhaler; Medicine; NAEPP; Quality of life

Disciplines

Medical Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Nursing

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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