An Initiative to Improve Postpartum Discharge Education

TY - JOUR

T1 - An Initiative to Improve Postpartum Discharge Education

AU - Suplee, Patricia D.

AU - D'Oria, Robyn

AU - Larson, Kelly

AU - Kilday, Deborah

AU - Eymold, Christine

AU - Onokpise, Brea

N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank the dedicated nurses who participated in this study and recognize Anne Santa-Donato for her oversight, guidance, and support in leading this project. All authors listed on this manuscript, with the exception of Brea Onokpise, disclosed receiving financial compensation for consulting activities related to the project described here from the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. The research/activities in this publication/presentation was/were supported by funding from Merck, through its Merck for Mothers initiative. Merck had no role in the design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The content of this publication is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of Merck. Merck for Mothers is known as MSD for Mothers outside the United States and Canada. Funding Information: The research/activities in this publication/presentation was/were supported by funding from Merck , through its Merck for Mothers initiative. Merck had no role in the design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The content of this publication is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of Merck. Merck for Mothers is known as MSD for Mothers outside the United States and Canada. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 AWHONN

PY - 2023/8

Y1 - 2023/8

N2 - Objective: To evaluate an online POST-BIRTH Warning Signs (PBWS) project focused on improving nurses’ knowledge and how they teach individuals in the postpartum period about potential complications. Design: Quality improvement project with exploratory pretest/posttest. Setting: Seventy hospitals with maternity services throughout the United States. Participants: A sample of 2,363 registered nurses. Intervention/Measurements: An online educational program with four surveys and a chart audit tool were used as evaluation measures. Results: There was an 11% increase in nurses’ knowledge after the online course intervention. A majority of nurses reported that they would improve how they educate patients and families about PBWS, that they would change their clinical practice based on what they learned, and that their facility implemented a protocol to educate patients about PBWS after the implementation of the course. The nurses’ reported confidence in their teaching increased 59% after implementation of the course. Conclusion: The majority of maternal deaths in the United States occur during the postpartum period. Therefore, it is vital that nurses provide standardized and structured educational messaging when teaching individuals in the postpartum period about signs and symptoms of potential complications. This quality improvement project demonstrated that the PBWS online education course was associated with an increase in nurses’ knowledge and confidence when teaching about potential complications that can arise during the postpartum period.

AB - Objective: To evaluate an online POST-BIRTH Warning Signs (PBWS) project focused on improving nurses’ knowledge and how they teach individuals in the postpartum period about potential complications. Design: Quality improvement project with exploratory pretest/posttest. Setting: Seventy hospitals with maternity services throughout the United States. Participants: A sample of 2,363 registered nurses. Intervention/Measurements: An online educational program with four surveys and a chart audit tool were used as evaluation measures. Results: There was an 11% increase in nurses’ knowledge after the online course intervention. A majority of nurses reported that they would improve how they educate patients and families about PBWS, that they would change their clinical practice based on what they learned, and that their facility implemented a protocol to educate patients about PBWS after the implementation of the course. The nurses’ reported confidence in their teaching increased 59% after implementation of the course. Conclusion: The majority of maternal deaths in the United States occur during the postpartum period. Therefore, it is vital that nurses provide standardized and structured educational messaging when teaching individuals in the postpartum period about signs and symptoms of potential complications. This quality improvement project demonstrated that the PBWS online education course was associated with an increase in nurses’ knowledge and confidence when teaching about potential complications that can arise during the postpartum period.

KW - POST-BIRTH Warning Signs

KW - complications

KW - discharge education

KW - maternal mortality

KW - parent education

KW - postbirth

KW - postpartum

KW - quality improvement

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85165681325&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85165681325&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.nwh.2023.04.007

DO - 10.1016/j.nwh.2023.04.007

M3 - Article

C2 - 37336492

SN - 1751-4851

VL - 27

SP - 270

EP - 282

JO - Nursing for Women's Health

JF - Nursing for Women's Health

IS - 4

ER -