Creating an anticoagulant patient education class

A patient education workgroup was developed on a progressive care medical/vascular surgical unit. The workgroup identified patient education needs regarding discharge education for postsurgical patients and those discharging with oral anticoagulants (OAC). Staff surveys aided the workgroup in identi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of vascular nursing Vol. 28; no. 4; pp. 132 - 135
Main Authors:	Eickhoff, Jennifer S., Wangen, Tina M., Notch, Katie B., Ferguson, Tanya J., Nickel, Travis W., Schafer, Amy R., Bush, Diana L.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Mosby, Inc 01-12-2010
Subjects:	Administration, Oral Anticoagulants - administration & dosage Anticoagulants - therapeutic use Confidence Intervals Data Collection Goals Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Humans International Normalized Ratio Medication Adherence Nurse's Role Nursing Patient care Patient education Patient Education as Topic - methods Patient Education as Topic - trends Patient Satisfaction Personal safety Quality management Surveys and Questionnaires Warfarin
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Summary:	A patient education workgroup was developed on a progressive care medical/vascular surgical unit. The workgroup identified patient education needs regarding discharge education for postsurgical patients and those discharging with oral anticoagulants (OAC). Staff surveys aided the workgroup in identifying a need for additional discharge education for patients and families. After various methods of patient education were explored, it was determined the workgroup could best meet the needs of the patient population through a class format providing group discussion and interaction. Logistical details and class formatting were configured to meet both the needs of the patients and the nursing staff. Current institutional patient education pamphlets were used to develop the content for the class. Physician review and input were obtained during the development of the content. A patient education specialist was also consulted to ensure proper literacy levels were used. To meet the Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal regarding anticoagulant safety, the content focused on home management, which included the following: knowledge of INR goal range, dietary factors, when to call the provider and safety precautions. Other topics to promote self-efficacy in anticoagulation therapy were also included in the content. Postclass evaluations completed by patients and families provided useful feedback for continuous improvement and patient satisfaction. Preliminary survey results indicate high patient satisfaction with the class. Plans include a quality improvement project to evaluate the effectiveness of the patient education class on OAC.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1062-0303 1532-6578
DOI:	10.1016/j.jvn.2010.08.002