Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Capstone
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Committee Chair
Anna Hamrick
Abstract
Frailty has been noted throughout the literature to have a negative effect on patient outcomes especially in patients undergoing major surgical interventions such as cardiothoracic surgery. Preoperative assessments have historically included assessment of all body systems, however fails to evaluate patients for baseline physical functioning or frailty. The American College of Cardiology has recommended frailty screening on all cardiac surgery patients; however, facilities have failed to educate staff providing care to this population on the impact of frailty and use of commonly used frailty screening tools. This project hypothesized that Cardiothoracic Surgery Nurses and providers would have improved knowledge and confidence regarding the description and impact of frailty and use of frailty screening tools after receiving education. The project outcomes found that nurses and providers had significantly improved knowledge and confidence regarding description and impact of frailty. Knowledge and confidence regarding completion of frailty screening tools (Katz-6 and Lawton Independent Activities of Daily Living) improved also. Providers (100%) acknowledged that the educational intervention would change their current practice.
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Citation Information
Hargett, April P., "Frailty Screening in Cardiac Surgery Patients: Improving Risk Stratification" (2018). Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects. 312.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/nursing_etd/312