Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects
Access Control
Campus Access
Embargo Period
4-29-2017
Degree Program
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Degree Track
Post Master's DNP Completion
Year Degree Awarded
2017
Month Degree Awarded
May
Keywords
Intellectual disabilities, education, acute care, nurses
Advisor
Deborah Rosenbloom
DNP Project Chair
Deborah Rosenbloom
DNP Project Member Name
Genevieve Chandler
DNP Project Outside Member Name
Laura Currie
Abstract
The U.S. Surveillance of Health of People with Intellectual Disabilities, A White Paper (2009), reported people with intellectual disability (PWID) are more likely to have complex conditions, limited access, missed cancer screenings, poorly managed chronic conditions, undetected poor vision, and mental health issues. Research has shown there continues to be a gap in the educational preparation of healthcare providers in the care of people with intellectually disabilities, which contributes to substandard quality of care and increased morbidity and mortality. Best practices for this population include education of the healthcare provider. A quality improvement project aimed at improving the knowledge and practices of acute care nurses caring for adults with intellectual disabilities was conducted at an academic medical center. The purpose of a two-hour educational program provided to nurses was to articulate the best practices in caring for this patient population. Following the education, 94.4% of the attendees were inspired to learn more about the subject and 88.9% reported they would apply the new knowledge to their practice. Increased knowledge and skill set of nurses caring for the intellectually disabled adult in the acute care setting improves the quality of care and has the potential to decrease morbidity and mortality. This program further supports the need for expanding nursing curriculums to include the care of this population across the lifespan.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.