Date of this Version

12-13-2022

Document Type

DNP Project

Abstract

Hospital readmissions in nursing home residents are a major problem affecting health care outcomes, resident quality of life, and costs. Telehealth has been shown to improve care delivery for persons with chronic conditions and has promise for reducing nursing home rehospitalizations. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to explore nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and self-reported use of telehealth in caring for Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) residents with the goal of developing an evidence-based educational program for the facility. A convenience sampling approach was used. Participants, all registered nurses (RNs), were recruited from a local SNF. A 35-item online survey was developed and modified from Kowitlawakul’s (2008) eICU Acceptance Survey based on the Telehealth Acceptance Model (TAM). Twenty-four RNs of the eligible 75 RNs completed the survey (participation rate of 32%), a majority (75%, n = 18) were women, and worked the dayshift (75%, n = 18 ). Most of the nurses felt telehealth was easy to use (n =16, 72.7%), felt comfortable using telehealth (n= 17, 77.3%), and believed telehealth provides more time for patient care (n =14, 63.6%). Fifty percent (n =12) of the participants did not think telehealth would enhance job effectiveness and 48% (n =11) did not believe telehealth would increase job productivity. The primary finding from this quality improvement project (QIP) was that although most staff had a positive perspective toward the use of telehealth, approximately half of nurses reported telehealth does not increase productivity or enhance job effectiveness. These findings indicate staff may benefit from an evidence-based educational program focused on the value of telehealth in preventing SNF resident rehospitalizations.

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