Graduation Semester and Year
Fall 2026
Language
English
Document Type
DNP Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Kirsten Drake, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, ONC, CPXP, CLSSGB
Abstract
Effective nurse–patient communication is essential to patient understanding, safety, and experience. This quality improvement project evaluated a structured communication bundle consisting of Teach-Back, intentional bedside nurse rounding, and nurse leader rounding on an adult intermediate care unit. A pre–post quality improvement design guided by the Plan–Do–Study–Act framework was used. The historical nurse communication composite baseline was 46.7%, and the project objective was to increase the composite by at least 10 percentage points while achieving at least 80% adherence to each process measure. During implementation period, nurse leader rounding was completed in 313 of 523 eligible opportunities (59.8%). Teach-Back was validated in 255 of 290 eligible encounters (87.9%), and intentional bedside nurse rounding was validated in 306 of 307 eligible responses (99.7%). The post-implementation nurse communication composite was 33.6% (n = 11 returned surveys), a 13.1-percentage-point decrease from baseline; therefore, the primary outcome target was not achieved. Teach-Back and intentional bedside nurse rounding exceeded their predefined targets, whereas nurse leader rounding did not. Findings highlight the need for reliable nurse leader rounding structures and longer evaluation periods with larger survey samples.
Keywords
Nurse–patient communication, Teach-Back, intentional rounding, nurse leader rounding, patient experience, quality improvement
Disciplines
Nursing Administration | Other Nursing
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Phillips, Tekhesia, "Improving Nurse–Patient Communication Through Evidence-Based Strategies" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects. 27.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/nursing_dnpprojects2/27