Implementing a Patient-Centered Education Bundle to Improve Venous Thromboembolism Prevention

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Patient safety
• Pharmacological interventions

Background:

• Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of preventable hospital harm.
• Despite evidence-based prophylaxis, missed doses due to refusal or other reasons remain a challenge.
• Interventions successful in academic settings need evaluation for community hospital implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and assess a strategy for reducing missed doses of VTE prophylaxis in a community hospital setting.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive approach combining nurse and patient education.

Main Methods:

• A prospective cohort study was conducted in a community hospital.
• An intervention involving dynamic nurse education and patient-centered alerts was implemented.
• Data were collected pre- and post-intervention from hospitalized adult patients receiving VTE prophylaxis.

Main Results:

• Missed VTE prophylaxis doses decreased from 12.9% to 9.3% post-intervention.
• Significant reductions were observed in doses missed due to patient refusal and other reasons.
• No significant difference in VTE incidence was noted between periods.

Conclusions:

• Engaging nurse education and timely patient education effectively improved VTE prophylaxis administration and acceptance.
• This study demonstrates that successful interventions from academic hospitals can be broadly implemented in community hospitals.
• The findings support the scalability of evidence-based strategies to enhance patient safety and reduce preventable harm.