Date of Award

Summer 2025

Project Type

Thesis

College or School

CHHS

Department

Nursing

Program or Major

Direct Entry Masters of Nursing

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

Elizabeth Evans

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Pain management is a large portion of what nurses manage during the patient’s time on the labor and delivery unit. The primary forms of pain management that is available to women during this time includes epidurals, nitrous oxide, stadol/diphenhydramine, and nonpharmacological options such as breathing techniques. It is essential that patients are aware of all pain management options prior to entering the unit for delivery, however sometimes nurses have to help to close the educational gap.

LOCAL PROBLEM:

Within the microsystem, it was acknowledged that many patients lacked the education of their pain management options prior to delivery which left the nurses to close the educational gap.

METHODS:

This quality improvement (QI) project used the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. The plan phase took place during the spring of 2025 and consisted of a review of literature and creation of pre- and post-intervention survey. The do phase consisted of going into the microsystem to disseminate the surveys. The study phase consisted of analyzing the data, which guided the act phase if next steps were to be taken.

INTERVENTION: The data from the pre-intervention survey was used to gather suggestions and guide the creation of an educational handout that can be utilized by the nurses to provide patient education. The post-intervention survey was then used to approve the handout that was created as a result of the first survey.

RESULTS:

The pre-intervention survey showed that 40% of nurses were not satisfied with the patients preliminary understanding of their pain management options during labor. In relation to the individual pain management options, the nurses were analyzed using the Likert scale to which many nurses ranged from somewhat dissatisfied to neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. After the creation of the educational handout, the nurses were reassessed on their satisfaction pertaining to the educational handout and if they are satisfied with the information. The post-intervention survey showed that 100% of the nurses were satisfied with this educational handout and on the Likert scale questions ranged from somewhat satisfied to extremely satisfied.

CONCLUSION:

The QI project led to the creation of an educational handout that the nurses felt comfortable with moving forward to use to help provide patient education. By the nurses using the educational handout, the patients can keep a hold of if after the initial education so that they have a reference point throughout the duration of their labor. This will also help the nurses be efficient in providing patient education when the labor and delivery unit is particularly busy.

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