Abstract

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of preventable hospital death in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). The correct selection of VTE prophylaxis in hospitalized patients is critical in stopping increased length of stays, incurring extra costs, and preventing deaths. Currently, the single modality of pneumatic compression sleeves (ICD) are often utilized for inpatient deep vein thrombosis prevention. ICDs are an easy, quick way for physicians to meet the requirement for VTE prevention in both general medical patients and those in the critical care unit. However, patients may remove or refuse this type of prevention due to discomfort or safety concerns with falling. Resultant hospital acquired VTE can incur added length of stays and extra hospital costs of up to $15,000 per occurrence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). Evidence based practice studies in this area have been researched and analyzed for accuracy in order to introduce a potential policy upgrade for VTE prevention in our patient population.

Best-evidence shows the use of combination prophylaxis measures using pharmacologic and pneumatic compression offer the best prevention of hospital acquired VTE.

A proposed change of the current policy regarding venous thromboembolism would only benefit our patient population and help prevent poor patient outcomes and/or added costs to the facility. An educational presentation should be done for the nurse leaders, physicians, and administrative staff to educate on the importance of combination prophylactic VTE therapy. A subsequent three-month evaluation of combination prophylaxis can then be done to provide further proof of the best-evidence in that combination therapy is a benefit in our facility for prevention of hospital acquired VTE.

Date of publication

Spring 4-16-2023

Document Type

MSN Capstone Project

Language

english

Persistent identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10950/4204

Degree

MSN-FNP Student

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