Date
11-13-2025
Department
School of Nursing
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Chair
Cynthia Goodrich
Keywords
teach-back, medication communication, readmission, patient satisfaction, patient education
Disciplines
Nursing
Recommended Citation
Varghese, Sangeeta Biju, "Bridging the Gap: Improving Medication Communication Through the Teach-Back Method at Discharge" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7591.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7591
Abstract
Patient experience and hospital readmission rates are both key performance indicators in value-based reimbursement, as defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Both these indicators have a negative impact not only on patients but also on hospital profitability, and they are closely tied to discharge education. Lack of proper discharge instructions, especially about medication regimen, can result in adverse effects in patients post-discharge, which could have been prevented had they gotten adequate discharge instructions. Research has shown that almost 20% of patients leaving the hospital have an adverse drug event after discharge. Nurses have a key role in providing education prior to discharge. The purpose of this project was to reduce medication communication concerns by providing comprehensive discharge education using the teach-back method. While the intervention demonstrated a slight decrease in the number of patients with concerns about their medication, there is an opportunity to engage nurses in using the teach-back method as a regular part of their work process.
