Personal Visits and Patient Satisfaction

PICOT
P	Patient and Problem (or population)	Hospitalized patients over 65 years of age who have to stay in the hospital for a week or longer.
I	Intervention (Independent Variable)	15-30 minutes a day spent by the nurse with the patient, talking to them about the news, reading, and providing positive reinforcement.
C	Comparison Intervention (Independent Variable)	Standard nursing schedule with no dedicated visits that not associated with medical procedures and treatment.
O	Outcome (Dependent Variable)	The intervention will improve patient satisfaction and patient outcomes. Alternatively, there will be no distinct variation between the proposed intervention and the comparison intervention.
T	Time (you may or may not have this in your proposal)	The estimated time for conducting this research is 1-2 months, depending on the size of the patient sample and the duration of their hospital stay.
A brief sketch of Methods/Methodology (This is your PLAN for carrying out your research; how you will conduct your research)		This research will investigate the connection between patient satisfaction and patient outcomes. The sample population will involve from 10 to 20 patients of 65 years of age or older, hospitalized for periods of time of over a week. These people will be split into 2 groups the test group and the control group. Members of each group should have comparable diagnoses and equal estimated discharge times. Members of the test group will receive 15-30-minute visits from nursing personnel at a fixed time, during which the nurse is expected to provide company, conversation, and positive reinforcement. The control group would not receive such treatment and will be treated as usual. Once discharged, the patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire that will measure their patient satisfaction. The number of days they spent in hospitalization will be recorded. At the end of the study, patient satisfaction rates, as well as hospitalization times between the test group and the control group will be compared, using a T-test.
Assumptions/Theoretical Framework (What is your main assumption behind your hypothesis?)		There is a correlation between patient satisfaction and patient outcomes. In many cases, a satisfied patient is more likely to think positive thoughts and work towards his or her own recovery, whereas depressed patients are associated with decreased effectiveness of treatment (Zamanzadeh, Jasemi, Valizadeh, Keogh, & Taleghani, 2015). The effects of a positive attitude towards treatment are well-documented. Elderly patients tend to stay in hospitals for prolonged periods of time, due to being more susceptible to various diseases and health issues. Hospital stay, especially in cases of contagious diseases, requires patient isolation. The majority of the hospitals practices patient isolation by putting the patients in an isolated room with very little contact with the outside world (Sprague, Reynolds, & Brindley, 2016). Several studies have proven that patient isolation is associated with increased levels of depression, which may affect patient satisfaction and patient outcomes. Elderly patients are particularly vulnerable to these effects, and it is documented in many social and medical studies. According to Sprague et al. (2016), patient isolation in elders is associated with increased depression and delirium rates. The intervention is designed to provide companionship and positive reinforcement the elderly patient in order to counteract the feelings of depression and isolation, improve patient satisfaction and patient outcomes. The main assumption behind the hypothesis is that such treatment will help increase patient satisfaction and increase recovery rates, thus reducing hospital stay and readmission rates.

References

Sprague, E., Reynolds, S., & Brindley, P. (2016). Patient isolation precautions: Are they worth it? Canadian Respiratory Journal, 2016(1), 1-5.

Zamanzadeh, V., Jasemi, M., Valizadeh, L., Keogh, B., & Taleghani, F. (2015). Effective factors in providing holistic care: A qualitative study. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 21(2), 214224.

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