An Educational Intervention to Increase Nurse Practitioners’ Knowledge and Awareness of Polypharmacy

The presence of multiple health problems can contribute to the simultaneous use of multiple medications by an individual, also known as polypharmacy. While polypharmacy can be necessary, it has the potential risk of adverse drug reactions and possible hospitalization. In the local organization, leadership noted that 47% of patients seen are elderly individuals who have multiple comorbidities, indicating the probable use of multiple medications. Thus, purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice project was to determine if an educational intervention focused on polypharmacy and the use of the electronic medical record to manage polypharmacy increased knowledge and awareness among nurse practitioners (NPs) working in private clinical practice. With support from leadership, seven NPs (N = 7) attended the educational intervention. The mean pretest score for knowledge was 7.00 (SD = 1.41), and the mean posttest score was 9.00 (SD = 0.82). Using a Wilcoxon signed rank test, there was a statistically significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores (z = -2.27, p < 0.05), indicating an increase in knowledge among the participants. Participants were also asked to rate their awareness of polypharmacy on three content areas on a Likert scale from 1 to 7 with 1 = “no awareness” and 7 = “full awareness.” Using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test, there was a statistical difference between pretest and posttest scores, indicating an increase in awareness among the participants. It is hoped that the increased knowledge and awareness among the participants is translated into practice that will then ultimately lead to positive patient, provider, and organizational outcomes.