Improving Timely Administration of Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis Within a Medical Surgical Unit

Hospital-acquired venous thromboembolisms are a highly preventable condition. Despite the availability of multiple evidence-based guidelines, there continues to be suboptimal use of timely venous thromboembolism prophylaxis. The purpose of this doctoral nursing quality improvement project was to determine if the implementation of an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital-Associated Venous Thromboembolism Prevention Guideline would impact the rate of timely administration of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis as compared to current practice in hospitalized adult patients admitted to a medical-surgical unit over 4 weeks. The organization measures the rate of timely administration of prophylaxis by monitoring the VTE-1 metric. All medical-surgical units across the hospital contribute to the VTE-1 metric score. There is an internal quality goal of achieving a VTE-1 score of at least 75% monthly, and it has not been able to consistently meet this metric. The aim of this project was to increase a single medical-surgical unit’s VTE-1 metric compliance by 10%. The quantitative method was used to compare data outcomes between the comparative and implementation groups. Data collection for the implementation period included a total of 71 participants over 4 weeks. The results showed that in the comparative group, 72% (n = 55) of patients met the VTE- 1 metric and 85% (n = 60) of patients met the VTE-1 metric in the implementation group. Pearson’s chi-square noted a p value of 0.075, and a 13% increase in the unit’s VTE-1 metric compliance after implementation of the project. Findings showed that clinical significance was demonstrated after introducing a VTE risk assessment and providing education. Keywords: venous thromboembolism, prophylaxis, VTE-1 metric, medical-surgical, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital-Associated Venous Thromboembolism Prevention Guideline