Improving the postpartum patient experience with implementation of a teach-back methodology during hospital discharge education

Postpartum discharge education is a significant event of a maternal patient’s birth experience. Being discharged from the hospital setting can be overwhelming for a new mother when she is focused on the care and safety of her newborn. It is crucial to explore the best techniques to deliver discharge education to a mother in a way that enhances her perception of quality patient care and informs her of important critical warning signs, post-birth, to prevent maternal mortality and morbidity. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to improve nursing communication at discharge and determine if utilizing a teach-back methodology improved Press Ganey Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, specifically pertaining to discharge communication. The Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) framework guided the project team using the Always Use Teach Back! toolkit from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The results suggested significantly higher registered nurse self-assessment scores of convictions and confidence in using a teach-back methodology during discharge education from pre-implementation and-post implementation surveys. Furthermore, the postpartum patients had an increase in Press Ganey HCAHPS scores when their discharge education incorporated a teach-back methodology.