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Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders in the perioperative environment must be managed according to national and institutional guidelines. Health care professionals, including perioperative nurses, may be unfamiliar with the guidelines and unsure of their role in reevaluating a DNR order. We conducted a multidisciplinary quality improvement project at a metropolitan community hospital that aimed to improve health care providers' compliance with the institutional policy, nursing involvement in DNR reevaluation, and communication between providers. The project intervention was an educational fair preceded and followed by a survey measuring knowledge about DNR orders, institutional policy, and national guidelines; attitude toward and comfort with the reevaluation process; and the effectiveness of the communication processes. Knowledge of DNR orders improved (P < .0001) for three of four survey questions. Attitude, comfort, and communication also improved (P < .01). A chart audit two months after the intervention showed that compliance with the institutional policy increased by 75%.

Preoperative teaching and stoma marking are supported by research and included in clinical practice guidelines from the WOCN Society and others. Using a FOCUS-Plan-Do-Check-Act model of Total Quality Management, a multidisciplinary team was formed that developed a flow chart outlining the process of care for patients undergoing planned ostomy surgery that included an educational intervention that enabled staff nurses to perform preoperative stoma site marking and education. After 3 months, we found a statistically significant increase in the number of surgical patients who received these evidence-based interventions (14% vs 64%; χ = 9.32; P = .002).

The opportunity exists to promote successful adaptation in this surgical population through the implementation of the evidence-based interventions of preoperative teaching and stoma marking. Additional study is needed to determine barriers to their use as well as to develop effective implementation strategies.

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