Objective: Prior to discharge from the hospital, the postpartum mother is expected to demonstrate knowledge, ability, and confidence to provide adequate care for herself and her newborn. Mother-baby nurses at our hospital expressed concerns for meeting educational needs of new mothers citing limited time and too much information, while patient satisfaction scores demonstrated poor results for consistency of information. A renewed commitment was made to improve the quality and efficiency of postpartum education. The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model was used to evaluate the literature. Recommendations from the evidence suggested collaborating with the new mother to create an individualized education plan and reinforcing verbal instruction with written information. The purpose of this project was to investigate whether the implementation of an evidence-based streamlined education process (comprehensive education booklet, individualized education plan, and integration of education into the clinical pathway) and nurse education would improve the quality and efficiency of postpartum education during hospitalization.

Design: A pre-test post-test design was used to measure quality of discharge teaching for new mothers and efficiency of the teaching process for registered nurses (RNs) before and after implementation of the intervention.

Patients/Participants: A convenience sample of 100 new mothers (50 receiving usual care and 50 receiving intervention) completed the “Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale” before leaving the hospital. Thirty-one RNs caring for mother-baby dyads completed the “Questionnaire on Factors Influencing Patient Teaching” before and after implementation.

Methods: Independent samples t-test was used to examine differences in mothers' perceived need for education, amount of education received, and quality of teaching. Paired samples t-tests were used to assess nurses' perception of efficiency of patient teaching. 

Implementation Strategies: A team of mother-baby nurses created 1) a comprehensive education booklet to promote consistent information, 2) documentation to create an individualized education plan, 3) integration of education into the clinical pathway, and 4) mandatory education about the process.

Results: A difference in the quality of education was not found, yet mothers in both groups reported receiving adequate information and good quality teaching. A significant increase from pre- to post-intervention (p < .01) was found for availability of patient teaching materials when providing patient teaching. Patient teaching forms provided added guidance to nurses for teaching and documentation (p < .01).

Conclusion/Implications for nursing practice: This educational intervention shows how a comprehensive educational booklet and enhanced documentation can improve efficiency in the patient teaching process for nurses.

Keywords: postpartum period, postnatal care, teaching, patient education