Part 1

General Project Information

Project Name

Increased Patient Awareness and Vaccination for Pneumococcal Pneumonia in the Elderly

Executive Sponsors

W.X, Ph.D., RN, Chief Nursing Officer- The CNO is the project representative in the c-suite and secures operational and logistics support.

G.D, Chairperson Board of Trustees- The chairperson will be the liaison with the board, and they will represent the organization's strategic plan to ensure it is upheld in the project.

Department Sponsors

K.T, DNP, MSN, RN Director of Nursing- The director will coordinate all operations and support managers and providers.

B.N, MSN, RN, E.D Nurse Manager- The nurse manager will coordinate the project in the E.D.

F.G, MScHQ, Quality Management Director- The quality manager will manage the quality improvement measurement and monitoring processes.

Project Aim

Vaccines are undoubtedly one of the most effective treatments available to patients for preventing sickness and reducing morbidity and death associated with infectious diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2014) advises regular immunizations from infancy to adulthood to protect against vaccine-preventable illnesses throughout one's lifespan. Over the past century, a significant improvement in average life expectancy has been related to a decline in infectious illness mortality due to immunizations. Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective clinical preventative interventions, providing a high rate of return on investment (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2014). Presently, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) suggests 12 different vaccinations for individuals aged 19 and older, including two vaccines specifically designed to prevent pneumonia: pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-13) and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) (CDC, 2015). Pneumococcal disease is a highly contagious, readily spread condition that causes enormous expenditure, complications, and mortality each year in the United States (American Lung Association [ALA], 2010). Patients 65 years of age and older are more prone to pneumonia-related problems since pneumonia often exacerbates underlying conditions. Individuals over 65 are more prone to develop sepsis, respiratory failure, lung abscesses, and even death. The pneumococcal illness kills one in every three to four persons over the age of 65 who developed it and was accountable for 61,282 fatalities in the United States in 2013; it is now the sixth-largest cause of mortality in older adults, tied with influenza (NFID, 2015). Community-acquired pneumonia accounts for 340,000–600,000 hospitalizations of older persons each year. Mortality rates are lower in this demographic than in younger adults;