Implementing A Nurse Navigator Role In An Outpatient Procedural Setting To Improve Patient Satisfaction Scores: A Quality Improvement Project

Author

Lashanti King, Prairie View A&M University

Date of Award

12-2025

Document Type

DNP Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Degree Discipline

Nursing Practice

Abstract

Much focus has been placed on patient experience since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010 due to its regulatory, financial, and business growth implications. Patient satisfaction is crucial to maintaining and growing a customer base and fulfilling the target growth established in institutional strategic plans. This project aimed to determine whether implementing a nurse navigator role to perform rounds in the preoperative and waiting areas for two months would increase patient-reported satisfaction scores regarding being informed about delays and the likelihood of recommending the facility. Due to its subjective nature, it is challenging to consistently maintain high levels of patient satisfaction. Current approaches to improving patient satisfaction, including intentional hourly rounding by staff, are well-documented in inpatient settings; however, the effectiveness of these interventions in ambulatory, procedural, or surgical settings remains unclear. The PICO(T) question this project addressed was: Does a nurse navigator conducting rounds in the waiting area and preoperative rooms increase Press Ganey satisfaction scores regarding (a) being informed about delays during the visit and (b) the likelihood of recommending the facility compared with pre-intervention survey results over two months? Third-party vendor Press Ganey sent out 653 surveys, and 136 were completed and returned, resulting in a 20.8% return rate. The respondents were comprised of 62.5% males and 37.5% females, and 79.9% identified as White, while 16.5% identified as Black/African American. The Chi-square test of independence was used to compare pre- and post-implementation data. The nurse navigator intervention significantly improved patient scores regarding being informed about delays (p = .019). The change in the patients’ likelihood to recommend the facility was not significant (p = .887), indicating that the nurse navigator did not have a significant effect on this outcome. As patient satisfaction is multifaceted, a nurse navigator intervention should not be a facility’s sole strategy to increase patient satisfaction scores.

Keywords: nurse navigator, patient satisfaction, outpatient satisfaction, same-day discharge

Committee Chair/Advisor

Chloe Gaines

Committee Member

Ulanda Adair-Simpson

Committee Member

Sharisse Hebert

Committee Member

Geraldine Jones

Committee Member

Karen Powell

Publisher

Prairie View A&M University

Rights

Date of Digitization

01/05/2026

Contributing Institution

J. B . Coleman Library

City of Publication

Prairie View

MIME Type

Application/PDF

Recommended Citation

King, L. (2025). Implementing A Nurse Navigator Role In An Outpatient Procedural Setting To Improve Patient Satisfaction Scores: A Quality Improvement Project. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/dnp-projects/24