• Kristin M Blonk, Ashley Davenport, Brett Morgan, and Virginia C Muckler.
• J. Perianesth. Nurs. 2019 Feb 1; 34 (1): 143-150.

PurposeThis quality improvement project aimed to change the practice of administration route of acetaminophen from intravenous (IV) to oral to patients having a hysterectomy at a community hospital, reduce costs, and maintain postanesthesia care unit pain scores for patients who receive oral acetaminophen comparable to those who receive IV acetaminophen.DesignThere were 46 participants: 23 in the preintervention group and 23 in the postintervention group.MethodsData retrieved from the electronic medical record included the route of acetaminophen administered, cost, and pain scores.FindingsImplementation of this quality improvement project resulted in no difference in the pain scores between the preintervention and postintervention groups (P = .637). In addition, the hospital cost for acetaminophen decreased 95.25% and patients saved $6,683 during the 3-month implementation period.ConclusionsThe administration of oral acetaminophen provided equivalent postoperative analgesia compared with IV acetaminophen and reduced costs for both the hospital and patients.Copyright © 2018 American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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