Purpose

This 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.

Design

There were 46 participants: 23 in the preintervention group and 23 in the postintervention group.

Methods

Data retrieved from the electronic medical record included the route of acetaminophen administered, cost, and pain scores.

Findings

Implementation 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.

Conclusions

The administration of oral acetaminophen provided equivalent postoperative analgesia compared with IV acetaminophen and reduced costs for both the hospital and patients.