Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Substance Abuse Awareness Amongst Practicing Nurses, Marjenia Williams

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: This paper discusses the problem and potential solutions of substance abuse amongst practicing nurses. Substance abuse is prevalent among 10% of the nursing population in the United States (Sofer, 2019). This problem is more significant than the public realizes. It is essential that new nurses and student nurses become aware of the risks and the causes of substance abuse within the culture prior to them practicing.

Methods: A 45-minute educational presentation based upon 10 peer-reviewed articles which include five articles regarding the problem and five discussing solutions was utilized to facilitate open discussion of the topic. The …

Prospective Generation Z Nurses: Expectation Of The Workforce In Connotation To The Great Resignation, Amelia Borders

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Great Resignation has left an impact on the entirety of the American workforce. Coupled with the burnout rates caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems have been trying to find solutions to inhibit the nurse shortage. While solutions that focus on symptoms of the problem may work for a short period of time, hospitals will continue to encounter issues with staffing nurses and will need to find a new solution (Laskowskil-Jones & Castner, 2022). A possible solution would be for hospitals to recruit and retain prospective Gen Z nurses. In a quantitative study completed at a single university in …

Addressing Compassion Fatigue In Critical Care Nurses, Melissa Bowen

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Compassion fatigue causes a ripple effect that impacts caregivers, patient outcomes, and the reliability of healthcare organizations. Jarrad et al. (2018) suggests the physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and organizational consequences of compassion fatigue are so extensive that they threaten the integrity of the nurse. Addressing compassion fatigue in critical care nurses is an indispensable part of maintaining the integrity and trust of the healthcare profession. It is imperative to care for the caregivers to warrant a solid foundation for optimal patient outcomes and engagement. Self-education and awareness, nursing leadership involvement, and self-care are integral to ensuring that compassion fatigue does …

Self-Care Practice In Nursing, Leslie Rhom

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Nurses encounter multiple stressors throughout each shift. If this is not managed well through self-care and coping strategies, it can negatively impact one 's health and the well-being and care delivered to patients. The purpose of this project is to bring awareness of current self-care strengths and limitations of nursing students, equipping students with evidence-based practices to enhance self-care. This effort can lead to improved patient care outcomes by decreasing job turnover, burnout, and compassion fatigue. The participants in this project were pre-licensure nursing students in the final semester of nursing school. Participants attended a didactic lecture, completed the Mindful …

Perception Of Health Literacy Levels Among Nurses In Clinical Settings, Chelsea L. Oxendine

Master of Science in Nursing Theses and Projects

Health literacy has been defined as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions” (Somers & Mahadevan, 2010, p. 7). Poor health literacy is directly and indirectly linked to negative health outcomes, to include an increased rate of mortality (Alijassim & Ostini, 2020; Wittenberg, et al. 2018; Nantsupawat, 2019; Torres & Nichols, 2014). An essential component for effective delivery of health information is the use of “plain language”, which makes information easier to understand (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). There is …

Reducing Nurses' Communication Anxiety During End Of Life Care, Susan Dunbar Wolfrom

Master of Science in Nursing Theses and Projects

End of life (EOL) conversations are meaningful discussions pertaining to the patient’s disease trajectory, symptom management, and the patient’s goals at end of life. End of life care discussions have been associated with many benefits for the patient including: decreased healthcare costs, less aggressive treatments at EOL, and a good death. These sensitive discussions must occur over the course of several interactions or spontaneously in the moment in order to support the patient during delicate moments. This makes the nurse the prime candidate to help facilitate and harbor these discussions. However, barriers to communication exist, leading to the omission of …

Nurse Confidence Levels In Malignant Hyperthermia, Paige Wilson

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Malignant hyperthermia is a life threatening medical emergency. When individuals with a certain genetic predisposition are exposed to certain pharmaceutical triggering agents, a malignant hyperthermia crisis can occur. If the crisis is not recognized early and symptoms are not treated, the ending result will be patient death. The ability to recognize and intervene in a malignant hyperthermia crisis demonstrates knowledge and confidence by the nurse. Simulation training is an educational tool that nurses can use to increase confidence levels in recognizing and intervening in this type of medical emergency in a safe environment. The findings from this research indicate a …

The Impact A Nurse's Work Environment Has On Breastfeeding, Ashley Dawn Hull

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Breastfeeding is a global health initiative, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), because of its numerous health benefits to mothers and infants. Despite breast milk’s documented benefits to mothers and babies, many women are not choosing to breastfeed their infants. A lack of paid maternity leave policy within the United States influences postpartum responsibilities, physically, and psychologically. This paper presents nurses’ responses to the Workplace Breastfeeding Support Scale survey regarding their workplace environment support of breastfeeding. Nurses providing direct patient care for more than 50% of their shifts revealed 45.5% disagreed in some variance with their comfort in …

Development Of A Lateral Workplace Incivility Nurse Liaison Position In The Psychiatric Healthcare Setting, Christopher L. Brown

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Workplace incivility is becoming commonplace in all work environments including health care. Research highlights the dangerous, distressing, and costly side effects of lateral workplace incivility (LWPI) including nursing staff's overall health, organizational commitment, and intent to stay. Historically, organizations have been considered safe work environments but LWPI has increased over the last several decades. There has also been limited research related to LWPI as it affects psychiatric healthcare staff and no study recommending a needs assessment or developing a position to educate and assist victims. The purpose of this project was to assess psychiatric healthcare staff's understanding and exposure to …