Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Implementing An African American Cultural Awareness Program For Skilled Nursing Facility Staff, Adekemi T. Adedipe

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Patient care is most effective when patients and providers establish a therapeutic connection in a cultural context. Nurses’ lack of awareness of a cultural context for patient care impairs establishing a therapeutic provider/patient relationship, with care of lesser quality and poorer health outcomes as consequences.

Local Problem: Staff at a Northern Californian skilled nursing facility (SNF) caring for African American patients with mental illness lacked self-awareness of the cultural context of care. Staff did not consider cultural constructs of care in treating patients and developing care plans.

Methods: Educational intervention to increase the cultural competence of a skilled …

Environmental And Occupational Health Risks: Educating Undergraduate (Adn-Bsn) Nursing Students For Safer Practice, Dorinda A. Mercado

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Globally, adverse health effects, including deaths and disabilities, occur from living or working in unhealthy domains where exposure to environmental and occupational hazards exists. A multitude of these hazards are present in clinical settings in the healthcare environment where nurses care for patients and risk ongoing exposures to toxic substances.

Problem: Environmental and occupational health education is rarely included in the standard undergraduate nursing curriculum, contributing to a deficit among nurses in environmental health awareness and knowledge.

Methods: The study design was a pre/post evaluation of a single cohort (n=32) of undergraduate nursing students to assess environmental and occupational …

Reducing 30-Day Heart Failure Hospital Readmissions Through The Implementation Of A Telehealth Education And Screening Program, Madison Geib, Jo Loomis, Maria (Dupi) Gomez Cogan

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Heart Failure (HF) is a difficult disease to manage. It requires knowledge on weight monitoring, diet, exercise, medications, and symptom management. With this difficulty, there is a high incidence of HF patient readmissions into the hospital, especially in the first 30-days after discharge, showing that patients are not well equipped to manage their HF on their own at home. A review of the available literature found that some of the most common reasons for readmission include poor discharge planning, a lack of continuation of care, as well as a lack of education and adherence to their medications (Mathew & Thukha, …

Community Health Worker Program: Adverse Childhood Experiences And Early Childhood, Arelis Sandoval

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) negatively affect childhood development and long-term health outcomes. Latino children face multiple adversities and social determinants of health compounded by ACEs. Community Health Workers (CHWs) have access to work with families to improve resilience and mitigate the effects of ACEs in this population.

Local Problem: In the Central Valley of California, CHWs provide support and resources to a largely Latino population with increased poverty rates, low educational attainment, lack of health insurance, and many chronic health issues, putting families at a higher risk for ACEs exposure. CHWs need further training to apply ACEs knowledge to …

Improving Health Outcomes For Lgbtq+ Youth Through Provider Education, Marissa Simko

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background and Problem: LGBTQ+ adolescents and young adults (ages 12-25 years) are known to have higher rates of physical and mental health concerns compared to heterosexual and cisgender youth. Within the LGBTQ+ youth community, rates of suicidality, substance misuse, homelessness, and STIs are higher than in the general population. LGBTQ+ youth have greater challenges accessing healthcare and higher rates of healthcare discrimination. This paper presents a quality improvement project focused on improving evidence-based practices in LGBTQ+ healthcare through the development and implementation of a LGBTQ+ youth centered educational workshop for healthcare providers.

Methods: This project was organized in …

Effects Of Leadership Education And Mentoring For Assistant Nurse Managers, Karen T. Descent

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Nurse manager knowledge and leadership styles influence quality of care, patient satisfaction, staff engagement, and retention. Dissatisfaction with the assistant nurse manager (ANM) role can lead to high job turnover with negative influences on patient satisfaction, quality of care, workforce engagement, and achievement of organizational goals.

Local Problem: Two hospitals and one free-standing ambulatory surgery unit of a large integrated healthcare organization experienced high ANM turnover due to role dissatisfaction, ANM frustration with low-quality care in the units they oversaw, and patient satisfaction metrics below the 65th percentile. The regional healthcare system leadership team recognized the need to increase …

Educating Novice Nurses And Nurse Practitioners About Military Sexual Trauma Screening, Alyssa D. Freeman

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Abstract

Background: Military sexual trauma prevalence has continually increased over the past 25 years. Exposure to sexual trauma, violence, and abuse result in notable health consequences. The Veterans Health Administration has led the integration of universal Military Sexual Trauma (MST) screening and training. Purpose: The purposes of this project were to educate novice nurses and nurse practitioners about MST and to increase their knowledge and comfort in MST screening techniques. Methods: Following an educational session, a pre- and post-study design was used to evaluate improvement in knowledge and comfort screening for MST. Thirty-two participants including PBRNR Nurse Residents, …

Enhancing Transgender Informed Healthcare For Nursing Students: An Educational Intervention, Olivia Bass

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Limited teaching of transgender related healthcare competencies is seen in baccalaureate nursing curriculum, resulting in inadequate preparation of healthcare providers to care for this population of patients. This discord can prevent transgender patients from seeking healthcare and affect access to needed services. Purpose: The purpose of this DNP project was to educate accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing students at an institute of higher education on providing culturally responsive healthcare for transgender patients. Methods: An in-person educational intervention focused on improving clinical and cultural knowledge for transgender patients was implemented and evaluated. A pre-intervention survey and post-intervention survey …