Student Veterans’ Transition To Nursing Education: Barriers And Facilitators, Bruce P. Hunter, Steven Busby Dr., Jeannie Giese Dr., David Phillippi Dr.

DNP Scholarly Projects

Student Veterans’ Transition to Nursing Education: Barriers and Facilitators

Abstract

The transition for student veterans from military service to higher education can be a challenging endeavor, especially for those pursuing an education in nursing. While the experiences and perspectives of each student veteran is unique, their successful integration into an academic environment can be influenced by a complex array of barriers and facilitators. This mixed-methods study aims to explore the themes and concepts that can be found in the transition experiences of student veterans in nursing education, with a focus on identifying the barriers they face and the facilitators that …

Promoting Mental Health And Well-Being Among Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Practice Guideline, Armen Mailyan

DNP Scholarly Projects

Poor mental health and well-being among undergraduate nursing students negatively affects social dynamics, communication, decision making, and stress management, thus compromising the quality of healthcare delivery and patient care outcomes. It is imperative that nursing programs support students to develop positive self-care, resilience, and mental health skills while in school to foster their well-being, enhance their academic success, and to promote high-quality, patient-centered care in their future practice. The purpose of this Doctor of Nurse Practice (DNP) project was to develop a mental health and well-being practice guideline with a comprehensive set of evidence-based interventions for academic nursing programs to …

Strengthening New Hampshire’S Primary Care Workforce Pipeline: Utilization Of Alternative Scheduling Models, Elizabeth Harrison

DNP Scholarly Projects

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Traditional clinical scheduling coupled with the current reimbursement system have created systematic barriers leading to decreased clinical education opportunities. Alternative scheduling models such as longitudinal integrated clerkships, one preceptor to two students and wave scheduling have the potential to eliminate these barriers and provide financial gains and increased access to care.

INTERVENTION: Interventions to meet this quality improvement project's objectives included (1) pre-intervention planning (2) focus groups, (3) video presentations and (4) a pilot program of alternative scheduling models in clinical practice.

RESULTS: A pilot program utilizing the alternative scheduling models increased the relative value units (RVU) of …

Implementing Faculty Development Modules To Increase Readiness For Addressing Social Determinants Of Health, Implicit Bias And Equity In Course Content, Claudia Ngafeeson

DNP Scholarly Projects

Implicit bias is viewed as an unconscious and involuntary attitude that lies below the surface of consciousness but can influence behavior, and cognitive processes (Maina et al., 2018). Social determinants of health are considered to be the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age; these circumstances are usually shaped by the distribution of money, power, and resources at global, national, and local levels, which in turns determines the distribution of the value of medical care. Existing literature on implicit bias has been fragmented in different fields such as; cognitive psychology, business ethics, and higher education, but …

Implementation Of Oncology Standardized Scheduling Bundle Impacting Staff Productivity And Patient Satisfaction, Carolyn Brausch

DNP Scholarly Projects

BACKGROUND: Patients having timelyaccess to healthcare services is the entryway to quality of care and patient safety. Timely access is essential in cancer treatment and often requires complex scheduling requiring multiple, highly coordinated, time sensitive appointments. To facilitate optimal clinical care, timely appointment scheduling must be patient-centered. With the heavy scheduling workload growing at the the Cancer Network at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin and recognition of timely scheduling as a quality indicator, the need to examine the workflow and improve the process became apparent.

METHODS: The goal of the quality improvement project was to provide patients with …

Tackling Burnout: Investing In Nurse Managers To Secure The Future Of Nursing, Enhance Manager Effectiveness, And Support High Quality Patient Care, Corey French

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background: Burnout is a widespread, pervasive issue the healthcare industry. Many efforts related to burnout reduction have been focused on front line caregivers but there is continued opportunity to address burnout in leadership. The global aim of this quality improvement project was to reduce burnout among the nursing leadership team at a large, academic medical center in the greater Boston area.

Problem Description: A preliminary survey was completed to assess for the presence of burnout within the leadership team. Results revealed that more than half of the nurse leaders surveyed were experiencing burnout at least 50% of the time. This …

Rn Perception Of Resources, Communication, And Leadership During Covid-19 And The Impact On Rn Satisfaction And Turnover In A Multi-Hospital System, Gina Bullington

DNP Scholarly Projects

Abstract

While RN retention has been a perennial challenge, COVID-19 has exacerbated the problem. The project’s purpose was to study RNs’ perception of communication, resources, and leadership during COVID-19, and the impact on RN turnover in a multi-hospital system. 3280 RNs’ engagement survey responses and turnover percentages from pre-COVID-19 (November 2019) were compared to engagement survey responses and turnover percentages 12 months later (November 2020). 90% (n = 2963) were female and 43% (n = 1396) were between the ages of 25 and 39 years. The majority of RN respondents were employed 1-9 years (59%, n = 1934). …

Implementation Of Community Health Worker Education Toolkit To Promote Compliance In Managed Care Organization, Lamonica Johnson

DNP Scholarly Projects

Community health workers provide case management and care coordination services to high-risk members enrolled in Louisiana Department of Health’s Medicaid program. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services require states entering contracts with managed care organizations to conduct external quality reviews by an independent External Quality Review Organization. Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set are quality metrics managed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. These metrics are reported annually and required by Louisiana Department of Health. Community health workers are required to demonstrate quality accreditation and meet state specific requirement compliance through documentation. The aim of this project was to …

Large Scale Organizational Intervention To Improve Emergency Department Throughput In A Community Hospital, Karen Elliott

DNP Scholarly Projects

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Emergency Department boarding is a well-documented systemic problem across the country. ED-2b, the time from decision to admit a patient to Emergency Department departure, is specified by the Joint Commission as a quality measure for Emergency Department boarding. ED-2b metrics have been a longstanding challenge at this community hospital outside the nation’s capital. The aim of this study was to reduce median ED-2b times by 10% compared to fiscal year 2020 (FY20). To accomplish the reduction in time, a multidisciplinary throughput committee was developed with subsequent action plans designed to improve Emergency Department throughput.

METHODS: The Plan Do …

Using The Bedside Care Conference To Improve The Patient Experience, Eileen Keefe

DNP Scholarly Projects

Abstract

Improving the patient experience of hospital care is a priority for nursing leaders. The terms patient satisfaction and patient experience have been used interchangeably to define the patient’s unique perspective on care quality and the impact of patient engagement on health outcomes. Patients and families experience suffering when their expectations are not congruent with their care in the hospital setting, and there are significant cost and financial implications for organizations that do not reach performance thresholds. Communication with nurses is highly correlated to overall patientsatisfaction in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Hospital Consumer Assessment of Providers and …

Promoting A Culture Of Civility Among Oncology Nurses In The Ambulatory Care Setting To Improve Patient Safety And Nurse Retention, Sheila Evans

DNP Scholarly Projects

INTRODUCTION: Nurse incivility is a well-documented phenomenon discussed in the literature and woven into the nursing lexicon. Nurse incivility results in negative consequences for nurses, patients and organizations. Adding to its complexity is the fact that nurses may be unable to identify and address covert uncivil behaviors and lack an effective tactic to mitigate situations.

AVAILABLE KNOWLEDGE: The nursing literature describes the existence of nurse-to-nurse incivility and its correlation with negative outcomes. Regulatory bodies such as The Joint Commission (TJC) also recognize the adverse outcomes resulting from civility and issued two alerts addressing workplace behavior. Additionally, the American Nurses Association …

Implementation Of Safe Patient Toileting To Decrease Patient Falls On Medical-Surgical Unit, Kimberly A. Goldsborough

DNP Scholarly Projects

BACKGROUND: Patient falls are a serious safety concern in the hospital setting throughout the country. Falls are one of the most challenging patient safety events to prevent, as there are many contributing factors with toileting activities producing the highest incidence. Fall prevention bundles are used to minimize and reduce these such events although multifaceted. The project was conducted with an academic medical center on an acute inpatient medical-surgical unit primarily housing burn wound patients. Nursing leaders and front-line nursing staff participated.

METHODS: Literature review to determine the gap in knowledge of interventions to prevent acute inpatient falls was completed. Concepts …

Decreasing Duration Of Mechanical Restraint Episodes By Increasing Registered Nurse Assessment And Surveillance In An Acute Psychiatric Hospital, Diane Allen

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background

Application of mechanical restraints is a high-risk emergency measure that requires psychiatric intensive care in order to assure patient safety and expedite release at the earliest opportunity. While current regulations require that trained staff continuously observe restrained individuals, assessment by a registered nurse is required only once an hour. This project builds on research that demonstrated a regulatory change requiring more frequent registered nurse assessments led to decreased duration of mechanical restraint episodes in an acute psychiatric hospital.

Purpose

The purpose of this project was to implement and evaluate a practice change that required increased frequency of registered nurse …

A Program To Prepare Frontline Nurse Leaders For Peer Review, Suzanne K. Murdock

DNP Scholarly Projects

Introduction: The purpose of nursing peer review is to assess the quality of nursing care against established standards, identify strengths and weaknesses in practice, and identify knowledge gaps. Studies of nurse peer review predominantly focuse on staff nurse attitudes and knowledge after an educational intervention and barriers to implementation. Frontline nurse leaders (FLNL) can influence adoption of new practices such as peer review.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to engage frontline nurse leaders in a role specific peer review program, preparing them to support their staff in the implementation of peer review in the future and providing an …

Preventing Emergency Department Overutilization For Florida’S Seasonal Resident Population, Amanda Garcia

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background/Local Problem: Seasonal migration of elderly patients to Lee County, Florida result in overcrowding and prolonged wait times in emergency departments. Many of these seasonal residents dissociate the management of their chronic health conditions with a local provider, therefore utilizing the emergency department for non-urgent needs. Purpose: The Seasonal Resident Navigator Program was intended to enhance the coordination of primary care services for elderly seasonal residents by establishing appointments with local primary care providers (PCP) in order to reduce the overutilization of emergency services and improve patient throughput. Methods: A residency and provider assessment tool was incorporated into the Healthpark …

A Quality Improvement Project To Improve Blood Specimen Acceptance Rates In An Emergency Department, Christian Hankins

DNP Scholarly Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to implement a quality improvement project to improve blood specimen acceptance rates at a specific Emergency Department (ED) using strategies to enhance knowledge, improve motivation, and reinforce skill. Background: Specimen acceptance rates continue to fall outside of the recommended target rate of 98% or higher at a specific ED. In this particular ED, the responsibility for specimen collection has shifted away from phlebotomists and towards nurses, many of whom have received little to no phlebotomy training. Without proper blood collection techniques, specimens are more likely to be rejected, and re-collection of rejected blood …