Nursing Commons^™

Improving Advance Directive Completion Rates In The Primary Care Setting, Esperanza Donahue

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Capstone Projects

As technology has improved and the ability to artificially prolong life has increased dramatically, so has the need to draw attention to end-of-life care issues (Duke, Thompson, & Hastie, 2007). The Federal Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) of 1991 first brought attention to the importance of advance directives (ADs), (Government, 1995). Increasing the focus on advance directives for adult patients in the primary care setting could assist in increasing completion rates, prior to hospitalization.

The purpose of this project was to test a model to increase AD completion rates, to provide more complete patient centered care. Many programs and interventions have been implemented since the PSDA was enacted in 1992, some have been able to increase rates; other interventions have had little impact. It has been estimated that only 5%-15% of all patients have completed ADs (Ramsaroop & Adelman, 2007). This indicates a need for programs to educate and empower patients and providers to ensure ADs are completed.

An appropriate setting to complete advance directives is in the primary care setting due to the importance of having ADs prior to hospitalization. There are multiple reasons to support this setting for ...

Postpartum Breastfeeding Support: Promoting Infant Health, Glenda Gagante

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Capstone Projects

Abstract

Health experts agree that breastfeeding provides essential nutrients to infants for optimal health. But despite the known benefits, breastfeeding rates remain low in the United States. Several strategies, including postpartum follow up phone calls and breastfeeding support groups, have been identified to improve breastfeeding rates. The problem is that postpartum follow up phone calls have been lagging for up to 3 months post discharge. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to conduct the postpartum phone calls within 10 days post discharge and to determine if the intervention increased breastfeeding rates. Methods of data collection were (1) follow-up ...

Graduate School Of Nursing Papers, 1982 – 2009: A Finding Aid, Office Of Medical History And Archives, Lamar Soutter Library, University Of Massachusetts Medical School

Finding Aids

The Graduate School of Nursing Papers documents the establishment of the Graduate School of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and chronicles its early history and development.

Assessment Of Knowledge And Attitude Of Graduate Students Toward The Protection Of Human Subjects In Research: A Pilot Study, Nahed Ali, Shailaja Gyawali, Evgenia Noidou

Master's Level Graduate Research Conference

Many studies have examined the responsible conduct of researchers on human subjects but few studies have focused on graduate students’ attitude toward protecting human subjects. The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge and attitude of Ithaca College (IC) graduate students toward protection of human subjects in research. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study involving multiple departments. The participants (N=50) were IC graduate students. Data were collected using a survey that was reliable (á =.70). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Results indicated that 44% had a prior course of research ethics; 60 ...

Health Literacy: Understanding Medication Labels, Jennifer Sechrist, Brittany O’Reilly, Katherine Jankauski, Emily Czekala, Lily Salinas

Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction: According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), over 90 million people in the U.S. have difficulty understanding and using health information including medication labels. Purpose: To determine how individuals interpret medication labels and the relationship between medication label interpretation and level of health literacy. Method: Participants were recruited from a student-run health fair and a University Relay for Life. After securing consent, participants completed demographic information and the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM). Participants were asked to blindly choose three medication containers from a bag. The labels were prepared by a registered pharmacist and affixed ...

Do Women's Sociodemographic Characteristics Or Type Of Prenatal Care Provider Influence Quality Of Prenatal Care?, Mayura Kandasamy

Open Access Dissertations and Theses

Do women’s sociodemographic characteristics or type of prenatal care provider influence quality of prenatal care?

Objective: This study examined whether sociodemographic characteristics or type of prenatal care provider influenced the quality of prenatal care received by women in Canada. The main predictors of high quality prenatal care received by Canadian women were identified.

Methods: A secondary analysis of data collected for a primary study that developed and tested the Quality of Prenatal Care Questionnaire (QPCQ) was conducted. Women (n=422), recruited from five cities, completed a background questionnaire and the QPCQ. Data analysis involved examining nine sociodemographic variables and ...

Opinions About Smoking, Secondhand Smoke Exposure, And Smoking Behaviors Of Freshmen College Students, Nathan Matejczyk, Nina Tu, Michelle De Young, Nicole Arena

Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship

The purpose of this project was to assess first semester freshman college students’ opinions about smoking, secondhand smoke exposure, and smoking behaviors on a smoke-free campus. This research used an online cross-sectional survey. For two years, surveys were emailed via Zoomerang to all first semester freshmen students at Valparaiso University. Survey questions contained 60 forced-choice or open-ended options. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. A total of 630 students responded. Subjects were primarily female (58.4%) and Caucasian (84.9%). Twenty-five percent of the respondents reported being exposed to secondhand smoke in their environments. Twenty-nine percent were unaware that the ...

A College Study On Grief, Depression, And Anxiety, Briana Alexandre Paulo

Senior Honors Projects

Trauma and stress have been commonly studied with the occurrence of anxiety disorders. However, less research has been conducted on the relationship between the experience of loss, the centrality of the loss to a person’s identity and the experience and severity of symptoms of depression and anxiety. Current research has examined the relationship between a significant stressful event and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Symptoms of anxiety and depression are experienced by people during various points in their life, although higher levels of these disorders may be exhibited after having experienced a loss or stressful life event.

Grief ...

Beyond The Volcanoes: A Community Partnership For Health In Rural Nicaragua, Paige Snyder, Catherine Wingstrom, Carly Crave, Claire Simonpietri, Christina Lundy

Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship

Background: Health inequities related to gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geography exist in rural Nicaragua. The purpose of this ongoing project is to improve health equity in rural Nicaragua through social transformation using community-based participatory action research. Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development, school health, and primary health care theories provided the framework for this research. Methods: Community-based participatory action research involves six phases: partnership, assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. In the evaluation phase, the goal was to use the data obtained during the assessment, planning, and implementation phases to evaluate the cookstove intervention in its ability to ...

Ua61/1 Nursing, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Finding Aids

Unprocessed records created by and about Nursing.

• Series 1. Accreditation & Self-Studies
• Series 2. Publications

Implementing Lean Health Reforms In Saskatchewan, Gregory Marchildon

Health Reform Observer - Observatoire des Réformes de Santé

Saskatchewan has gone further than any other Canadian province in implementing health system process improvements using Lean, a production line discipline that originated with the automobile industry. The goal of the Lean reform is to reduce waste and improve quality and overall health system performance by long-term changes in behaviour. Lean enjoys a privileged position on the provincial government’s agenda because of the policy’s championing by the Deputy Minister of Health and the policy’s fit with the government’s patient-centred care agenda. The implementation of reform depends on a major investment of time in the training and ...

The Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tube: A Nurse’S Guide To Peg Tubes, Shellie Simons, Ruth Remington

Nursing Faculty Publications

Nurses are primarily responsible for the care and maintenance of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes and yet their care is not often included in nursing skills textbooks. Best practice recommendations to care for a person with a PEG tube are described.

Variations In Postoperative Complications Across Race, Ethnicity And Sex Among Older Adults, J Margo Brooks Carthon, Olga Jarrín, Douglas Sloane, Ann Kutney-Lee

Olga Jarrín

OBJECTIVES: To explore differences in the incidence of postoperative complications among three racial/ethnic groups (white, black and Hispanic) before and after taking into account potentially confounding patient and hospital characteristics.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional study using 2006-2007 administrative patient discharge data from hospitals in four states (CA, PA, NJ, FL), linked to American Hospital Association Annual Survey data, and data from the U.S. Census. Risk-adjusted logistic regression models were used in the analyses.

SETTING: Six hundred U.S. adult nonfederal acute care hospitals

PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred eighty seven thousand three hundred fourteen individuals, ages 65 and over, undergoing general ...

Perception, Expression And Management Of The Pain Of Childbirth, Mary H. Christenson

Senior Honors Papers

In order to be a competent nurse on an American labor and delivery unit it is important to have an understanding of the pain of childbirth. This includes a thorough understanding of pain as a sensation and its manifestation during the birthing experience. An understanding of pain is useless, however, unless standardized pain assessment practices are used. The most accurate pain assessment is associated with a general understanding of cultural trends in pain perception and expression. Along with culture, other factors also influence how a woman senses and copes with the pain of labor. Anxiety is one of these influential ...

The Relationship Of Perceived Trust And Perceived Stress Among Pregnant Women Receiving Care From A Certified Nurse Midwife, Maria Torchia Logrippo

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Facilitating Social Integration For People With Severe Mental Illness, Sheila Linz

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Descriptive Study Of Service-Learning On Social Justice And Leadership Perceptions In Senior Bsn Students, Lindsay S. Tucholski

Master of Science in Nursing Theses

Service-learning (SL) is proposed as a pedagogical method by the American Associate of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2008) for achieving the essential of professionalism and professional values (Essential VIII), which includes the concept of social justice. Along with the concept of social justice being discussed in Essential VIII, the concept of leadership is discussed throughout the AACN Essentials. SL has been implemented in many educational settings across the United States, including nursing. There continues to be a lack of quantitative research on service-learning to qualify it as an evidenced-based teaching strategy. The purpose of this study was to assess if ...

Examining Disparities In Care In An Uninsured, Diabetic Population, Emily R. Manninen, Lisabeth Searing, Faculty Advisor

Honors Projects

Type 2 diabetes is a common health problem that requires continuing medical care, self-management, and education. However, different populations experience diabetes and diabetes-related care differently. This study examined diabetes care and health outcomes at a Midwest community health clinic serving the uninsured. Two waves of data were obtained from medical records. Wave 1 consisted of 88 medical records of people who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and also had previous medical record reviews regarding routine diabetes care and outcomes. Wave 2 consisted of in-depth review of 20 medical records of male patients, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, whose primary ...

Nurses’ Perspectives On Neonatal Massage Therapy In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Kayla R. Hanson

Senior Honors Papers

Research in neonatal massage therapy has shown many possible benefits to the baby and family. Though there has been a growing trend towards family-centered care, along with a substantial and growing body of research, the practice of neonatal massage therapy is not routine in most NICUs. This study was conducted to evaluate neonatal intensive care nurses’ perspectives and attitudes towards neonatal massage therapy before and after evidence-based education. Willingness to discuss benefits of neonatal massage therapy significantly increased after education on neonatal massage therapy. The findings suggest that with proper training on the techniques and safety monitoring of massage therapy ...

Malnutrition And Diseases Affecting The Children Of Uganda, Crystal Brooke Baldwin

Senior Honors Papers

Every day there are children in underdeveloped countries, such as Uganda, who are struggling to survive on minimal food, money, and other resources. These children do not have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a normal childhood because their main focus is on survival. Many of these children will die because of preventable disease and starvation that have resulted from the endless cycle of poverty and lack of education. Those who are lucky enough to survive must fight a daily battle to find the nutrients they need and to combat the diseases they may acquire. It is heartbreaking to ...