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Quality Improvement Project Enhancing Maternal Health Outcomes: Evaluating The Impact Of Universal Social Determinants Of Health (Sdoh) Screening In An Interdisciplinary Pregnancy Care Model, Shannon Morgen

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Social determinants of health (SDOH), including housing instability, food insecurity, transportation barriers, and interpersonal violence, significantly influence maternal outcomes and contribute to disparities such as preterm birth and maternal morbidity. Despite national recommendations for universal SDOH screening, implementation in prenatal care remains inconsistent, limiting opportunities to identify and address social needs. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) quality improvement project was to implement and evaluate a standardized SDOH screening and documentation process to improve referral completion and examine its impact on hospital readmissions among obstetric patients. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Socio-Ecological Model and the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework, the project …

Six Departments Move Into New Building, Una Alumni Association

Documents

Alumni News article discussing the early stages of Stevens Hall, then known as the Education and Nursing Building, and its impact on the School of Nursing, School of Education, and Departments of Social Work, Sociology, Foreign Languages, and Political Science.

New Building Houses Education And Nursing, University Of North Alabama

Documents

Article from the 1979 Resume of UNA discussing the Education and Nursing Building, now known as Stephens Hall, as well as the accreditation of the Schools of Nursing and Education.

Can The Implementation Of The Pause Decrease Death Anxiety And Poor Mental Health In Practicing Nurses?, Lilli Meyer

Undergraduate Theses

Practicing nurses are frequently exposed to patient death, placing them at increased risk for death anxiety and compromised mental health. Despite this, there remains a lack of structured, in-the-moment interventions to support emotional processing within clinical settings. This study evaluates whether the implementation of “The Pause,” a brief moment of silence following a patient’s death, may reduce death anxiety and improve mental health outcomes among practicing nurses. A quantitative survey consisting of eight questions was distributed to nurses in the Louisville, Kentucky area over a three-month period, yielding 26 responses. Findings indicated that 80.8% of participants reported no improvement or …

Examining The Relationship Of Work Stressors And Resilience Among Inpatient Oncology Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study:, Blanca Melida Vasquez-Clarfield

Theses & Dissertations

Burnout among inpatient oncology nurses remains a concern in a specialty marked by high patient acuity, complex care regimens, emotional intensity, and repeated exposure to suffering and death. Resilience is often discussed as a protective resource in nursing, yet less is known about how personal resilience and work resilience relate to work stress and burnout within inpatient oncology practice. This study examined the relationships among perceived work stress, personal resilience, work resilience, and burnout among registered nurses working in inpatient oncology units. It also explored whether selected nurse characteristics were associated with these variables and how nurses described workplace stressors, …

A Market Of Care Skills: Profiting From Professional Education And Practice, Yasmin Y. Ortiga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Who profits from the commodification of care and how does such accumulation occur? Focusing on the case of the nursing care market, this paper shows how professional schools and local hospitals within source nations like the Philippines profit from nurses seeking the credentials to qualify for jobs overseas. While existing studies show how nursing skills are exploited and undervalued, this paper argues that it is the process of skilling itself that allows for the accumulation of profit, regardless of whether nurses leave their origin countries to work abroad. This study reveals how global care economies are tightly linked to local …

Meet The Team: Exploring Health Professional Roles And Responsibilities In An Introductory Interprofessional Course, Elizabeth W. Blake, Kimberly A. Taylor, Beverly Baliko, Teri Browne, Donna D. Ray, Abbas Tavakoli Drph, Mph, Me

Publications

Introduction: Health professional academic programs require interprofessional education (IPE) to meet accreditation standards and better prepare students for collaborative patient care. The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) includes the roles and responsibilities of the health professions as a key domain of IPE curricula. A learning module focusing on this domain was developed for an interprofessional introductory course involving 12 health professions. Adaptations to this module over time aimed to enhance content and student knowledge. Methods: Students were assigned to small interprofessional teams throughout the course and completed modules aligned with the IPEC core competencies. The first module highlighted roles and responsibilities. …

The Role Of Health Workers In Interprofessional Collaboration For Cancer Patient Navigators: A Scoping Review, Agung Subakti Nuzulullail, Aulia Diah Rahayu, Rury Nindya Taluphyta, Ika Arif Lidiyana, Mohamad Rusdiyansyah, Petrus Paris Rumsori, Riyati Riyati, Suci Wahyu Hariyanto, Wa Ode Umi Kalsum, Sri Hartini

Jurnal Keperawatan Indonesia

Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide. The complexity of cancer care demands strong interprofessional collaboration (IPC), particularly within cancer patient navigator (CPN) programmes. However, research examining IPC in the context of CPN implementation is still limited. This scoping review aims to explore the various roles of healthcare workers in the IPC process within cancer navigator programme interventions. The review was conducted using four databases: PubMed, Clinical Key, EBSCOhost, and ScienceDirect. The Arksey and O'Malley framework was used to address the research question: “What is the role of health workers in interprofessional collaboration within cancer patient navigation?” Study selection …

A Scoping Review Of Gender-Based Violence Interventions Conducted In Afghanistan, Wahiba Abu-Ras, Basil H. Aboul-Enein, Patricia J. Kelly, Dilshod Achilov

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

BACKGROUND: Gender-based violence (GBV) remains one of the most pervasive human rights and public health challenges worldwide, with disproportionate impacts on women and girls in conflict-affected and fragile states. Afghanistan represents one of the most restrictive environments for women's rights, where structural, cultural, and political barriers severely limit the implementation and evaluation of GBV-prevention programs. This scoping review aims to identify and critically appraise GBV prevention and response interventions implemented in Afghanistan and assess their contribution to advancing gender and health equity.

METHODS: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines and the PICOS framework, nine databases were systematically searched for studies published between 2010 …

Creating A Culture Change Around Stroke: Integrating Process Improvement To Reduce Door-To-Needle Time, Shayna Brewer, Benedict Pereira, Rose Bisellach, Jason Greenspan

Providence Nursing Research Conference 2023 – Present

No abstract provided.

Health Professional Students' Experiences With Gender-Identity Inclusive Content In The Classroom And Supervised Clinical Learning, Perry Xinyi Zhang, Aria Grabowski, Olivia S. Anderson

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Gender-identity diverse populations have unique healthcare needs, but they experience stigmatization leading to negative health outcomes. Healthcare professionals have reported obstacles to delivering affirming care to gender-identity diverse patients due to limited training. We assessed how health profession students encounter gender-identity content and how students’ perceived preparedness to provide care for gender-identity diverse populations. Methods: A survey distributed to students enrolled in health professional programs at a large mid-western university included close-ended questions about exposure to gender-identity diverse curricular content in didactic and supervised clinical settings and perceived preparedness to work with gender-identity diverse populations. Open-ended questions asked what …

Diagnostic Trends And Service Enhancements In Deaf Mental Health: A Longitudinal Analysis, Kent Schafer, Steve Hamerdinger, Frank Wu, Rie Sakai Bizmark, Charlene Crump

JADARA

A longitudinal study investigated mental health diagnostic trends and patterns among Deaf and Hearing individuals using a comprehensive dataset from Alabama Department of Mental Health spanning 2004-2024 (Deaf=4,547; Hearing=2,056,188). Chi-square analysis revealed significant proportional differences in diagnoses between the groups. Deaf individuals showed significantly higher proportions of psychotic (12.93% vs. 8.33% Hearing), mood (20.76% vs. 18.84% Hearing), and personality (0.58% vs. 0.43% Hearing) disorders. These findings suggest that increased access to specialized and competent mental health services for individuals who are Deaf, particularly following the increase of staffing patterns for the Office of Deaf Services in 2015,contributed to more accurate …

Bridging Ipv And Sud For Pregnant And Postpartum Women: A Case Report Of Interdisciplinary Programming In Mississippi, Catherine Poehling, Masoumeh Karimi, Chinedu Chukwu, Jerome R. Kolbo, Xiaoshan Gordy, Saijun Zhang, Matthew Morris, Andrew Voluse, Erin Dehon, Michelle Brassfield, Danielle Lahn, Lisa Slade, Deanna Howington, Kathleen Rhodes, Tearsanee Davis, Sonja Fuqua, Mary M. Wesley, Lei Zhang

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) adolescents in the U.S. South experience disproportionately high rates of bullying, discrimination, depression, and suicidality. Supportive and inclusive school climates are identified as key protective factors that can mitigate these risks and function as primary prevention against violence. This systematic narrative review synthesizes peer-reviewed research and high-quality survey reports published between 2015 and 2024 that assess school climate, mental health, and violence-related outcomes among LGBTQ+ youth with representation from Southern states, including Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, 1,167 records …

Marital Satisfaction And Social Media Use: A Comparative Study Based On Addiction Levels, Fatma Ayhan, Elif Arık, Merve Gülsüm Saçan, Zehra Sevim, Esme Arguç

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

In recent years, the widespread use of social media platforms has raised questions about their impact on marital relationships. This study examined the relationship between marital satisfaction, social media use, and certain sociodemographic characteristics. This descriptive and cross-sectional study comprised 461 individuals residing in Turkey who had been married for at least one year. Data were collected using the Bergen Social Media Addiction and Marital Satisfaction Scales. Statistical analyses included t-tests, analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis. Social media addiction was high among 16.5% of the participants. Marital satisfaction was higher among males, those who married at age …

A Nurse-Led Staff Education Program To Prevent And Detect Elder Abuse By Caregivers In The Home, Nicola Violet Brown-Walters

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was a nurse-led, evidence-based staff education initiative designed to improve the prevention and detection of elder abuse in the home by caregivers within an outpatient primary care setting. Elder abuse places older adults at risk for physical harm, neglect, medication mismanagement, and violations of autonomy and patient rights. Elder abuse remains a pervasive and underrecognized problem in nursing practice, often resulting from limited staff education, inconsistent screening practices, and uncertainty regarding mandatory reporting requirements. The practice-focused question examined whether implementing a nurse-led targeted education program guided by the ADDIE instructional design model and …

Executive Leadership System Improvement Program Proposal For Capturing At-Risk Patients In A Primary Care Setting, Winter Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Unmet social determinants of health (SDOH) contribute significantly to poor health outcomes, increased healthcare utilization, and persistent inequities in access to care. In a primary care organization, the inconsistent identification and management of patients’ social needs resulted in variable documentation, limited referrals to social work services, and avoidable emergency department (ED) utilization. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to develop an executive leadership systems implementation proposal to standardize the identification and referral of at-risk patients through the integration of a validated social needs screening tool into the electronic health record (EHR). The guiding practice-focused question …

A Project Proposal For Discharge Strategies For Unhoused Patients, Heidi Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This Doctor of Nursing Practice project is a practice-focused executive leadership proposal addressing inconsistent discharge planning for unhoused surgical patients in an acute care hospital. Unhoused patients experience disproportionately poor outcomes, including prolonged length of stay, elevated 30-day readmission rates, and fragmented transitions of care. The practice-focused question guiding this project asks whether development of a standardized, housing-informed discharge planning program could improve transitions of care and reduce length of stay and readmissions when compared with current nonstandardized practices. Analytical strategies included synthesis of peer-reviewed literature, review of internal quality and utilization data, assessment of community-level housing instability trends, and …

Developing A Comprehensive Program Plan For Postpartum Mental Health Assessment And Follow-Up Care, Kimberly Osborne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This Doctor of Nursing Practice project was an executive leadership proposal to develop an evidence-based program plan for standardized postpartum mental health screening and structured referral processes within an obstetric clinic. The practice problem was inconsistent postpartum mental health screening and follow up. Internal organizational data demonstrated elevated no-show and cancellation rates among obstetric patients referred for mental health services, reflecting gaps in care coordination, particularly for rural and underserved populations. The purpose of this project was to develop a comprehensive program plan guided by the following practice-focused question: Will a standardized postpartum mental health screening and structured referral program …

Staff Education To Reduce The Incidence Of Bias In Managing Patients With Opioid Use Disorder In A Rehabilitation Center, Almarie Alison Mclaren

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project addressed stigma and implicit bias toward individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) within a rehabilitation subacute care setting. OUD remains a significant public health concern and at the project site, inconsistent staff education was identified as a practice gap requiring intervention. The purpose of this practice-focused DNP project was to evaluate the impact of a structured staff education intervention on healthcare staff knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in caring for patients with OUD. The project was guided by a thorough evidence search. The project was implemented using brief, unit-based educational sessions delivered to interdisciplinary …

Staff Education To Use Mindfulness Strategies To Prevent Burnout In Psychiatric Health Settings, Rebecca Ikeoluwa Gabriel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There was a significant gap in practice at an outpatient psychiatric mental health clinic regarding organized, evidence-based training on mindfulness techniques to reduce stress and emotional exhaustion among psychiatric mental health staff. This project’s practice-focused question was “Does educating psychiatric mental health staff on mindfulness strategies for burnout improve their knowledge, as evidenced by pre- and post-surveys?” This educational intervention was developed, implemented, and evaluated using the Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice paradigm and the ADDIE instructional design model. A literature search was conducted using CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE/PubMed, ProQuest, and the Cochrane Library, with assistance from the librarians at Walden University. …

Fort William First Nation People’S Perceptions Of Receiving Nursing Care To Meet Their Wholistic Health Needs, Kara Morriseau

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There was limited knowledge of First Nations people’s experiences receiving nursing care to meet their wholistic health needs in Northern Ontario. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive description study, grounded in the two-eyed seeing framework and the Indigenous wholistic theory, was to explore First Nations people’s descriptions of receiving nursing care to meet their wholistic health needs in Northern Ontario. The study took place in the community of Fort William First Nation, a First Nations community in Northern Ontario. With approval from the Chief and Council of Fort William First Nation, semistructured interviews were conducted in person and on Zoom …

Nurse-Led Interventions To Reduce Occupational Hand Injuries In Manufacturing, Patti Harter

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Occupational hand injuries cause preventable morbidity, lost productivity, and workers’ compensation costs in manufacturing. Although safety policies and personal protective equipment (PPE) are in place, inconsistent glove use, slow hazard identification, and delayed response still cause injuries. This quality improvement (QI) project evaluated an eight-week, nurse-led injury-prevention bundle at a Texas heavy-vehicle manufacturing facility. The intervention required daily glove inspections, Safety Champion participation, real-time electronic hazard reporting, and corrective action within the shift. Injury outcomes were measured using Occupational Safety and Administration (OSHA) rates per 200,000 work hours and percentage change from baseline. After implementation, hand injury rates fell from …

Reducing Live Discharges In Hospice Care Through A Bundled Intervention, Fiona P. White

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects

Introduction

 Among Medicare fee-for-service hospice beneficiaries, the national live discharge rate increased from 16.9% in FY2021 to 19.1% in FY2025. At a Medicare-certified hospice agency in a southern state, the pre-intervention live discharge rate of 35.3% substantially exceeded national norms, with 68.7% of events representing patient-initiated revocations.

Methods

 A pre-post quality improvement design guided by the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework was implemented over 8 weeks at a single site with 106 newly admitted hospice patients and 15 clinical staff. The four-component bundled intervention comprised Revocation Risk Assessment administration within 24 hours of admission, structured patient and caregiver education within 72 hours of …

Ethical Considerations For Hospice Patients In Inpatient Settings: A Systematic Review And Thematic Analysis, Matthew D. Harry

Honors Theses and Capstones

Hospice care is intended to prioritize comfort, dignity, symptom management, and quality of life for individuals with life-limiting illness. However, when hospice-eligible patients are managed within inpatient hospital settings, significant ethical challenges frequently emerge due to the tension between comfort-focused care and the curative, intervention-driven structure of acute care medicine. This paper presents a systematic literature review and thematic analysis examining the ethical considerations surrounding hospice patients in inpatient settings, with particular attention to clinical decision-making, communication, prognostic uncertainty, moral distress among nurses, and conflicts involving patient autonomy and family wishes. A structured review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted using …

Developing An Educational Session And Epic-Based Tools To Help Nurses Provide Culturally Sensitive Care To Their Muslim Patients, Laila Albutmeh

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background: Islam is currently the fastest growing religion in the world and the chances of nurses having a Muslim patient is exceptionally high yet many nurses lack the knowledge and resources on how to accurately provide culturally sensitive care to Muslim patients. Hospitals lack educational sessions/training as well as Epic tools to help nurses provide culturally sensitive care to Muslim patients which leads to a knowledge deficit in cultural sensitivity of Islamic beliefs, values, and practices. Purpose: This thesis paper proposes a research design for a nurse education/training program on Islamic beliefs, values, and practices along with an implementation of …

Responding To Social Isolation: The Tole Of Chaplaincy In Addressing Social Determinants Of Health (Sdoh) In Pediatric Contexts, Adam Lubbers, Forest Melton, Simbarashe Sigauke, Sophie Le

2026

This poster describes a pilot program that integrated chaplaincy services into the care pathway for pediatric patients and families who screened positive for low social support, a key social determinant of health. The findings suggest chaplain-led interventions provide effective emotional, spiritual, and practical support, helping address social isolation, caregiver burden, financial insecurity, and other health equity concerns while offering culturally responsive care.

No One Left Behind: Identification Of Healthcare Needs Through System-Wide Social Determinants Of Health Screenings, Rose Dela Cruz, Amanda Marquez, Madison Lemmons

2026

This poster describes a system-wide quality improvement initiative designed to increase completion rates of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) screenings by addressing workflow barriers, educating staff, and implementing standardized processes across clinical teams. The project demonstrates how interdisciplinary collaboration, nursing engagement, and structured screening workflows can improve identification of social needs and connect pediatric patients and families with resources that support health equity and better health outcomes.

Scaling Up Health Literacy Practices Through A Champion Program, Cameron Stine, Kelli Williams, Diana Montoya, Leslie Moore, Carol Howe

2026

This poster describes the development and expansion of a Health Literacy Champion Program designed to improve the consistent use of health literacy best practices across a healthcare organization. The program successfully expanded from ambulatory nursing to 13 disciplines, using champion training, newsletters, clinical observations, and peer influence to promote plain language communication, information chunking, and teach-back techniques that support patient understanding and safety.

Increasing Nursing Perceptions On Advanced Directives Through Education To Promote Patient Centered Care, Michelle Strong

Master's Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Empowering Caregivers, Protecting Patients: An Ambulatory Central Line Quality Improvement Initiative For Education And Follow-Up, Elizabeth Martinez, Belinda Bordeaux, Stephanie Langevin, Cristina Herrera, Mary Smith, Merissa Doyle, Barbara Stein, Kimberly Poshar, Marissa Dunlap, Allison Silva, Eric Werner

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Introduction: Preventing ambulatory central line-associated bloodstream infections (A-CLABSIs) is challenging due to inconsistent education, follow-up, and home care practices. Pediatric intestinal failure (IF) patients are particularly vulnerable. This institution aimed to decrease its IF A-CLABSI rate by 25% within 2 years through a standardized, step-by-step central line care education program.

Methods: Using the Toyota problem-solving method, the team reviewed data and performed a root cause analysis of the prioritized problem, implementing a 2-phase education program. Phase 1 delivered in-hospital education using videos, handouts, and hands-on teaching with skill demonstration. The existing pediatric central line skills class was expanded and offered …