Skills Evaluation Of Adjunct Nursing Faculty: A Quality Improvement Project, Ada Dimino Luong

DNP Scholarly Projects

Abstract

BACKGROUND: With rising student enrollment, colleges and universities are relying more on adjunct clinical nursing faculty as Clinical Nurse Educators (CNEs). Recruiting and retaining qualified CNEs is essential to high-quality clinical education. Although clinically proficient, CNEs may face challenges with teaching methods, instructional strategies, and formative feedback. This quality improvement (QI) project evaluated CNE’s competencies and developed a sustainable multimedia educational tool to enhance feedback skills in clinical education.

METHODS: The Academic Clinical Nurse Educator Skill Acquisition Tool (ACNESAT), a validated 40-item Likert-scale instrument created by Shellenbarger and Sebach, was used to assess CNE competencies. Pre and post intervention …

A Quality Improvement Project To Enhance Chronic-Condition And Self-Care Knowledge In Adolescents With Spina Bifida, Ann Paris

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background: Spina Bifida is the most common central nervous system disorder in the United States (CDC, 2024). Even with early surgical repair, patients may have chronic, disabling, multisystem needs (Phillips et al., 2017). Adequate care of Spina Bifida requires a multidisciplinary approach. As such, patients with spina bifida require multiple specialty providers, clinic appointments, care-tasks, and interventions (CDC, 2024, Phillips, et al., 2017). Synthesizing information from multiple care providers can be daunting, especially for adolescents as they grow more autonomous in their care, and especially as they enter the age of pediatric-to-adult transition (Psihogios et al., 2015).

Purpose: …

Enhancing Resilience In Oncology Nurses Through The Implementation Of A Peer Support Program, Denise M. Robinson-Smith

DNP Scholarly Projects

ABSTRACT

Background: Oncology nurses face high rates of burnout and compassion fatigue, contributing to significant turnover and threatening the stability of the oncology nursing workforce. The projected increase in cancer incidence and the resulting demand for oncology services underscore the urgent need for interventions that enhance nurse resilience. Local Problem: At a major hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, it was found that oncology nurses face a significant gap in emotional support, especially during critical incidents such as patient deaths or traumatic events. Existing resources were insufficient to address the unique stressors faced by this team. Methods: A quality …

Recognizing And Responding To Moral Distress: Using Transformational Leadership To Increase Nurse Leader Thriving, Miriam Dowling-Schmitt

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background: Moral distress, burnout, and compassion fatigue in acute care nurses has increased significantly since the Covid-19 pandemic and has been associated with high levels of nursing turnover and increased costs to healthcare systems. Nurse leaders at the study organization had never received education on recognizing and responding to moral distress. Nursing engagement scores were low at the study organization in the areas of leadership support and well-being investment in nurses.

Problem Description: Between 2017 and 2021 job satisfaction for nurses with direct patient care responsibilities decreased in 20 of 21 categories according to the Bureau of Health Workforce. High …

Critical Incident Debriefing: Impact On Oncology Nurses And The Infusion-Related Reaction Care Bundle, Megan A. Corbett

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background: A critical incident is a sudden, unexpected, emotionally distressing event commonly experienced by oncology nurses. Debriefing is an evidence-based best practice that facilitates communication, reflection, and learning to identify quality improvement opportunities to enhance clinical practice, patient safety, and quality of care. However, debriefing within oncology care settings is inconsistent despite the demonstrated benefit and availability of frameworks. Infusion-related reaction management follows an algorithm that directs care delivery, aligning with a care bundle approach. Care bundles, when consistently and reliably applied, help identify connections between the critical incident (i.e., infusion-related reaction) and opportunities for improvement to ensure clinicians follow …

Design And Implementation Of A Nursing Peer Practice Case Review Program In An Academic Surgical/Trauma Icu, Natalie Tredway

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background: Peer review has been in use in healthcare for many years, primary by physicians. Recently, however, nursing has adopted a framework for peer review within the profession. According to the American Nurses Association (admin, 2011), organizations are required to maintain a systematic peer review process aimed at evaluating nursing care and nursing care providers to obtain/maintain Magnet designation. According to Foster (2015) nursing peer review (NPR) is “process by which practicing registered nurses systematically assess, monitor, and make judgments about the quality of nursing care provided by peers as measured against professional standards of practice”. The focus is on …

Implementation Of A Standardized Educational Training Series For Anaphylaxis Recognition And Epi-Pen Administration To Non-Licensed Personnel In A School Setting, Katherine T. Darak

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background: Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening allergic reaction that requires early recognition and administration of intramuscular epinephrine. In the elementary school setting, non-licensed personnel are often the first staff to identify this, making training and preparedness essential. This quality improvement project aims to enhance school personnel knowledge, confidence, and competence in recognizing and managing anaphylaxis through a standardized educational training series.

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project aimed to increase the knowledge, confidence, and competence of non-licensed personnel in managing and responding to anaphylaxis in the school setting. Participants accessed the educational module and hands-on training interventions …

Noaa Or&R Remote Sensing /Uas Workshop Report, Coastal Response Research Center

Coastal Response Research Center

NOAA’s DPP partnered with CRRC to plan and facilitate a hybrid workshop over two days at UNH’s Memorial Union Building (MUB) in Durham, NH. This workshop titled “NOAA OR&R Remote Sensing/UAS Workshop” identified overarching concepts, knowledge gaps, challenges, and research regarding the current capabilities of oil spill remote sensing of NOAA and its partners, including government and state agencies, and the private sector (e.g., OSROs, contractors). The resulting conversations explored state of the art technologies that could be deployed during a spill event and complications introduced to response and recovery efforts by data delivery timelines, data products, and remote sensing …

A Quality Improvement Initiative To Reinforce Education To Increase Nurses’ Knowledge And Confidence In Patient-Centered Labor Positioning, Larkyn Baum

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Cesarean section (CS) delivery is an important and necessary intervention, yet comes with increased risks to the patient and fetus compared to vaginal birth. CS rates have been increasing globally, and implementing interventions to promote vaginal birth, especially for nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex (NTSV) patients is of interest to patients, providers, and institutions.

Local Problem: In 2024, the CS rate within the microsystem was 32%, more than double the WHO-recommended benchmark of 10–15%. Of all CS deliveries in 2024, 31% were nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex (NTSV) patients, who are considered optimal candidates for vaginal delivery. Given the elevated rate …

A Quality Improvement Initiative: Enhancing Knowledge And Confidence In Effective Eclamptic Seizure Management Among Maternity Nurses, Emma C. Donigian

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Preeclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E) are leading contributors to maternal morbidity and mortality rates globally. Timely recognition and intervention are essential for improving maternal outcomes. However, evidence indicates that healthcare professionals often lack sufficient knowledge and confidence in managing these conditions, highlighting a critical need for ongoing education to ensure safe, effective care.

Local Problem: At a small maternity unit in Northern New England, nurses expressed concern about their preparedness to manage eclamptic seizures, a rare but high-risk obstetric emergency. Although preeclampsia is commonly encountered, eclampsia occurs infrequently, limiting staff exposure and hands-on experience. This combination of low frequency and …

Town Of Dummer, Nh Annual Report Of The Town Officers For The Year Ended December 31, 2024, Dummer Town Representatives

Dummer, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Comparing Treemap 2016 Forest Estimates To Two Field Sites In New Hampshire, Rue Teel

Master's Theses and Capstones

The goal of this study was to determine whether TreeMap 2016, a forest model created by Riley et al. (2022a), is appropriate for fine-scale forestry applications in the northeastern United States.The integration of remotely sensed data and forest inventories to create multi-source forest inventories has become standard practice in many countries around the world. Wall-to-wall models of terrestrial biomass are of particular interest in light of the role of forests in carbon sequestration. TreeMap 2016 makes tree-level predictions of forest conditions across the U.S. at a 30x30-meter pixel resolution using USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis data. TreeMap has been used …

An Active Playful Learning Guidebook For New Hampshire Early Childhood Educators, Unh Early Childhood Education Coaching Initiative, Jennifer Berube, Sarah Bond, Karen Dubois-Garofalo, Kimberly Nesbitt

Play-Based Learning Coaching and Teaching

No abstract provided.

Strafford County 2024 Annual Report Of The Commissioners, Treasurer, Other County Officers, And The Strafford County Delegation For The Year Ending December 31, 2024, Strafford County Representatives

Strafford County, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for 2024 for Strafford County in the state of New Hampshire.

Viscosity Stratified Turbulence: Insights From Direct Numerical Simulations, Quasilinear Reduction And Resolvent Analysis, Pulkit Kumar Dubey

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on wall-bounded shear-driven turbulence with temperature-dependentviscosity. Direct numerical simulations and quasilinear reduction have been used to establish the asymmetric variation of turbulent statistics in the wall-normal direction. A comparison of energy spectra in the cold and hot halves of the channel reveals that large scale motions are amplified in the more viscous half while small scale motions are amplified in the less viscous half. Interestingly, the threshold wavenumber distinguishing these scales remains independent of stratification. This observation has been verified via a low-order reconstruction of the turbulent kinetic energy profile using resolvent analysis. Fourier modes that selectively …

A Collaborative Assessment Of Coastal Ocean Acidification Monitoring In Maine & Standard Operating Procedures And Best Practices For The Collection Of Continuous Ph Data In Coastal Marine Environments, Christopher W. Hunt, Curtis Bohlen, Mike Doan, Jeremy Miller

Faculty Publications

The ‘Sensor Squad’ of the Maine Ocean Climate Collaborative is the product of a 2023 Maine Coastal and Marine Climate Action Fund grant to conduct “A two-year pilot project designed to address and overcome technological barriers to ocean acidification data collection, develop protocols to elevate quality assurance and ensure comparable data, and meet regularly to discuss project results and data compilation”. The Squad consists of representatives from Friends of Casco Bay (FOCB), Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve (WNERR), and the University of New Hampshire (UNH). This report is a summary of their efforts to assess affordable, repeatable means of continuously …

Hit Me, Baby, One More Time: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Celebrity Gossip Magazine Shaming Of Britney Spears, Anna Drabik

Comm-entary

Britney Spears is an American pop star who rose to fame in the late 1990s at the age of 17 with her music, performances, and fashion. Spears was a prominent figure.

in celebrity gossip magazines, a genre which grew to prominence alongside and, in many ways, because of Spears. The distinct aesthetic and style of celebrity gossip magazines involved stories, blurbs, and images which wielded praise and shame—directly and indirectly—as tools to enforce norms and expectations for both female celebrities and female readers. Through a critical discourse analysis of 378 People and Us articles throughout the first ten years of …

Good Forestry In The Granite State: Forest Health, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

2026 4-H National Conference Application, Kristen Landau, Kristen Lyons

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

A Biogeochemical Perspective On Acidification And Buffering Capacity In The Piscataqua Estuary, Sanjana Varanasi

Master's Theses and Capstones

Coastal acidification is influenced not only by rising atmospheric CO2 and river-ocean mixing, but also by metabolic processes that alter seawater carbonate chemistry and buffering capacity. This study examines how sedimentary biogeochemical processes contribute to carbonate system variability in the Piscataqua Estuary, a tidally dynamic channel connecting Great Bay to the Gulf of Maine. The biogeochemical processes considered include sedimentary aerobic respiration, denitrification, sulfate reduction, and carbonate dissolution or precipitation. Two incubation experiments were conducted in September and October of 2024 at the University of New Hampshire’s Coastal Marine Laboratory (CML) to quantify changes in pH, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), …

A Quality Improvement Project: Increasing Nurse Satisfaction With Patient Educational Material Related To Pain Management Options During Labor, Madison Grant

Master's Theses and Capstones

BACKGROUND:

Pain management is a large portion of what nurses manage during the patient’s time on the labor and delivery unit. The primary forms of pain management that is available to women during this time includes epidurals, nitrous oxide, stadol/diphenhydramine, and nonpharmacological options such as breathing techniques. It is essential that patients are aware of all pain management options prior to entering the unit for delivery, however sometimes nurses have to help to close the educational gap.

LOCAL PROBLEM:

Within the microsystem, it was acknowledged that many patients lacked the education of their pain management options prior to delivery which …

Timing And Temperature Of Newborn Baths: A Qualitative Improvement Initiative Through Nursing Staff Development, Eileen Harwood

Master's Theses and Capstones

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Newborn bathing is a common task performed in a labor and delivery unit of a hospital, a newborn’s bath temperature, timing and how long it is performed, are important metrics to consider. Due to a newborn’s immature thermoregulation, there are multiple implications that come with receiving a bath that is not an optimal temperature or that is too soon after birth. As newborn bathing is often overlooked task due to its quotidian nature, a literature review of current evidence-based practice revealed the urgency to keep the optimal conditions at the forefront of considerations for both nurses and caregivers. …

A Quality Initiative To Reinforce Nursing Staff Education On Fall Prevention Interventions To Enhance Patient Safety And Outcomes On A Medical-Surgical Unit, Jolena Senesombath

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background:

Patients are at an increased risk for falls on a medical-surgical unit due to a variety of factors such as increased age, medications, altered mobility, and more. Several fall prevention interventions are used to prevent falls, including use of call bells, bed and chair alarms, maintain a clutter free environment, using a fall risk assessment upon admission, and providing patient and staff education. Reinforcing education for nursing staff has been shown to be one of the most effective interventions in preventing and reducing the number of falls as it increases awareness of falls.

Local Problem:

Within the microsystem, patient …

Improving Intensive Care Unit Nurses' Knowledge And Confidence In Performing Effective Spontaneous Awakening Trials: A Quality Improvement Project, Sophia T. Merry-Carreiro

Master's Theses and Capstones

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Mechanically ventilated ICU patents often require sedation for comfort and ventilator compliance. However, oversedation is linked to negative outcomes such as delirium, prolonged ventilation, and increased duration of ICU stay. Current best practices now support the use of daily sedation interruptions such as Spontaneous Awakening Trials (SATs). Despite these recommendations, implementation of SATs remain inconsistent and suboptimal.

LOCAL PROBLEM:

Within the ICU in a northern new England hospital, there was a need to improve nurse confidence and knowledge in SATs practices through staff education.

METHODS:

Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model, a quality improvement project was developed to improve …

Enhancing Patient Safety By Increasing Daily Weight Measurement For Intensive Care Through Nursing Education: A Quality Improvement Project, Liz Prior

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: For critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), accurate daily weight measurements are crucial for monitoring fluid status and ensuring correct medication dosages. However, variations in measurement techniques, accuracy, and documentation can render this data unreliable. This often leads to a reliance on less accurate measures, which may contribute to longer treatment courses and suboptimal patient outcomes.

Local Problem: At a 3-bed ICU in a critical access hospital, staff interviews revealed inconsistencies among nurses in the daily measurement of patient weights. The lack of a standardized protocol created barriers to the usefulness of serial daily weight data. …

Enhancing Triage Accuracy And Nursing Confidence Of The Emergency Severity Index To Improve The Effectiveness Of Triage Through Targeted Education: An Evidence-Based Quality Improvement Project, Mia K. Saucedo

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: The Emergency Severity Index system is a standardized triage scoring guide used by emergency department nurses to efficiently assess patients based on severity and projected recourse needs. Studies have found that knowledge and confidence gaps among nurses may lead to improper triage score, leading to the misallocated spread of resources and longer wait times, increasing rates of morbidity and mortality. Early recognition of patient severity is vital for providing proficient patient care and improving patient outcomes and increased education is needed to improve this gap in nursing knowledge and confidence.

Local Problem: At a small, critical care access center …

Reinforcing Nursing Staff Knowledge For Accurate Cam-Icu Assessment And Documentation In A Medical Icu: A Quality Improvement Project, Tiffany Rzepka

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Delirium is an acute state of confusion that can lead to increased morbidity and longer hospital stays. Patients in the ICU are at high risk for developing delirium due to additional risk factors such as mechanical ventilation and sedation. The Confused Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) is a tool used by nursing staff to document and assess for delirium.

Local Problem: The microsystem in this project is a 16-bed medical ICU in central New Hampshire. In the microsystem, CAM-ICU documentation compliance is tracked monthly, but the accuracy of the documentation is not routinely assessed. Stakeholders have …

Educating Staff On Effective Ways To Improve Medication Discharge Instructions In Emergency Departments (Ed): A Quality Improvement Project, Isabelle L. Kuhn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Emergency Departments (EDs) serve a vital role in treating acute conditions, yet they face challenges in ensuring patients understand discharge instructions, particularly those related to medications. Approximately 70% of ED patients demonstrate deficits in at least one discharge domain, including medication understanding. Limited health literacy, time constraints, and rushed environments contribute to these gaps. Improving discharge communication is critical to reduce medication errors and prevent avoidable readmissions.

Local Problem: In a Northern New England ED, an assessment of the microsystem highlighted that patients often struggled to understand medication discharge information, increasing the risk of non-adherence and readmission. …

Optimizing Surgical Count Accuracy And Efficiency Through Enhanced Operating Room Communication To Promote Patient Safety: A Quality Improvement Project, Jessica L. Limbocker

Master's Theses and Capstones

Abstract

Background: Retained surgical items (RSIs) are classified as “never events” because they are preventable and pose significant risks to patient safety. This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to reduce the risk of RSIs, particularly during Cesarean sections by identifying gaps in surgical count practices and implementing targeted interventions.

Local Problem: At the project site, baseline assessments revealed gaps in surgical count practices. These included inconsistent documentation, absence of formal education on count procedures, and communication barriers among the intraoperative team—all contributing to increased risk of RSIs.

Methods: This QI project implemented a multi-faceted intervention to enhance …

Enhancing Patient-Centered Suicide Prevention: A Quality Improvement Project Addressing Educational Gaps In Staff Caring For Veterans, Shayla Craigue

Master's Theses and Capstones

Veterans are at significantly higher risk for suicidal ideation (SI) than the general population and often encounter barriers to care such as stigma, trauma, and distrust in healthcare systems. This quality improvement project, conducted at a Veterans Affairs (VA) Urgent Care Clinic, aimed to enhance trauma-informed care by addressing educational gaps among clinical staff. Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model, the intervention included a pre-intervention survey to assess baseline knowledge, a targeted educational poster informed by survey findings, and a post-intervention survey to measure changes in staff confidence, resource awareness, and understanding of the role of the mental health response team, …