Digital Commons Network^™

Port Access Experience: A Pediatric Emergency And Oncology Interdepartmental Collaboration, Vasiliki Thomareas, Jamie Carroll, Jennifer Thelen, Elizabeth Bradley

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: Dissatisfaction with the port access experience in the Pediatric Emergency Department (ED) was noted by increased verbal feedback from patients, families and nursing staff, which included lack of understanding by families of the importance of timely port access. The project goal was to increase nurse and patient satisfaction during port access in the ED, as indicated by at least 70% of respondents rating their port access experience as either Excellent or Good.

Design: This was a process improvement project, whereby data was collected through a qualitative approach.

Setting: Settings included the Pediatric ED, the Pediactric Oncology inpatient unit and …

Implementation Of A Vertical Care Area And Enhancement Of The Triage Process For Patient Throughput In A Freestanding Emergency Department, Katharine Mclary

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Session G presented Saturday, September 16, 2017

Purpose: The objective of this performance improvement project was to improve the overall triage process and create a vertical care treatment area in the freestanding emergency department to decrease left without being seen rates and improve the throughput experience for patients.

Design: This evidence-based project was nurse driven to implement best practice for patients in a free standing emergency department.

Setting: The setting of this performance improvement project is a 14 bed free standing emergency department in a community outside of Charlotte, NC.

Participants/Subjects: This was an evidence-based process improvement project that did …

Stand Method: Changing Nursing Culture From The Bedside Up, Brian Wharton, Andrea Kasprenski, Cherie Ward

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: According to the literature, it is highly recognized that when people are in an environment that fosters growth, encourages diversity and encourages learning, employees become more engaged and have a higher level of dedication. The STAND (Safety, Tolerance, Awareness, Nurturing and Diversity) method is a nontraditional approach to transforming the nursing culture utilizing a change from within, bedside up not the traditional top-down method, with the goal of amending workplace culture to a more positive, accepting and nurturing environment.

Objectives: Identify current psychological aspects of nursing culture and redefine within our Emergency Department; Create key concepts of changing the …

Providing Nasal Naloxone Spray To High Risk Emergency Department Patients, Paula Kobelt, Benjamin Ashley, Kimberly Nye, Pamela Huff, Lisa Harbaugh

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Poster presentation, Session E presented Friday, September 15, 2017

Purpose: To address knowledge gaps and negative attitudes towards patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) and to collect information to inform a pilot project in a hospital system to provide naloxone nasal spray for home use as well as harm-reduction education to emergency department (ED) patients at high risk for opioid overdose.

Design: An educational intervention addressing gaps in knowledge and attitudes toward ED patients at high risk for opioidoverdose. The education intervention was developed and presented collaboratively with the Director of Drug Abuse Outreach Initiatives and the Community Outreach Specialist …

Lifelong Learning Through Mobile Reflection At The Stretcherside, Justin Milici, Sueanne Wright Cantamessa, Jacqueline Mogusu

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to impact the lifelong learning process of ED nurses to effective leadership development at the stretcherside. Millennials need leadership opportunities before the routine 18 moths of most onboarding programs. By introducing reflection via mobile journaling at the stretcherside, it is the hope that these nurses will develop their critical thinking and decision making skills, and therefore be matriculated into these leadership roles while being supported by a professional development practitioner and ultimately, increase retention.

Design: Evidence based implementation using mixed methodology through focus groups, lived experience through mobile reflective journaling. Increased retention measured …

Nurse First A New Process In One Community Hospital, Anne Marie Tomaski, Colleen Bouyea-Essency

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: If a patient is presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) for treatment of a laceration of a finger or acute chest pain, the experience can be an alarming situation. ED visits have increased over 35%, which has created a stressful environment because the patient census cannot be accommodated. These circumstances have placed ambulatory patients presenting for treatment at risk. The patient who leaves without being seen (LWOBS) has increased to 3.8% at this one community hospital and door to EKG time has also increased to 12 minutes. THe mean overall patient satisfaction score was 83.7% The situation must be …

Quality Improvement Through Improved Documentation, Kenneth Lobe

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: To optimize practice standards in accordance to regulatory requirements the organizational policy for Emergency Department (ED) documentation was created. The Quality Improvement (QI) project focused on application of the policy, augmenting current nursing documentation to enhance communication of the patient's ED trajectory.

Design: The project focused on professional development ensuring documentation reflects the patient's journey promoting quality care leading to best patient outcomes.

Setting: The Swedish/Ballard Campus is a community hospital in Seattle. The community has transformed, business relocation to the Ballard community maintaining close relationship to downtown Seattle has created a community with greater numbers of young families. …

Immersive Education: Evaluating Virtual Reality In Clinical Decision-Making, Carol Oldroyd, Alison Day

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: Experiential learning in virtual reality offers students a way of learning that is active, participatory and unique. Virtual reality (VR) enables active learning within a theoretical framework of 'situated cognition', enabling students to feel a sense of presence in the virtual environment. This approach encourages students to apply and practice learned content in realistic environments, which is vital for healthcare practitioners. This study evaluates the use of virtual reality (VR) within healthcare education. Firstly, evaluating the use/experience of using VR and secondly, determining whether undergraduate students find this immersive method of education useful for enhancing their clinical decision making. …

Reducing Restraint Use With De-Escalation Training In The Emergency Department, Jennifer Scott, Jillian Nickerson, Lynn Pittsinger

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: In addition to the annual number of emergency room visits progressively rising over the last couple decades, there has also been an annual increase in patients presenting to emergency rooms for acute care of psychiatric and mental health crises. Care for this patient population comes with the possibility of restraint utilization to prevent patient harm from themselves or to others. Physical restraint use is associated with dangerous risks for the patient and staff, including injury and even the risk of death.

Design: A collaborative quality initiative was begun in 2013/2014 whereby the department's nursing leadership, registered nurses, certified nursing …

Lung Malignancy In Prostate Cancer: A Report Of Both Metastatic And Primary Lung Lesions, Lael Reinstatler, Jonathan Dupuis, Jessica L. Dillon, Candace C. Black, Joseph D. Phillips, Elias S. Hyams

Dartmouth Scholarship

Prostate cancer is the most common non-cutaneous malignancy diagnosed in men. When it metastasizes, it usually spreads to bone and/or lymph nodes. A handful of cases have described prostatic metastases to the lung; however, this is usually in the setting of existing bone lesions. Here we describe a unique case in which a patient was found to have both metastatic prostate cancer to the lung and a primary lung cancer in the absence of any other evidence of extra-prostatic disease.

Impact Of Emergency Department Sepsis Policy, Lynette M. Rayman

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: Sepsis and the care of sepsis patients impact the healthcare industry on a number of levels. It is a serious concern for health care providers, policy-makers, and patients due to the large number of cases, high mortality, and cost. The purposes of the project were to identify sepsis patients early during the triage process and implement Sepsis Evidence Based Order Sets within one hour of triage time. This was accomplished by the implementation of an ED sepsis policy.

Design: This evidence-based project combined a Capstone DNP project with a quality improvment project.

Setting: The setting for this EBP project …

Emergency Department Throughput: Immediate Bedding To Reduce Throughput Times, Serenity Glazer

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to decrease front-end throughput times at Houston Methodist St. John Emergency Department (ED) by direct bedding patients until all beds are full.

Design: This was a quality improvement project to ensuring patients are seen by a health care provider in a more timely manner and improve patient satisfaction.

Setting: The Emergency Department (ED) at Houston Methodist St John is a 21 bed community based ED in an acute care Hospital. Our Emergency Department see's about 20,000 Patients a year.

Participants/Subjects: A taskforce consisting of staff nurses, charge nurses, technicians, formal ED nursing leadership, …

Introducing A Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Tool In A Pediatric Ed, Teresa Bontrager, Mary Brooker

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: The pediatric asthma patient presenting to the Emergency Room requires prompt and reliable assessment leading to timely treatment. Our current Emergency Severity Index (ESI) triage scoring system is not specific to Pediatric Asthma Assessment. The introduction of the Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure (PRAM), an asthma assessment tool, improved nursing assessment, communication of severity between providers, and timely care.

Design: This evidence-based quality improvement project and prospective study involved training of staff nurses in the use of the PRAM scoring tool over a 6 month period using education and training of super users, power point learning modules and practice scenarios. …

Retention Benefits Of A Clinical Nurse Residency Program In Ed, Robin Macpherson-Dias

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: Emergency Departments RNs experience an annual turnover rate of approximately 22% which is higher than national average. New Graduate Residency programs have been shown to increase nurse retention. The objective of this study was to examine the retention benefits of a Clinical Nurse Residency (CNR) program in the Emergency Department and examine the perceived benefits, challenges, and effectiveness of an ED CNR program.

Design: Descriptive statistics were used to describe retention rates. Focus groups were utilized for qualitative analysis to obtain major themes regarding the Emergency Department CNR program.

Setting: Level 2 trauma center, STEMI recieving center, primary stroke …

Non-Pharmacological Option For Self-Administered Nausea Relief In The Pediatric Ed: Essential Oil Blend Aromatic Inhaler, Sonya Mcbryde, Denise Langley, Melinda Hartenstein

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Poster presentation Session F presented Friday, September 15, 2017

Purpose: Our staff wanted to offer a non-pharmacological option for nausea that is self-administered/controlled, nurse directed without continued nursing supervision, and has no limit /maximum use/frequency. Although QueaseEASE (QE) is widely used in labor/delivery, adult PACU, and adult/pediatric HemOnc areas; QueaseEASE has little previous use in pediatric or adult emergency departments.

Design: The staff developed project compared standard pharmacological nausea relief usage before and after patients' self directed use of QueaseEASE. Cost analysis and patient satisfaction were trended.

Setting: The study occurred in the public academic health center/research university level one …

Code Stroke, Jessica Sumner, Danny Murray

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: The objective was to decrease ED door to CT and lab turnaround time to results to less than or equal to 45 minutes, improve the percentage of tests resulted in under 45 minutes to 85% or greater and decrease variation in the Code Stroke process.

Design: The design is a quality improvement project using Lean Six Sigma methodology.

Setting: The project setting is a suburban community hospital emergency department.

Participants/Subjects: The participants were a multidisciplinary team involving all ED staff, physicians, radiology technicians, laboratory technicians, stroke coordinator, stroke neurologist and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt participated in this project. …

College Of Education News, College Of Education, Georgia Southern University

College of Education: News & Publications (2003-2023)

• i2STEMe hosts fall STEM Experience for Effingham students
• Higher ed. administration graduate candidates present at state conference

Handbook For New Actors In Space, Christopher D. Johnson

CSO 351 DB - Langston - Spring 2019

Driven by Cold War tensions between the US and the Soviet Union, the space race began almost 60 years ago. Each power was racing to accomplish new feats in space and demonstrate its superiority. In 2017, while much remains the same, much has changed. Space actors comprise a wide variety of national and non-governmental entities comprising diverse rationales, goals, and activities. More than 70 states, commercial companies, and international organizations currently operate more than 1,500 satellites in Earth orbit. Driven largely by the commoditization of space technology and the lowering of barriers to participation, the number of space actors is …

A Robust Synthetic Basis Feature Descriptor Implementation And Applications Pertaining To Visual Odometry, Object Detection, And Image Stitching, Lindsey Ann Raven

Theses and Dissertations

Feature detection and matching is an important step in many object tracking and detection algorithms. This paper discusses methods to improve upon previous work on the SYnthetic BAsis feature descriptor (SYBA) algorithm, which describes and compares image features in an efficient and discreet manner. SYBA utilizes synthetic basis images overlaid on a feature region of interest (FRI) to generate binary numbers that uniquely describe the feature contained within the FRI. These binary numbers are then used to compare against feature values in subsequent images for matching. However, in a non-ideal environment the accuracy of the feature matching suffers due to …

Geological Framework Of The Continental Shelf Of South Carolina Winyah Bay: Paleodrainage, Transgressions And Essential Fish Habitat, Amanda Roach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A regional geophysical survey of the inner continental shelf off central South Carolina was completed on a cooperative cruise between NOAA and Coastal Carolina University in July 2015. An integrated mapping suite comprised of subbottom echosounder, side scan, multibeam and split beam sonars was used to define the regional geologic framework, including paleodrainage patterns across the shelf and to identify potential fish habitat locations that will provide additional inputs to a thematic habitat mapping routine developed by NOAA. Results from the thematic mapper characterization suggest that large-scale framework elements such as paleochannel networks may play a role in determining benthic …

Journal Conversations: Building The Research Self-Efficacy Of An Aboriginal Early Career Academic, Michelle L. Dickson

The Qualitative Report

This paper shows how I used my research journal mainly as a reflective tool throughout the process of applying for and completing a PhD. Embarking on a PhD can be daunting for anyone and I was challenged by my lack of academic self-efficacy. In the absence of a formal academic mentor my research journal became my confidante, a tool that helped me make progress at times when barriers to research seemed insurmountable. It helped me decrease the cognitive dissonance I was experiencing about issues of subjectivity/objectivity and the positioning of my self in the research. This paper shares research journal …

Development Of Molecular Catalysts For Co2 Reduction And Nanomaterial Catalysts For Oxidation Reactions, Kankana Mullick

Doctoral Dissertations

The thesis presented here is focused on two aspects of transition metal mediated catalysis research- one is designing homogeneous rhenium complex with suitable ligand framework for electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to address dual issues regarding green house gas removal and hydrocarbon fuel production; another being fabrication of heterogeneous mesoporous manganese oxide to catalyze organic fine chemical synthesis under aerobic atmospheric condition. The quest for conquering fossil fuel energy dependence leads us to develop methodologies for using CO₂ as a renewable resource. Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ has been considered as a promising procedure for this purpose. Coordination complexes …

Fates Of Rare Species Under Siege From Invasion: Persistence Of Coccinella Novemnotata Herbst In Western North America Alongside An Invasive Congener, Edward W. Evans

Biology Faculty Publications

Species invading new geographic regions may threaten continued existence of similar, indigenous relatives, particularly those species whose rarity may reflect an already tenuous existence. The spectacular colonization of North America in recent decades by Coccinella septempunctata L. has generated widespread concern over potentially adverse effects on population viability of native species of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae). Coccinella novemnotata Herbst in particular has been hypothesized to be at great risk, as this species apparently dwindled in numbers across much of North America during the twentieth century. Here results of sampling diverse habitats over three decades are examined to address the fate of …

An Assessment Of Women Faculty Members' Opinions About Information Literacy Needs, Search And Evaluation Competencies, Vellaichamy Alagarsamy, Jeyshankar Ramalingam

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper reports information literacy needs, search and evaluation competencies at Mother Teresa Women’s University and its affiliated colleges. In this study it is try to evaluate the information literacy needs, information needs assessment competency and competency of information literacy evaluation. Questionnaire was a data collection tool. A total of 290 questionnaires were distributed among users and 254 duly filled in questionnaires were received, thus resulting into a response rate of 87.59 per cent. Out of 12 institutions, 5 are government, 5 are self-financing and 2 are aided educational institutions. This study showed that 163 (64.2%) respondents are assistant professors …

The Value Of Native Plants And Local Production In An Era Of Global Agriculture, Oren Shelef, Peter J. Weisberg, Frederick D. Provenza

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

For addressing potential food shortages, a fundamental tradeoff exists between investing more resources to increasing productivity of existing crops, as opposed to increasing crop diversity by incorporating more species. We explore ways to use local plants as food resources and the potential to promote food diversity and agricultural resilience. We discuss how use of local plants and the practice of local agriculture can contribute to ongoing adaptability in times of global change. Most food crops are now produced, transported, and consumed long distances from their homelands of origin. At the same time, research and practices are directed primarily at improving …

Low-Cost Control Engineering Experiments, Megan Arduin

Honors Theses

The disciplines found within the area of motion and controls is a vital element of each engineer’s education. The ability to understand and then control dynamic systems is a fundamental skill required for many working engineers today. The aim of this project is to further develop the tools and methods available to teach and prepare engineering students to effectively design control system architecture, and then successfully implement their design into real world systems. The main goal is to design an apparatus that can be used to teach control system methods and has an affordable price. There are few experiments where …

Analyzing The Legislative Productivity Of Congress During The Obama Administration, Zachary Hunkins

Honors Theses

Our nation looks to Congress to solve problems by producing legislation. Four congressional sessions took place during the eight years of the Obama administration; these were the 111^th (2009-2011), 112^th (2011-2013), 113^th (2013-2015), and 114^th (2015-2017). These four congressional sessions were often labeled and stigmatized as some of the least productive sessions in our nation’s history. This raises the questions, what explains legislative productivity? What variables effect it? Were the four sessions that took place during the Obama administration that ineffective? How do these sessions compare to sessions that took place during past presidential administrations? This …

Boat-Lift Design And Analysis, Nathan Schick

Honors Theses

A current in production 6000 lb. rated boat-lift is being sold at “Great Lake Lifts”. The lift was tested experimentally and proved to hold at least 8000 lb. The design team successfully modeled the current lift on Ansys to help the customer understand where the weakest points in the design were. Following the creation of the initial lift design, the design team proposed and tested modifications that could be made in order to make the lift more structurally sound. The initial lift had a maximum deflection of 0.43846 inches, a maximum stress of 15880 psi, and a safety factor of …

Holocene Fluctuations In Human Population Demonstrate Repeated Links To Food Production And Climate, Andrew Bevan, Sue Colledge, Dorian Fuller, Ralph Fyfe, Stephen Shennan, Chris Stevens

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Urban Design In Securing Post-Event Legacies Of Olympic Parks, Renata Sanchez, Stephen Essex

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Olympic Parks demand a very distinctive built environment in order to function for their primary purpose, namely to host major sporting competitions. These spaces, however, require substantial reconfiguration in the post-event mode to ensure viable, mixed use and liveable places. This paper evaluates the challenges of transforming Olympic Parks, using evidence from four past hosts: Munich (1972), Sydney (2000), London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016). The discussion raises questions about retaining the ceremonial focus of the Olympic Park and whether a more decentralised model might make the associated urban design and planning legacies more deliverable for future host cities.