Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Effect Of Blood Collection Practices On Emergency Department Blood Specimen Rejection Rates, Barbara K. Vernoski

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The practice of obtaining blood as part of the placement of a new peripheral venous access device (p-VAD) is a frequent practice in the emergency department (ED). Of the concerns related to this practice is the possibility of laboratory specimen rejection due to p-VAD catheter size, use of the wrong collection device, and the absence of a standardized collection process. The objective of this study, therefore, was to examine the effect of the use of evidence-based venipuncture and p-VAD blood collection protocols on the rejection rate of blood specimens drawn by staff in the adult areas of an urban academic …

Practitioners' Use Of Clinical Practice Guidelines: An Evidence-Based Approach, Sondra Michelle Phipps Santana

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pre-diabetes is a serious health problem in the United States. Distinguished by plasma glucose levels that are above the normal threshold, patients with pre-diabetes are 10 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Patients with pre-diabetes suffer the same complications as patients with diabetes including diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy, and microalbuminuria.

There is considerable evidence to support the idea that early identification and aggressive treatment of pre-diabetes has the potential to delay disease progression. The American Diabetes Association’s clinical practice guideline recommends management of with lifestyle modification and metformin for patients who are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. …

The Impact Of The Clinical Nurse Leader/Navigator On Clinical Outcomes And Patient Satisfaction, Diane Smith Raines

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In an era of value based purchasing and healthcare reform, hospitals face the challenge of delivering high quality care in an environment of diminishing resources. This performance improvement project describes the use of master’s prepared nurses on medical surgical units to improve quality and patient satisfaction. The setting was five medical surgical units in a 200+ bed hospital in the southeastern United States. Declining resources necessitated an increase in the nurse to patient ratios on the units (from 5:1 to 6:1). The project involved the modification of the model of care through the change in nurse/patient ratios and the addition …