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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Evaluating The Impact Of Integrated Care On Service Utilization In Serious Mental Illness, Heidi C. Waters Jan 2017

Evaluating The Impact Of Integrated Care On Service Utilization In Serious Mental Illness, Heidi C. Waters

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Serious mental illness (SMI) affects 5% of the United States population and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Use of high-cost healthcare services is common, including hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits. Integrating behavioral and physical healthcare may improve care for consumers with SMI, but prior research findings have been mixed. This quantitative retrospective cohort study addressed the impact of integrated care on physical health and ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) utilization via a program evaluation of an integrated health clinic (IHC) at a community mental health center (CMHC). The research questions assessed whether there was a predictive relationship between …


Perfecting Patient Bed Flow In The Emergency Department, Kim-Sun Moreira Jan 2017

Perfecting Patient Bed Flow In The Emergency Department, Kim-Sun Moreira

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Emergency department (ED) crowding is a serious problem in the United States. Crowding in the ED can result in delays that may negatively affect patient outcomes and increase the cost of care. The purpose of this project was to understand strategies that can help to improve patient flow in the ED. The plan-to-do-study act model for process improvement influenced this project. Secondary data were collected for a 2-month period to determine the impact of workflow processes (patient boarding time in ED, surge capacity and workflow processes including the impact of ancillary departments) on the movement of admitted patients from the …


An Rn Sepsis Training Program That Supports Registered Nurses In The Emergency Room Setting, Daphne Marjorie Davis-Patrick Jan 2017

An Rn Sepsis Training Program That Supports Registered Nurses In The Emergency Room Setting, Daphne Marjorie Davis-Patrick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sepsis is a severe blood stream infection that claim the lives of almost 220,000 Americans annually. Delayed patient treatment results in multi-organ failure, morbidity, mortality, and increased hospital length of stay. Timely sepsis management enables hospitals to have decreased expenses, increased patient survival, and judicious interventions. The problem addressed in this project was the lack of sepsis- training for registered nurses (RNs) working in the emergency department (ED) of a 628-bed hospital in the southeastern United States. Under the direction of the director of the ED, 269 patient charts were reviewed during 2014 to February 2015 for data related to …


Hourly Roudning In Th Emergency Department, Marie Chapnick Jan 2017

Hourly Roudning In Th Emergency Department, Marie Chapnick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 increased the number of patients seen in a northeast, urban trauma emergency department by 34%. This created a problem as it occurred simultaneously with a nursing shortage. Consequently, patient satisfaction scores fell below the national average benchmark. The rate patients left the emergency department without being seen was 2.6% higher than the national average and patient fall rates increased by 20%. A review of the literature to search for solutions led to the support of an hourly rounding project and an educational workshop promoting proactive nurse behaviors as a way to address the quality …


Using Health Literacy To Improve Emergency Department Discharge, Alicia Ortiz Jan 2017

Using Health Literacy To Improve Emergency Department Discharge, Alicia Ortiz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Patients with limited health literacy often fail to understand verbal and written discharge instructions, and they frequently return to the emergency department (ED) for care. Patients returning to the ED and 30-day readmission rate are core quality performance measures. The purpose of this project was to decrease repeat visits and readmissions to the ED by implementing components of health literacy programs within the ED on patient education and written discharge instructions. Change implementation consisted of (a) use of teach back method (b) modifying medical terminology to language that patient could understand (c) limiting use of words with more than three …


Hiv Testing Practices And Provider-Identified Barriers In The Acute Care Setting, Alex Ariri Jan 2017

Hiv Testing Practices And Provider-Identified Barriers In The Acute Care Setting, Alex Ariri

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations to test patients ages 13 to 64 years for HIV at health care settings, routine HIV testing is lacking. As a result, many people are unaware of their HIV seropositive status. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine relationships between HIV testing and provider type, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding HIV testing in the acute care setting. The study was informed by social cognitive theory. Using a convenient sampling method, a questionnaire derived from previous surveys (Society of General Internal Medicine and University of Washington) was sent to …