Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Language Concordance In Medicine And The Need For Medical Schools To Require Taking A Foreign Language As An Intervention Method To Minimize Language Barriers In The U.S., Mary K. Yousif

Honors College Theses

During medical school future student doctors are exposed to a multitude of patients, both natives and non-natives. However, there is no course offering (such as a foreign language or culture class) provided within the curriculum that prepares them for these future interactions. With communication being one of the primary skills used in healthcare, it is imperative to discuss the effects it can cause on a patient if not established. Overall, the goal of this research is to conduct a literary investigation regarding this matter and educate the medical community about the importance of providing effective communication in medicine. This begins …

Examining The Intersectionality Of Religious Faith, Spirituality, And Healthcare Communication, Felix Okeke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is my own contribution in responding to the concern raised by certain communication scholars. Their concern was that little research and few publications have been done in the communication field by communication scholars that trace the relationship among religious faith, spirituality, and healthcare communication. While Parrott (2004) describes this apparent neglect as “collective amnesia,” others label it “religion blindness.” Thus, in trying to trace this relationship, this project uses Christian, biblical, and bioethics backgrounds to establish the value, sacredness, and dignity of human life, since these concepts make healthcare and healthcare communication necessary in the first place. These …

Through The Screen: Disability, Aging And Technology, Shoshannah E. Buxbaum

Capstones

The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered what it means to stay connected. These are stories of how technology has shaped the lives of people with disabilities and seniors in Utah. This half-hour audio documentary, accompanying images and text delve into everything from getting hooked up to the internet for the first time, to the hurdles and expanded opportunities of remote work.

https://shoshannah-buxbaum.medium.com/through-the-screen-bb14b1c992ca

Improving Clinical Communication And Collaboration Through Technology, Michelle Machon

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Problem: Over the last 30 years, clinical communication methodologies in healthcare have evolved to become such disparate systems that they lead to confusion, wasted time, and clinician dissatisfaction. The Joint Commission (2016) reports up to 78% of sentinel events in hospitals are linked to communication failures, which have obvious implications for hospital systems in the quality and safety of their current communication systems.

Context: The purpose of this project was to determine the effectiveness of implementing a unified clinical communication technology platform in an acute care hospital setting and to make recommendations from that implementation to the organization’s larger health …

Standardizing The Bedside Shift Report: Improving Nurse-To-Nurse Communication, Deepi Sahota

Master's Projects and Capstones

PROBLEM: The Community Living Center (CLC) reveals an immense concern on shift-to-shift handoff report. Shift-to-shift report is done in the report room, often times unclear information is given and critical information is not appropriately conveyed.

CONTEXT: The project was implemented on a 50-bed unit at the Veterans Affairs. The improvement project was focused on collaborative partnerships, standardized bedside shift report, and utilization of the SBAR tool. in the prevention of communication errors.

INTERVENTIONS: The SBAR tool was utilized to provide a framework for effective communication between nurses. The CNL facilitated an hour in-service on bedside shift report to nurses …

Chief Nurse Executive Work Engagement: System Leadership Through A Natural Disaster, Strike, And Pandemic, Ryan Fuller

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Problem. In a 21-hospital region of a 39-hospital integrated health system, CNE turnover peaked at 63% (12 CNEs) in 2015. Interviews were conducted in 2019 with 12 CNEs across the region to understand potential issues related to CNE job satisfaction. Responses revealed concerns regarding empowerment, alignment, work-life balance, information transparency/sharing, and recognition. While identifying a solution to address CNE concerns, the organization experienced successive crisis events during a 12-month period that included a record-setting wildfire, multiple labor union strikes, and a novel pandemic. The regional leadership team (RLT) required new approaches to facilitate effective communication during a crisis between the …

How Museum Utilize Social Media On Communication, Jiake Han

School of Professional Studies

With the development of Internet, social media became more and more popular among people. Many industries realize the importance of social media in business. Traditionally, museum concentrates more on personal visual experience, which is hard to be replaced by online media. However, museums now also put more concentrate on social media platform because it expands the way of engagement. Especially, for Coronavirus, many organizations including museums have to close. Therefore, museums have to depend more on social media platforms to communicate with audiences. This research aims at finding how different kind of social media help museum communicate and engage with …

Standardizing The Bedside Shift Report: Improving Communications And Promoting Patient Safety, Chona C. Alforque

Master's Projects and Capstones

PROBLEM: Nursing shift reports are integral to nursing as they allow for the transfer of critical information and responsibility of patient care from one nurse to another. Ineffective communication during shift-to-shift reports can contribute to gaps in patient care and breaches in patient safety, including medication errors, falls, and sentinel events. The greatest risk of communication breakdown is during transitions in care.

CONTEXT: St. Louise Regional Hospital, a small community hospital, consisting of an eight-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit lacked structure in how handoff should occur and had variances in shift handoffs. Observation of the shift handoff at the nurses’ …

Assisting Children With Velocardiofacial Syndrome Who Have Developmental Disabilities And Delays Associated With Speech, Communication, And Education, Mckenzie K. Holty

Honors Thesis

Children with velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) have a variety of complex needs. Research shows that VCFS is characterized by a combination of medical problems, developmental delays, and learning disabilities, which vary from child to child. This syndrome also puts adolescents at a higher risk for developing psychiatric and psychotic disorders. The complexity of symptoms that can arise from VCFS can influence the ability of these children to communicate, socialize, and learn effectively. This literature review aims to discuss literature for caregivers, educators, and physicians to aid children effectively and understand their challenges relating to speech, communication, and education. This topic is …

An Analysis Of Informational Content In A Descriptive Narrative Task Completed By People With Aphasia, Anna Marie Sulminski, Brent Archer, Jay Jones

Honors Projects

Speech and language are important tools used for communication. Communication techniques such as narrative story telling skills can be used to build relationships. People with aphasia may lack these effective communication skills. This study provides a close-up interpretation of people with aphasia telling the story of Cinderella. Two different approaches were used to analyze the elements of the participant’s stories. By using these approaches during speech therapy, Speech-Language Pathologists can help people with aphasia to build a more concise and thorough story.

A Phenomenological Approach On Communication Experiences Between Strength And Conditioning Coaches And Head Sport Coaches, Benjamin Charles

Leadership Education Capstones

This study investigates communication experiences between Strength and Conditioning Coaches and Head Sport Coaches using a phenomenological approach. Sixteen Strength and Conditioning Coaches were surveyed, via Qualtrics, to obtain basic demographics and answer open-ended questions to understand communication experiences and strategies Strength and Conditioning Coaches use to have effective relationships, teamwork, and athletic performance with Head Sport Coaches. Participants were required to be currently working for a DI-DIII 4-year University in the United States, have at least 1-year of Strength and Conditioning experience, an accredit certification related to training athletes at the college level, and be at least 21 years …

Patient-Centered Emr Communication, Christi Lynn Camarena

Doctoral Projects

The electronic medical record (EMR) has become the standard in health care documentation. The EMR has been shown to improve the availability of medical records, provide tools to facilitate communication, and improve patient safety. Because of the absence of standardized training and EMR research, there is a gap in understanding the relationship between the EMR and the provider-patient relationship. The EMR requires the provider to use purposeful and deliberate patient-centered EMR communications behaviors to facilitate a meaningful, engaging, and educational dialogue with patients. These behaviors have been studied in physician populations and standardized tools have been developed to assist in …

Crna To Cvicu Rn: Implementation Of A Standardized Patient Handoff Checklist For Post-Surgical Heart Patients, Ashley Mcgrath

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Patient handoffs occur when the information and responsibility of the patient is transferred from one health professional to another. Ineffective communication during the critical postoperative phase of the transfer of care (TOC) has been associated with extended hospital stays, increased healthcare costs and patient dissatisfaction. In 2007, the Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals proclaimed the importance of a standardized handoff process for effective handoffs. The purpose of this quality improvement doctoral project was to assess if the utilization of a standardized TOC checklist from the operating room to the cardiac intensive care unit (CVICU) for post-heart patients improved communication …

Consumer Assessment Of Healthcare Providers And Systems In A Psychiatry Practice, Treacy Williams

Dissertations

Problem: Patient-centered care improves healthcare. Patient surveys are instruments used to assess the patient’s experience and is essential to providing patient-centered care. The aim of this quality improvement initiative was to assess patient perceptions of care delivered by nurse practitioner (NP) providers in a psychiatric mental health practice.

Methods: An observational, descriptive design with a customized Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey administered in an outpatient psychiatric mental health practice for six weeks. A structure, process, outcomes framework was used. The structure of study was care delivered by the NP, the process of interest was communication …

Improving Patient And Provider Engagement By Utilizing Ask Me 3®, Joseph G. Smith, Msn, Arnp, Fnp Bc

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Patient and provider engagement in healthcare has an impact on health outcomes.

Purpose: To study the implementation of the Ask Me 3 (AM3) tool, a tool that encourages patients to ask three questions about their health to their care provider. The aim of the project is to explore the level of patient and provider engagement by patients` reports of their perception of engagement with their provider and in understanding their diagnosis.

Methods: The setting was a small urban family practice in the Pacific Northwest. Every patient that checked in for their appointment, excluding pediatric and younger than 18 years …

The Development And Testing Of The Genetic Counseling Communication Checklist (Gcc): A Novel Process Measure, Katherine N. Hehmeyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Given that genetic counseling (GC) is a discipline that relies on communication to help people understand and adapt to the genetic contribution of disease, a practical method of comprehensively documenting GC communication strategies is needed to better understand the communication strategies utilized by genetic counselors and the variability that exists within the process. To this end, we created a novel process measure called the Genetic Counseling Communication Checklist (GCC), utilizing previously validated measures, communication/counseling theories, and research findings. Two researchers independently coded six video-taped mock GC sessions using the GCC. Following each session, the GCC was further modified to improve …

Use Of Intentional Play On Emotional Self-Regulation In Children With Trauma Histories, Erin Sullivan

OT Student Capstones

The purpose of this Capstone research project was to examine the impact of intentional play as a means to increase emotional self-regulation skills in children with traumatic histories and explore how Occupational therapists (OTs) can use such strategies while working with this population. The research was conducted at an emergency children’s shelter and consisted of an educational component for staff and direct contact with the children. Eight staff members participated, and data was gathered on 22 children (N=22) over a span of five weeks. An outcome measurement adapted from the Short Child Occupational Profile (citation needed) was used to obtain …

Dentists’ Communication Skills As Determinants Of Patient Initiation Of Treatment, Nojoud Omar A Balubaid

Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In the medical field literature, studies allude to the importance of interpersonal relationships between the caregiver and the patient. Communication has been highlighted as a key factor that mediates the doctor to patient relationship. This study investigated the relationship between patient initiation of treatment with the patients’ perceptions of the quality of the dentist-patient communication. A cross-sectional study that solicited from patients seeking services at Nova Southeastern University Post-Graduate Dental Programs responses to a questionnaire that measured patient’s perception of the quality of communication of the attending dentist. The participants of the study were patients of the NSU Post-graduate dental …

Was That In An Email? An Electronic Tool To Improve Nursing Communication Satisfaction, Jennifer A. Morgan

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Practice Innovation Projects

Background: Nursing communication satisfaction impacts engagement and turnover as well as patient care which affects organizational profits. Although direct care nurses report dissatisfaction with nurse manager communication methods, organizations and nurse managers do not utilize best practice strategies. In addition, there is a lack of high-quality implementation studies of best practice communication methods, specifically on obstetrics units, to assist managers in improving communication methods. Methods: An electronic communication tool was implemented on an inpatient obstetrics unit at a large tertiary hospital in the Upper Midwest. The tool was accessible on all unit computers on the SharePoint site. The project leader …

Reducing Nurses' Communication Anxiety During End Of Life Care, Susan Dunbar Wolfrom

Master of Science in Nursing Theses and Projects

End of life (EOL) conversations are meaningful discussions pertaining to the patient’s disease trajectory, symptom management, and the patient’s goals at end of life. End of life care discussions have been associated with many benefits for the patient including: decreased healthcare costs, less aggressive treatments at EOL, and a good death. These sensitive discussions must occur over the course of several interactions or spontaneously in the moment in order to support the patient during delicate moments. This makes the nurse the prime candidate to help facilitate and harbor these discussions. However, barriers to communication exist, leading to the omission of …

Communication Within The Perioperative Department, Leah Quinn

Master of Science in Nursing Theses and Projects

No abstract provided

The Hospital Consumer Assessment Of Healthcare Providers And Systems And Readmissions, Sheri Matson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Patient perception of care has become a main priority in the delivery of high-quality health care. The creation of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey provided a nationally standardized method of evaluating patient perception to be incorporated in the reimbursement process defined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between HCAHPS scores and readmission rates in 2 states in the South Atlantic region of the United States. Using social construction theory, this quantitative study utilized multiple regression analysis to analyze HCAHPS scores (independent …

Tool Kit To Address Communication On A Mental Health Unit, Carol L. Barclay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Effective communication by newly graduated, hired nursing staff is a significant issue affecting patient care on mental health units. The rising prevalence of mental illness in the United States has not only increased the healthcare burden, but has also affected the overall economy. The lack of training of new nursing staff regarding communication diminishes the effective recovery rate of patients, further increasing the burden to the healthcare field and the economy. A tool kit for newly graduated mental health nurses working on mental health units may help to improve communication skills and enhance patient safety and quality of care. Therefore, …

Evaluation Of Nurse-To-Nurse Handoff With The Use Of A Tablet, Maria Bessie Ziegenfuss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to recent studies, many medical errors are caused by ineffective hand-off communication, which leads to patient harm and poor outcomes. Researchers have demonstrated that accurate and timely communication improves patient outcomes. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the necessity, planning, implementation, outcomes, and transferability of the site quality improvement project, “Improving Nurse-to-Nurse Handoff With the Use of a Tablet.” The context/input/process/product model was used to provide a systematic approach to the evaluation of the site quality improvement project. A paired t test was used to analyze the pre- and post-survey results and demonstrated improvement in …

Effectiveness Of End Of Shift Bedside Report, Glory Abuajah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractNursing shift reports are the primary communication mechanism for outgoing nurses to transfer information about a patient to oncoming nurses. Nurse shift reports and nurse handovers are two of the most critical patient care processes that can support patient safety and reduce medical errors. But many nurses do not recognize the evidence supporting the practice of bedside reporting (BSR). In response to this practice problem, this project involved education on the importance of BSR on a telemetry unit in line with the best available evidence. The goal of the staff education project was to educate the staff on the value …

Implementing Safeplan: A Communication Template For Emergency Nurses Caring For Psychiatric Patients, Michele Leigh Rudisill

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

This DNP Project explored the impact of introducing a communication template for emergency department (ED) nurses to use during handoff when caring for psychiatric patients. This need was identified as ED nurses are now caring for psychiatric patients for longer periods of time in the ED setting, sometimes weeks to months, due to limited inpatient mental health resources and resources in the community. ED nurses’ perceptions were surveyed and the need for a standardized, yet flexible communication template was identified. The literature was reviewed, and no such template was identified specific to ED nurses caring for the psychiatric patient population. …

Does Common-Sense Communication And The Interpersonal Relationship Predict Oral Health Self-Management?, Kieran J. Maestro

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study sought to understand how patients’ perceptions of the nature and manner of communication with dental health professionals may impact their health self-management quality and habits in the context of preventable illness. Specifically, this study investigated the distinct and overlapping impacts of (a) communication based in the Common Sense Self-Regulation Model (CSM; Leventhal et al., 1980), and (b) the interpersonal relationship between the patient and the dental health professional provider on patients’ oral hygiene quality and habits. It was hypothesized that the interpersonal relationship would positively moderate a positive relation between CSM-based communication and patients' oral health self-management and …