Health and Medical Administration Commons^™

Breaking Barriers: Advancement Toward Practical Nursing Licensure For Certified Medication Assistants In Long-Term Care--A Descriptive Study, Aleshia L. Maxwell

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The persistent nursing shortage across the United States, particularly in Long-Term Care (LTC) settings, has complicated the healthcare system’s ability to meet the needs of an aging population. While existing research often examines progression from Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) to Registered Nurse (RN), limited research explores factors influencing progression from entry-level LTC healthcare workers to Practical Nursing (PN) licensure. This quantitative descriptive study examined the barriers and supporting factors influencing advancement toward PN licensure for Medication Assistants-Certified (MA-Cs) in Arkansas LTC facilities. A convenience sample of N=100 participated in the study. Results indicated that financial and structural barriers often …

April 2026, Swosu Bulldog Wellness Committee

SWOSU BULLDOG WELLNESS

• Stress Awareness Month
• Stress Management Tips for Bulldogs
• Bulldog Resources

Managing Oro-Antral Communications After Tooth Extractions: A Guide For General Dentists, Ross Brockman Dmd, Md, G. E. Ghali Dds, Md

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This clinical feature provides general dentists with a detailed guide on managing oro-antral communications (OACs) resulting from tooth extractions. It distinguishes between acute OACs and chronic oro-antral fistulas (OAFs), identifying anatomical and surgical risk factors. The authors outline conservative management strategies for small communications, including sinus precautions and pharmacotherapy, as well as surgical techniques like the buccal advancement flap for larger defects. The article concludes with specific criteria for specialist referral, ensuring that dentists can optimize patient outcomes and prevent long-term complications such as chronic sinusitis.

Rural Georgia Hospital Covid-19 Virus Patient Outcomes, Susan P. Smith, Neeraj Dayama, Morgan E. House, Debra Flores, Sharon Hunt, April Dukes, Steven Gautney

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to over 1.2 million deaths in the United States. Given the staggering scale of the pandemic, rural hospitals faced heightened challenges due to limited resource availability and underlying patient characteristics.

Methods: In this context, we examined patient and hospital-related factors associated with inpatient mortality due to COVID-19. This study is a retrospective chart review of patient outcomes of patients who were hospitalized in a Southwest Georgia rural hospital with COVID-19 during the initial onset of the outbreak and over the following 23 months of the pandemic. Patient demographics, other characteristics, …

Diagnostic Trends And Service Enhancements In Deaf Mental Health: A Longitudinal Analysis, Kent Schafer, Steve Hamerdinger, Frank Wu, Rie Sakai Bizmark, Charlene Crump

JADARA

A longitudinal study investigated mental health diagnostic trends and patterns among Deaf and Hearing individuals using a comprehensive dataset from Alabama Department of Mental Health spanning 2004-2024 (Deaf=4,547; Hearing=2,056,188). Chi-square analysis revealed significant proportional differences in diagnoses between the groups. Deaf individuals showed significantly higher proportions of psychotic (12.93% vs. 8.33% Hearing), mood (20.76% vs. 18.84% Hearing), and personality (0.58% vs. 0.43% Hearing) disorders. These findings suggest that increased access to specialized and competent mental health services for individuals who are Deaf, particularly following the increase of staffing patterns for the Office of Deaf Services in 2015,contributed to more accurate …

Dr. Deb Peters: Opening Doors As The Ada’S New Speaker, Debra Peters, Christopher J. Smiley

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This interview profiles Dr. Deb Peters, the first female speaker of the ADA House of Delegates. Dr. Peters shares her vision for making the ADA more accessible, transparent, and responsive to its members. She discusses her leadership philosophy, emphasizing listening and mentorship, and explains how effective governance can lead to significant real-world impacts, such as the removal of taxes on dental prosthetics. Dr. Peters also outlines her goals for modernizing the House of Delegates process, including the creation of a "Resolution Dashboard" to help members track policy progress.

March 2026, Swosu Bulldog Wellness Committee

SWOSU BULLDOG WELLNESS

National Nutrition Month

Nutrition Tips for Bulldogs

Bulldog Resources

Simple Heart-Healthy Recipes for College Students

Expanding Waste Segregation Initiatives To Reduce Regulated Medical Waste: A Multi-Departmental Quality Improvement Project, Emily M. Su, Anuja L. Sarode, Mohammed Sami, David R. Nehring, Erica L. Laipply, Mustafa Culcuoglu

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

Regulated medical waste (RMW) drives up health care costs, largely due to misclassification of general waste, especially in operating rooms (ORs), intensive care units (ICUs), and obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) departments. This study aimed to reduce RMW volume and costs at Akron City Hospital (ACH) through department-specific interventions aligning with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

Methods

Periodic analyses compared hospital-wide aggregate RMW volume, pick-up frequency, and disposal costs before and after interventions. The ORs initiated interventions in October 2022, expanding to ICUs and OBGYN by February 2024. Strategies included staff education, flyers …

Coaching In Undergraduate And Graduate Medical Education: A Scoping Review Of Success Factors, Barriers, And Outcomes Data File, Binata Mukherjee, Jenna Pfleeger, Haidee Custodio, Maria Renee Roca, Gurupreet Khalsa, Clista Clanton

University Research Data and Datasets

The data in this file support the findings of the following study.

Purpose: Wanting to implement a sustainable learner coaching program in academic medicine and prior exposure to coaching initiatives raised questions including planning, implementation and assessment, and resource allocation. This scoping review examines coaching across medical learners, reported program elements, success factors, and barriers.

Methods: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, informed by Levac et al. on Arskey and O’Malley’s framework and Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis, PubMed, Scopus, and ERIC was searched through May 2024. Articles were screened, data extracted, and coded. A mixed methods analysis included descriptive statistics and thematic …

February 2026, Swosu Bulldog Wellness Committee

SWOSU BULLDOG WELLNESS

• American Heart Month
• Heart-Healthy Tips for Bulldogs
• Bulldog Resources

Patient Wait Time And Throughput Interventions In The Cardiology Outpatient Setting, Chioma Ohiri Tawose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare collaboration and patient care require effective communication. Poor communication impacts wait time. Inadequate communication in the outpatient cardiology clinic can lead to disruptive patient throughput, or workflow, and extend patient length of visit. The purpose of this project was to implement a means of communication for clinicians and healthcare assistants to improve patient flow and cut down idleness, ultimately reducing patient wait time. The project established the incorporation of a built-in electronic health record communication notification system, the Event Button, for asynchronous communication between staff. A quantitative quality improvement design was used to conduct this project. Inferential and descriptive …

Humanity Is Evolving Its Consciousness: The Role Of Archetypal Energies As Guides During An Unfolding Weeding Out And Alignment Process, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

Humanity is evolving its consciousness at individual and collective levels.  Given these seemingly tumultuous times, as of this writing (January 2026), to make such a statement may sound like a strange thing to say.  However, I suggest that if you are alive today and if you are reading these words, these are the very times for which you were born—to assist Humanity as it evolves its consciousness with your unique gifts, whatever they may be.  That is, this period of our individual and collective human being-ness may be characterized as an unfolding period of weeding out and alignment with the …

A Strategy For Surge Management: Senior Residents On The Admitting Frontlines, Hamza Saifuddin, Oliver Yockey, Rachelle Pichot, Gwendolyn Brainard, Samantha Labay, Michael S. Wang

Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives

Hospitals adapt to surges in a variety of ways, including expediting admitting and discharge procedures, hiring temporary staff and locums to meet increased demand, and temporarily expanding or creating facilities. To mitigate negative effects associated with surges, a small community-based hospital’s Internal Medicine (IM) residency program and hospitalist program collaborated by shifting senior residents into admitting physician roles with indirect supervision to meet increased surge needs. This shift allowed an admitting attending physician to shift to a newly created rounding service and, on average, the number of rounding services was increased from seven to nine. Over a fifteen-month period (five …

Enhancing Resilience And Reducing Burnout In Oncology Nurse Practitioners Through The “Three Good Things” Intervention, Ernestine A. Muanya

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Background: Burnout among oncology nurse practitioners (NPs) threatens clinician well-being, care quality, and workforce retention. The World Health Organization (2019) defines burnout as a workplace condition caused by chronic unmanaged stress. Nationally, over half of healthcare professionals report burnout symptoms, with high rates in oncology (Deriglazov et al., 2025). In Texas, nearly 48% of advanced practice providers report emotional exhaustion and job-related stress (Patel et al., 2024). Objective: This single-group pre–post quality improvement project evaluated an eight-week, app-based Three Good Things (3GT) intervention to reduce burnout and enhance resilience among 19 breast medical oncology nurse practitioners at a comprehensive …

Sexually Transmitted Infections And Screening: An Educational, Evidence-Based, Quality Improvement Bundle, Misty D. White

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Background: With sexually transmitted diseases on the rise in central Texas, advance practice providers were not following evidence-based practice recommendations for sexually transmitted infection screening, treatment, and follow-up. Screening for sexually transmitted diseases occurred at a rate of less than one patient every 7.75 days.

Objective: The objective of this project was to develop and implement an advanced practice provider training tool to educate the clinic providers on sexually transmitted infections, collect pre- and post-data for the educational sexually transmitted infection bundle, and collect sexually transmitted infection screening, identification, treatment, and follow-up data generated by the clinic advanced practice providers …

Improving Sepsis Order Set Utilization Through Targeted Resident Education: A Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Quality Improvement Project, Sarah Sheikh, Puneeth Shridhar, Bushra Bangash, Valerie Chukelu, Tonya Meirhofer, Arunima Jose, Zainab Shakir, Shane Jenks, Augusto Sepulveda, Trung Nguyen, Rajeev Raghavan

Gulf Coast Division GME Research Day 2026

No abstract provided.

Use Of Preference Signals In Family Medicine Residency Recruitment, John E. Snellings, Hanwen Miao, Daniel L. Meyer, Miranda A. Moore

Department of Family and Community Medicine Faculty Publications

Background and Objectives: Increases in graduate medical education application volume led to the introduction of preference signaling—a tool within the Electronic Residency Application Service that allows applicants to signal their sincere interest to a limited number of programs. This study aims to evaluate how family medicine program directors used preference signals during the 2023–2024 recruitment season, the first year this tool was available to family medicine programs. Understanding program director perspectives on preference signal utility is crucial for determining the tool’s impact on the residency selection process.

Methods: Data were collected through the Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research …

Education For Residents And Patients On Pain Management For Gyn Procedures, Claire Moen, Jeffrey Edwards, Dominique Rehl, Kenyon Weidle

Continental and Mountain Divisions GME Resarch Day 2026

No abstract provided.

The Scope Effect: A Quality Improvement Initiative To Enhance Communication, Awareness, And Connection In Family Medicine Residency, Shana-Kay Lambert-Johnson, Amy Nguyen-Pham, Tasaduq Mir

North Texas GME Research Forum 2026

No abstract provided.

Don't Let Them Fall, Let Ai Call, Ella Mills, Sara Barker, Andreea Ifrim, Yvette Uwase

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This project proposes a nurse-led pilot of AI-supported predictive mobility monitoring on a cardiac medical-surgical unit, to improve early identification of high-risk mobility behaviors and enhance patient safety. Current fall-prevention strategies, such as bed alarms and virtual sitters, often alert staff after unsafe movement has begun, creating a reactive cycle that contributes to alarm fatigue and delayed intervention (Abbe & O’Keeffe, 2020). This initiative uses monitors with contactless infrared sensors to identify movement before patients exit the bed, an alert system that goes straight to the nurse and PCT phones, and a central console for floor management and care coordination. …

Bringing Awareness And Education To Rural Areas About The Role Occupational Therapy (Ot) Has In Infant Care, Makenzi Richwald

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Posters

This capstone project focused on education and advocacy. The aim of my capstone project was to provide education to parents of eastern Kentucky (KY) about what Occupational Therapy (OT) can address with infants aged 0-18 months. I saw a gap in knowledge in the eastern KY community about what OT could do for infants and wanted to address this. Through my research, consultation with my mentors, and collaboration with the occupational therapists at my site (BPT) I discerned 14 areas of development and/or common reasons of needed referral for OT services by this age group. These educational materials aimed to …

J Am Coll Dent 2026 92 2b

Journal of the American College of Dentists

This special issue of the Journal of the American College of Dentists responds to a growing but long-underrecognized demand for humanities and ethics in dental education, practice, and scholarship. It emerges from the work of the National Collaborative on Humanities and Ethics in Dentistry (NCHED), a multi-institutional partnership formed in 2023 to address the persistent exclusion of dentistry from broader health humanities conversations. Through national webinars and scholarly collaboration, NCHED has demonstrated substantial interest in ethical reflection, historical analysis, narrative inquiry, and the arts as essential to understanding oral health and dental care.

The unexpectedly strong response to the call …

Pulse Check: Im Resident Wellness Initiative -- A Continuous Qi Project, Jacqueline Bekhit, Ngoc Vu, Yasasvi Sabbineni, Nihar Raju, Parth Patel, Teena Mathew

North Texas GME Research Forum 2026

Background Burnout is a psychological syndrome that arises from chronic workplace stress that has not been effectively managed. It is characterized by emotional exhaustion, increased mental distance or cynicism toward one’s work, and a sense of reduced professional efficacy (WHO, 2019). Due to the long work hours, high workload, and extensive training demands, medical residents are particularly vulnerable to experiencing burnout, contributing to higher rates of anxiety and depression. Burnout typically emerges mid-intern year and progresses through the remainder of residency. Burnout can contribute to higher medical errors, decreased work efficiency, and poor patient-physician interactions.

Methods This QI is a …

Efficacy Of A Vertically Integrated, Module-Based Small Group Discussion And Virtual Patient Simulation Model To Enhance Cardiology Knowledge And Clinical Reasoning In Medical Students, Kumar Abhishek, Pratyush Kumar, O Puri, M Pathania

MidAmerica Division GME Healthcare Symposium 2026

No abstract provided.

Transition To Home Guideline For Patients With Diabetes, Kathleen R. Burgner

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects

Background: Diabetes is a leading contributor to preventable hospital readmissions. These hospital readmissions often result from fragmented discharge planning, poor care coordination, and limited post-discharge support. At a 915-bed academic medical center in Southern California, the diabetes-related readmission rate was 13.3%, compared with 11.4% among patients without diabetes. This project aimed to develop an evidence-based Transition-to-Home (TTH) guideline for hospitalized patients with diabetes and evaluate the strength of its recommendations through multidisciplinary stakeholder review.

Methods: An evidence-based guideline development project was conducted over 8 weeks. A comprehensive literature search in CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, and ScienceDirect identified current evidence on transitional …

Improving Prostate Cancer Patients’ Experience And Understanding With A Pre-Ct Simulation Checklist In Genitourinary Radiation Oncology, Christopher Le

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

Improving Prostate Cancer Patients’ Experience and Understanding With a Pre-CT Simulation Checklist in Genitourinary Radiation Oncology

Purpose

The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to implement a Pre-CT Simulation checklist for Prostate cancer patients in the outpatient Radiation Oncology Genitourinary clinic to improve patients’ experience and comprehension on their Simulation Day.

Background

The CT simulation is a critical step in treatment planning. Lack of clear, concise, consistent instruction and education preparation prior to simulation day can delay planning and treatment. Currently, there is no standardized checklist to ensure patients are educated and prepared for their CT simulation day. …

Biomedical Waste Management Practices In A Rural Health Training Centre In Southern India: A Cross-Sectional Facility Audit Using Kayakalp Guidelines, Mathivathani Palaniyappan, Kathiravan Rajendran

Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine

Background

Effective biomedical waste management (BMWM) is essential to prevent environmental contamination and health hazards in healthcare settings. In India, regulatory frameworks like the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016, mandate proper handling, but compliance varies, particularly in rural facilities. This study evaluated BMWM practices at a rural health training centre using the Kayakalp assessment tool.

Methods

A cross-sectional audit was conducted from April to June 2024 at a rural health training centre affiliated with a medical college in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. The Kayakalp checklist for primary health centres was employed, encompassing 10 measurable elements with 20 checkpoints scored as …

The Impact Of Medicaid Policy Limitations On Access To Eating Disorder Treatment: Uncovering The Consequences Of A System Built To Fail, Meghan Frost

DSW Capstone Projects

Individuals who rely on Medicaid face major barriers when trying to access eating disorder (ED) treatment, reflecting broader patterns of structural disadvantage in publicly funded health care. Research shows delayed diagnosis, limited access to ED specialists, and frequent denials for recommended services. These gaps occur because Medicaid policies do not match the needs of evidence based ED care, resulting in delayed or incomplete care for many individuals with eating disorders.

This issue is highly relevant to social work practice because the policies shaping these barriers are complex and difficult for clients and ED providers to navigate. Social workers across clinics, …

Health Literacy/Numeracy-Related Factors Affecting Interpretation In Medical Laboratory Values, Rachel L. Childs

School of Medical Diagnostics & Translational Sciences Publications

Background

Health literacy and numeracy are broad terms that relate to a patient’s understanding of their health information. While there is a substantial amount of research on this topic in a general sense as well as in relation to how deficiencies in these skills impact patients’ understanding of laboratory results, little is known regarding the extent to which underlying factors, which are impacted by health literacy/numeracy, affect how patients interpret their results. This literature review attempts to shed light on the current literature on this more focused and narrow issue, including recommendations to address these barriers.

Content

To perform this …

January 2026, Swosu Bulldog Wellness Committee

SWOSU BULLDOG WELLNESS

• Tired of Failing New Year's Resolutions? Try "Health Esteem" instead.
• January Health Tips
• Route 66 Walking Challenge