Medical Education Commons^™

Early Integration Of Palliative Care With Curative Oncology Treatment For Patients With Advanced Cancer: Implications For Clinical Nursing Practice, Rhea Rughani

Honors Projects

Palliative care, though clinically established to improve health-related quality of life measures for patients with advanced illness, remains underutilized and largely limited to end of life care. This project aims to inform oncology nursing practice through the analysis of literature supporting the early integration of palliative care with standard curative oncology treatment for patients with clinically advanced cancer. Informed by relevant research, clinical practice guidelines, and improved specialty palliative care training, oncology nurses and nurse practitioners are ideally situated to advocate for and initiate early palliative care integration, to holistically improve the standard approach to complex cancer care.

Stop The Bleed And Seize Control: The Use Of Simulation And Video Modules In Educating Emergency Department Staff Regarding Maternal Hypertension And Hemorrhage, Jared Maxwell Talsky

Master's Projects and Capstones

In order to address shortcomings of the health care system within the United States surrounding the early recognition and response to preeclampsia (PreE) and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) emergencies The Joint Commission (TJC) revised the accreditation requirements regarding implementing yearly maternal hypertension and hemorrhage simulation scenarios in emergency departments. A Quality improvement team of Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students at University of San Francisco, working alongside the emergency department and labor and delivery department nurse educators assisted a dual hospital system in the Bay Area of California to develop and implement training materials and simulations for the hospital system’s Emergency Department …

A Competence-Based Online Learning Video And In-Situ Simulation To Improve Perioperative Anesthesia Nurse Practitioner Self-Efficacy In Responding To Anesthesia Emergencies, Sara Durgerian

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Background: Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are broadly educated to the population-based role in which they practice. Further education in subspecialties is essential as more NPs are working autonomously in highly specialized care areas.

Problem: In the Department of Anesthesia at a large urban hospital, perioperative anesthesia NPs lack formal training in the subspecialty of anesthesia, which contributed to a lack of self-efficacy when responding to anesthesia emergencies.

Methods: An asynchronous multimodal brief instructional video accompanied by an in-situ simulation of an anesthesia emergency was developed to increase knowledge and confidence in perioperative anesthesia nurse practitioner response to anesthesia emergencies.

Results: A …

Utilization Of The Nurse Practitioner Skillset In Partnership With The Medical Device Industry, Daniel C. Rowland

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

BACKGROUND: Millions of nurse practitioners (NP), physician assistants (PA), and registered nurses (RN) are optimistic that their current employers will help them reach their full potential. One area that can add value to the hospital and empower employees to work to the full scope of their practice, and utilize the skillsets like that of an NP, is to train these providers to support medical device equipment in the operating room instead of relying on medical device representatives (MDRs) of medical device companies.

METHODS: Training NPs, PAs, or RNs how to support neurological medical device equipment will better utilize the skillset …

Improving Palliative Care Education In The Acute Hospital Setting, Maria Klug

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Project

As the geriatric population grows rapidly, the importance of utilizing and understanding palliative services continues to rise. Although palliative and hospice care are included in different healthcare courses, misconceptions and lack of knowledge continue to serve as barriers to the utilization of palliative care. The purpose was to assess knowledge, improve palliative care education, and increase understanding of the perspectives of the interdisciplinary team involved in acute patient care. The setting was the telemetry unit in a 300-bed acute care Kansas hospital. A mixed design was utilized with a goal of quality improvement in the use of palliative care. The …

The Use Of Telehealth To Improve Patient Outcomes Among Prediabetes And Diabetic Patients In A Rural Women's Health Clinic: An Evidence-Based Practice Project, Alejandra Villegas

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a global problem. Lack of healthcare access affects the low-income population and telehealth can aid the problem. For newly-diagnosed T2DM patients, customary practice is a 3-month follow-up after they are diagnosed. Patients only have education on diet and medication given by the healthcare provider at the time of appointment. Patients can be overwhelmed and confused to grasp the information. Telehealth has become mainstream due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and that is why it is the right time to use it to help T2DM patients further. Purpose of Project: The project's goal is …

Increasing Obesity Education In An Underserved Latino Population, Morgan Lippert, Kelsey Beard

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Obesity is a rapidly growing health problem in the United States. Certain populations are at high risk for developing obesity including the Latino population and underserved communities. This Quality Improvement project aimed to develop a more patient centered approach for primary care providers use to deliver obesity education to an at-risk Latino population. The project was completed at a clinic in southern Illinois where the majority of the population is underserved and Spanish speaking. Obesity education tools in both Spanish and English were given to the patients in order to decrease the language barrier and improve patient education and understanding …

Everyday Ethics And Equity At The Bedside, Shika Kalevor, Angie Knackstedt

Research Days

Background: Traditional bioethics training, although important, may not be completely suited to the nursing role. In contrast to traditional clinical ethics, which focuses on healthcare dilemmas, everyday ethics focuses on routine clinical encounters between clinicians, patients, and families and may be better suited to help nurses address issues such as bias and racism at the bedside.

Objectives/Goal: This study aims to provide a data-backed approach to ethics education for nurses as it pertains to improvements in the understanding of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) efforts in healthcare. This study also provides an opportunity for the field of bioethics to provide …

The Difference In Quality Of Care With Patients Who Face Language Barriers In The Hospital, Camille Serrano

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

This thesis aims to explore the difference in quality of care between those who are admitted into the hospital with a language barrier and those who are admitted with none. Communication was identified to be the most essential aspect of stable, effective, and successful nursing. One of the primary and most crucial roles as a nurse is to advocate for their patient, however due to this immutable health disparity the quality of care is spread so thin that those with diverse linguistic backgrounds are not receiving equal levels of care. When the efficacy of communication is lost, a nurse’s …

Development Of A Nurse Practitioner Driven Program For Cardiology Providers To Increase Knowledge And Awareness Of Neurodevelopmental Assessment Needs In Children With Congenital Heart Defects, Michele Readman

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Children diagnosed with congenital heart defects are at increased risk for neurodevelopmental delays. Timely referral of patients to a neurodevelopmental clinic for initial evaluation and referrals to support services can improve learning outcomes, provide early intervention for neurodevelopmental disorders, and mediate factors affecting low quality of life. Nationally, a substantial proportion of pediatric cardiologists are not referring children for neurodevelopmental evaluation. A review of patient referrals to a Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Clinic within an urban children’s hospital demonstrated an opportunity to improve provider awareness and knowledge of referral recommendations. Using the Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice to Promote Quality Care, an …

Health Disparities In Adults With Developmental And Intellectual Disabilities, Tulsi Patel

Nursing | Senior Theses

This paper reviews literature pertaining to the treatment of people with developmental disabilities. It will emphasize the inadequacies of health care in this population. The literature that will be discussed focuses on disparities in care via proxy, sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with disparities, assessing the needs of this population, the prevalence of disabilities in rural and urban settings, and the comparison of health disparities between adults with and without developmental disabilities.

For the purpose of this paper, a few terms will be defined. Developmental disabilities (DD) will be defined as “a group of conditions due to an impairment in …

No Pass Zone: A Quality Improvement Project, Casey St. John

DNP Projects

Introduction: Patient call-bell lights are a means for communication from a hospitalized patient's room to staff members. This DNP project involves staff and patients on a 28-bed pediatric medical-surgical unit. The aim was to implement a No pass Zone for patient call bell lights. Additionally, this project served to aid in increasing staff responsiveness to answer patients' questions and concerns.

Methods: Staff completed a Cornerstone education on the No Pass Zone. Data was collected from pre/post-implementation staff surveys and pre/post-implementation Press Ganey scores. Weekly staff audits on direct observation of staff response to patients' call-bell lights.

Results: A total of …

A Survey To Highlight Areas Of Focus For Patient Care In Settings Utilizing Medical Interpretation, Azayzel Deregis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis recounts my personal experience working as a volunteer medical interpreter for the Language and Culture Resource Center at East Tennessee State University. The result of my time spent volunteering as a medical interpreter, shadowing professional medical interpreters, and witnessing patient-provider interactions during interpreted sessions was an inspiration to study medical interpretation further and delve into the challenges faced by patients who require medical interpreters. During my time researching this topic, I found that the United States is severely lacking in Spanish medical interpreters—with some healthcare facilities employing no medical interpreters—even though the size of the Hispanic population is …

Multimodal Approach To Chronic Pain Management And Prevention Of Opioid Use Disorder, Hannah Elston

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background. Chronic pain (CP) is a major public health problem that affects one-third of the population and can interfere with the activities of daily life and cause decreased quality of life. Patients with CP have been increasingly prescribed opioids, contributing to the rise in the opioid epidemic. Due to the long-term nature of CP, the use of opioids as the sole treatment for CP can cause tolerance and increased dosages overtime which can lead to addiction and potentially overdose. Therefore, CP treatment should include multimodal approaches to treatment to prevent opioid misuse, opioid use disorder (OUD), and overdose. Multimodal treatments …

Civility And Communication Interventions To Improve Patient Outcomes, Lane Denney

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Communication in health care is vital for the successful care of patients and their outcomes while they are hospitalized. Healthcare workers are responsible for communicating patient information whether it is between change of shifts or reporting to a patient’s provider. It is important that this information is communicated effectively. This review evaluates how nurses communicate in shift- report and how this affects patient outcomes and civility between nursing units and teams. Overall, bedside shift reports promoted the best patient outcomes and increased teamwork on hospital units.

Nurses Leading In Bridging The Culture Gap: Communicating With The Deaf Community, Veronica C. Leftridge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nurses provide patient care in clinics, hospitals, homes, churches, schools, communities, and military, as well as on emergency medical helicopters. When a nurse is assigned to care for a patient, the patient expects the nurse to be culturally competent, communicate effectively, and provide safe quality care. However, cultural incompetence is observed when nurses provide care for Deaf patients, but they are unfamiliar with Deaf culture. In addition, communication is a fundamental skill nurses learn in nursing school, but course content in nursing programs rarely touches on how to communicate effectively with Deaf patients. Of the approximately 325 million people in …

Knowledge Of The Effect Of Synthetic Proteins On The Overall Health In Lebanese Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study, Zeina Al Shoufi, Alaa Al Bardan, Ahmad Shishnieh, Rami Asaad, Hiba Deek

BAU Journal - Health and Wellbeing

The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of gym attendees on the effects of protein shakes on their health. A descriptive cross-sectional study involving a self-administered questionnaire was undertaken. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire in two ways. First method was googled form links which was sent out to acquaintances on social media (WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) in both English and Arabic language. In addition, questionnaire was printed and distributed to four different gyms in Beirut. The coaches of the gyms took charge of distributing and completing the questionnaire. Reminders were issued every 2 days …

When "First, Do No Harm" Fails: A Restorative Justice Approach To Workgroup Harms In Healthcare, Pedro L. Flores

Dissertations

In healthcare, workgroup mistreatment is a pervasive problem that begins during medical education (medical and nursing school) and becomes embedded in the “hidden curriculum of professionalism,” which dissuades and even punishes learners for talking about abuse they witness. Furthermore, the mistreatment of healthcare providers (HCPs) pervades all disciplines in the healthcare delivery chain due to a combination of cultural factors, systemic pressures, dysfunctional hierarchies, and leadership’s tolerance of intimidating and disruptive behaviors. Not surprisingly, 18% of U.S. HCPs have left the medical field since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and burnout, stress, anxiety, and increased workloads have been identified …

Resuscitation Of Hypovolemic Trauma Patients: Controlled /Hypotensive Resuscitation Vs. Conventional Resuscitation, Pamala D. Mcgowan

MSN Capstone Projects

The manner in which clinicians have used to resuscitate hemorrhagic trauma patients has been a continuous repetitive cycle over time. The cycle has gone from “run the fluids wide open in the patient” to “less is more in the patient”. As more evidence-based practice (EBP) emerges, reasons for ‘less is more’ become acutely evident. Large fluid volume resuscitation is highly suspicious for the exacerbation of the lethal triad of trauma: hypothermia, acidosis, and coagulopathy, thereby increasing bleeding and mortality (Cotton et al., 2006). The increased risk of bleeding also worsens the complications associated with trauma resuscitation. This all creates a …

The Impact Of An Innovative Simulation On Prelicensure Nursing Student Empathy Levels, Annie Harrison

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Empathy is the ability to see oneself in the situation of another and to take actions on behalf of that individual based on that perception. However, empathy has been shown to decrease in nursing education and continues to do so in nursing practice. Importantly, aspects of empathy have been shown to be teachable. This scholarly practice project examined whether an innovative simulation would increase empathy in prelicensure nursing students. This study, guided by self-determination theory (SDT) and designed according to the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) change model, used a mixed-methods design. The instrument for quantitative data collection was the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire …

Lgbt Community And Mental Health, Danielle Schleeter

Epsilon Sigma at-Large Research Conference

Introduction and Background: Today, in 2022, there is a community that receives discrimination, lack of acceptance, and lack of equality. This is the LGBTQ community. They suffer from the indifferences of the way they express themselves resulting in a rise of mental health issues and overall health disparities.

Purpose Statement: The purpose of this review is to explore the disparities in mental health for the LGBT community including young adolescents and older adults. The question that drives this review is how does being a member of the LGBT community effect mental health.

Literature Review: This literature review utilized search engines …

A Scoping Review: Trauma Informed Care For Justice Involved Youth To Decrease Recidivism, Tamika Beecham, Marissa Gray, Shelby Husband, Diana Dedmon Dnp, Fnp, Bc

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Purpose The purpose of this scoping review was to address trauma-informed care, juvenile justice systems, and recidivism rates. The literature review conducted identified key research and analysis of effective trauma-informed treatment methodologies, referrals, and accessibility of care for justice-involved youth, and the rate change of recidivism related to trauma-informed treatment and interventions.

Background The high rates of recidivism in the juvenile court systems matched with the increased prevalence of psychological trauma in justice-involved youth represent the need for implementing trauma informed care. The scoping review analyzed the research implementing the intervention of trauma informed care to determine if it resulted …

Does An Educational Intervention For Registered Nurses Improve Comprehension And Accuracy Of Scoring The Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Tool On Newborns?, Michelle Porter

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

This study aims to prove that improved comprehension of the Neonatal Abstinence Scoring Tool on neonates born to mothers with addiction will decrease the length of stay and decrease medical interventions. The Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring Tool consists of 21 questions with different symptoms, each associated with a number. This scoring is compared to determine the degree of learning or increase in knowledge after the educational presentation. Participants (N= 16) were recruited through a convenience sampling of registered nurses working at an acute care hospital in Northwest Arkansas on a Women’s and Children’s department. The participants completed a …

Reducing Pediatric Procedural Pain Using Virtual Reality, Emily Davis, Carmen Bandy

Scholars Week

Above all else, children require stability in their lives in order to develop a healthy perspective of the world. Feelings of instability can come from something as small as a change in schools. In the practice of pediatric medicine it is especially important to avoid these feelings of instability, which can lead children to develop healthcare-anxiety. Healthcare settings can be exceptionally emotionally taxing to children, because the children have a complete lack of control over their environment. This lack of control combined with fear and potentially pain can be incredibly distressing. While it is easy to disregard a child’s anxiety …

Promoting Client-Centered Learning And Education Of Teenage Mothers, Katie R. Hartline

OTD Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone project was completed through a partnership with Nurses for Newborns, a nonprofit organization that sends registered nurses to the homes of families who have a greater risk of infant mortality. By delivering prenatal/postnatal care, education, infant developmental assistance, educational resources, community resources, and facilitating long-term plans with the families, Nurses for Newborns takes active measures to prevent child abuse, neglect, and infant mortality. This project was driven by the organization’s need to increase engagement, participation, and learning outcomes by their teen mother clientele. The primary focus of this project was to create a client-specific booklet to promote …

Full Practice Authority: Determining Readiness Among Nurse Practitioner Students In Mississippi, Betty Hoffman

Doctoral Projects

Full practice authority has been granted to nurse practitioners by many states. These practitioners are educated and trained as full primary providers of health care. Full practice authority for nurse practitioners is not granted in Mississippi, which currently ranks in the lowest positions for health care in the United States. The low ranking can be attributed to a lack of providers and access to services.

This project seeks to explore attitudes and understanding of nurse practitioner students in the State of Mississippi regarding full practice authority. A survey will be electronically distributed to determine what is already known and understood …

The Impact Of Student Trauma: A Quantitative Investigation On Secondary Traumatic Stress And It's Effects On Nursing Faculty, Devon L. Luthens

Education Doctorate Dissertations

The increase in student trauma and mental illness is putting direct care professionals such as educators at risk of secondary traumatic stress. The purpose of this quantitative survey method research was to explore how nursing faculty within the Minnesota State system were affected by their work with traumatized students and if they experienced significant distress or impairment. The theoretical framework guiding this dissertation was the McCann and Pearlman’s Constructivist Self Development (CSD) theory. There were two research questions that led this study: Does the amount of exposure to student trauma relate to the level of secondary traumatic stress experienced by …

Evalution Of A Quality Improvement Initiative To Utilize Glucose Gel For The Management Of Neonatal Hypoglycemia, Cassie Mccarthy

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Project

An Abstract of the Scholarly Project by

Cassie McCarthy

The purpose of this retrospective project is to assess the effectiveness of a completed quality improvement project via chart review. The project utilized glucose gel as a first line therapy for the management neonatal hypoglycemia in at-risk infants. Neonatal hypoglycemia is the most common metabolic abnormality and is associated with many undesirable side effects. Current treatment methods such as formula feeding and IV therapy are costly, invasive, and disruptive to family bonding. This study consisted of a retrospective chart review of a pre-glucose gel group, six months prior to the introduction …

Reliever-Triggered Inhaled Glucocorticoid In Black And Latinx Adults With Asthma, Alex Colon

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Alzheimer's And Patient Caregiver Burnout: A Review Of The Literature, Madeline Hekeler

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

The term “silent epidemic” is fitting for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as its negative impact is widely felt but rarely discussed. Burnout among AD caregivers has become an epidemic of its own as caregivers experience an increase in health risks, stress, and financial burden. This literature review focuses on caregiver burnout and how imperative it is that caregivers are better supported in their role. Researchers have developed instruments to assess and intervene in caregiver burnout that have shown effectiveness among caregivers and their families.Nevertheless, further longitudinal research is warranted regarding more effective interventions, including stress management and social support mechanisms.