Nursing Commons^™

Healthy Aging In The Community Initiative, Didem Kadriye Unver

Master's Projects and Capstones

In 2016 the Sequoia Health Care partnering with Peninsula Family Services developed a non-profit and free program called 70 Strong. It is a personal resource guide for the 60 and above client base for activities and services from Redwood City to Foster City to encourage independence amongst the older population. It includes a wide array of categories, such as fitness and social activities, volunteer opportunities, transportation, enrichment, and support groups. This is not an acute healthcare provider; however, it is a primary prevention effort by Sequoia Healthcare District to increase wellness among the older population in the county. The purpose …

Peripheral Intravenous Infiltrates: Engaging Staff To Increase Reporting, Emily Weber, Kimberly Castrillon, Joyce Ramsey-Coleman

Journal of Nursing & Interprofessional Leadership in Quality & Safety

A large free standing children’s academic hospital aimed to improve patient safety and outcomes by decreasing the overall severity of peripheral intravenous infiltration and extravasations (PIVIEs). A care bundle was developed by creating a PIVIE measurement tool within the electronic medical record (EMR) and integrating the tool into standardized daily practice for nurses. The care bundle included creating a team of clinical leaders consisting of empowered bedside nurses acting as mobilized resources embedded into each unit. The initiative resulted in a large scale increase in reported PIVIEs system-wide within 1 month of education dissemination to bedside RN staff. The QI …

Improving Nurse Anesthetist Intraoperative Handoff Process By Developing And Implementing An Evidence-Based, Facility-Specific Cognitive Aid, Jason Silva, Myron Arnaud

Journal of Nursing & Interprofessional Leadership in Quality & Safety

Miscommunication or non-transfer of pertinent patient information during intraoperative handoffs between anesthesia providers creates patient safety risks. An evidence-based facility-specific cognitive aid was developed and introduced to nurse anesthetists in an anesthesiology department of a large academic hospital with the aim of improving the intraoperative patient handoff process. The program used a handoff cognitive aid that addressed five pertinent patient information points. A secondary measure was evaluation of provider satisfaction. Twenty-four nurse anesthetists utilized the handoff cognitive aid during handoffs in the course of a 4-week pilot program. Eighty-eight nurse anesthetist handoffs were observed (23 with and 65 without the …

Emergency Nurse Perceptions Of Disaster Preparedness After The Implementation Of A Department Emergency Operations Plan, Angela R. Gentry

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

Emergency departments (ED) are the entryway into the healthcare system during a disaster event and patients often arrive in the first thirty minutes after an event has occurred. This creates unique challenges for ED nurses. The purpose of the Quality Improvement (QI) project was to measure the impact of a Department Emergency Operations Plan (DEOP) on the ED nurse’s perception of disaster preparedness. This study included a convenience sample of 126 full time and part time registered nurses working in the ED at a Level 1 Trauma hospital. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained by both Arkansas Tech University …

St. Cloud Hospital Nursing Director Orientation And Mentorship Program, Deb Eisenstadt, Tiffany Omann-Bidinger, Diane Pelant

Nursing Posters

Develop and implement an evidence-based orientation and mentorship program for nursing directors using AONE’s Nursing Executive Competencies along with a structure curriculum.

Nursing Leaders’ Ethical Decision-Making About Professional Boundaries And Nurse-Patient Relationships: A Mixed Methods Explanatory Sequential Design, Pamela Scott

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods explanatory sequential design study was to ascertain nursing leaders’ knowledge and skill in ethical decision-making when evaluating and managing professional nurse-patient relationship boundaries. It was also the purpose of this study to better understand nursing leaders’ perception of moral, cognitive, and organizational factors influencing their ethical decision-making in evaluating and managing professional nurse-patient relationships, with the intent of generating a theory grounded in the views of the participants as a final outcome of the study. The two theories, virtue ethics and self-efficacy comprise the ethicality construct of the conceptual framework explaining the nurse leaders’ …

Attitudes Of New Graduate Rns Regarding Their Readiness For Practice Before And After Hospital Orientation, Diane Young

Dissertations

The acuity level of patients continues to increase making it more vital than ever that new graduate Registered Nurses (RNs) be prepared to give safe, quality care when leaving their hospital’s orientation program (Spector et al., 2015). Today, new graduate RNs need orientation programs that will ensure a smooth transition into nursing practice. This involves the ability to apply higher-level knowledge and skills in everyday practice situations, thereby, maintaining quality care (Henderson, Ossenberg, & Tyler, 2015).

The purpose of this study was to identify differences between new graduate RNs’ opinions on readiness for practice, as measured by the Casey-Fink Readiness …

Improving Hbpc Utilization, Janet Freeman

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing DNP Capstone Projects

Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) services in the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS) are underutilized among high-needs, high-risk (HNHR) patients based on baseline assessment of provider capacity. It is important to evaluate this problem as these patients have the highest need for frequent care yet face the most difficult challenges in accessing care. The purpose of this project was to analyze the factors that contribute to the under-utilization of HBPC services in the CAVHS and make recommendations for improvement. An assessment of the CAVHS HBPC service was completed using the Dartmouth Institute Microsystem Academy Outpatient Specialty Care Workbook. Microsystem …

A Framework For Learning During An Honors Internship: Embold Health Inc., Haley Haldeman

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Embold Health Inc. is a health care analytics start-up company that identifies top performing providers using large data sets and clinically nuanced measurement. A comprehensive assessment of quality, appropriateness, and cost is what Embold Health delivers. Embold allows payers more control in choosing providers within their region. Being able to identify top provider behaviors through rigorous data driven measurement is significant both clinically and commercially; it provides the opportunity to increase value of care, decrease waste, and drive down cost.

Over the past year as an intern, I’ve had a first-hand look into the complexity that surrounds data driven health …

Patient Perception Of Telephone Follow-Up After Resection For Colorectal Cancer: Is It Time For An Alternative To The Out-Patient Clinic?, Marcus Gilmartin, Nicholas Leaver, George Hall, Helena Fawdry, Seung Lee, James Nicholson, Ramya Kalaiselvan, Raj Rajaganeshan

Patient Experience Journal

The economic reality of modern healthcare provides a timely reminder to clinicians of their duty to provide outstanding and cost-effective care. Although multiple guidelines outline investigation, management and surveillance of colorectal cancer, none advocate a particular delivery method. Nurse-led telephone follow-up in multiple specialties has demonstrated equivalent clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction when compared to traditional outpatient department follow-up. This paper aims to compare nurse-led telephone and outpatient follow-up, following surgical resection of colorectal cancer (CRC), focusing on patient perceptions. This cross-sectional study distributed adapted patient satisfaction questionnaire (PS-Q 18) to patients undergoing surveillance following CRC resection via either nurse-led …

Sustainability In Quality Improvement And Patient Safety Initiatives, Angelo P. Giardino, Eileen R. Giardino

Journal of Nursing & Interprofessional Leadership in Quality & Safety

The question often asked of a quality improvement initiative is whether the improvement process has been sustained within the organization. Rarely is the question answered satisfactorily. The sustainability of an improvement process is important as it justifies the investment of human and financial capital. The term 'evaporation of improvements' addresses the dilemma that between 33% to 70% of all innovations are reportedly not sustained (Fleiszer, Semenic, Ritchie, Richer, & Denis, 2015) . This evaporation of improvement captures the frustrating inability of many institutions to maintain the achieved improvement after the newness of the initial effort wears off (Buchanan, Fitzgerald, & …

Going For Gold With The Perioperative Olympics, Hope L. Johnson Msn, Rn, Cnor

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

Use Of Workplace Incentive Programs To Increase Health Behaviors In Nurses, Sydney Harris, Barbara Mcclaskey

Posters

As the frontline and most visual health promoters in a hospital setting, nurses are to be at the top of their game in terms of their health behaviors. Unfortunately, several studies show that nurses tend to follow the trend of the general population in poor eating habits, physical inactivity, sleep habits, and smoking and alcohol consump­tion. The purpose of this study is to unveil the benefits of Workplace Health Incentive Programs in an effort to increase the overall health of those who are to be considered role models for a healthy lifestyle, the nurses who hold the seat for the …

Improving Nursing Staffing Methodology And Nursing Sensitive Outcomes With The Addition Of A Patient Centered Acuity Measure, Douglas C. Howard Rn, Ms, Ne-Bc

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Assigning the correct nursing resources to hospitalized patients positively impacts patient outcomes. The current process for matching nurses to patients is highly variable and involves a combination of simple ratios, historical workload data, and expert opinion but lacks objective measurement of the patient’s condition.

Objectives: This project evaluated change in selected quality indicators and the daily unit-level management of nursing resources after implementing the Troubled Outcome Risk (TOR) into existing nursing staffing methodology in a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.

Methods: TOR provides objective measurement of individual patient allostatic load. Daily calculation of TOR scores for each patient on …

Nurse Managers: An Association Between Empowerment And Burnout, Sonja Lynn Avery

Doctoral Projects

The purpose of the study is to ascertain the presence of an inverse relationship between nurse managers’ feelings of structural empowerment and self-perception of burnout. Although research is available studying the effects of staff nurse empowerment and burnout, literature is sparse relative to evaluation of nurse manager empowerment and burnout. Of the studies available, there is supportive evidence pertaining to the negative implications associated with nurse manager burnout such as reduced staff nurse retention and morale, decrease in quality of patient care, and financial impact on organizational success. With such negative implications associated with a lack of empowerment and burnout, …

Improving Patient Handover From The Pediatric Emergency Department To The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Kathryn Devinney

Doctoral Projects

Patient safety can be at risk during registered nurse handover, particularly when transitioning between high risk areas. According to The Joint Commission (2017), a standardized transition process should be implemented during patient handover. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the effect of a standardized process with a cognitive aid on handover between a pediatric emergency department and an intensive care unit. Objectives of the project were to decrease conversion time in the emergency department, increase standardized process utilization, and improve patient outcomes, registered nurse perception and satisfaction, and patient proxy satisfaction. This evidence-based quality improvement project took place …

Interprofessional Collaboration To Improve Discharge Planning, Erica L. Spalding

Doctoral Projects

Historically, health care professionals collaborated solely with other professionals within the same discipline. However, evidence shows collaboration between all disciplines involved in patient care leads to improved patient outcomes. Interprofessional collaboration can reduce costs and improve patient care, yet is used inconsistently in health care systems. Interprofessional collaboration was not fully used on two medical-surgical units in a large health system in the Midwest, particularly during the discharge planning process. This project aimed to standardize rounds on two units as part of a larger initiative to standardize rounds across all units within the system. The clinical question to be answered …

Development Of A Process For Adoption And Attainment Of Pcmh Recognition Requirements For An Urban Primary Care Clinic, Jamie L. Hendricks

Doctoral Projects

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017) reported that in 2016, healthcare expenditures in the United States totaled 17.9% of the gross domestic product. Unfortunately, care quality is not reflective of the high costs of care. Models of care delivery like the patient centered medical home (PCMH) have shown promise in addressing these concerns.

This project focused on program development for PCMH adoption at an urban clinic in an effort to improve financial stability and remain competitive. The purpose was to propose a plan for adoption and attainment of PCMH recognition requirements for an urban primary care office.

The …

Factors Affecting Nurses’ Job Satisfaction In Rural And Urban Acute Care Settings: A Prisma Systematic Review, Yasin Yasin, Mickey Kerr, Carol A Wong, Charles H. Bélanger

Western Research Forum

This review aims to systemically describe the findings of primary studies in order to identify the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect nurses’ job satisfaction using PRISMA guidelines. It also aims to analyze the finding according to the two-factor theory; and compare studies based on rural and urban settings.

Two reviewers completed study selection, screening, and quality assessment. After data extraction, content analysis was used to categorize identified factors into themes.

Thirty-eight studies were selected for this review. Extrinsic factors reported in the findings were: work conditions (n=17), monetary benefits (n=5), hospital policies (n=6), supervision (n=7), interpersonal relationships (n=8), organization …

Nurses’ Cyberloafing And Its Relationship To Procrastination And Conscientiousness In Damanhour National Medical Institute, Yaldez Zeineldin Prof, Fatma Baddar Prof

Nursing

Cyber-loafing involves an unproductive use of time in the workplace and distracts employees from their responsibilities and duties. This study was conducted because there is a risk posed on patient's safety if nurses are cyberloafing and if this behavior has a direct relation with procrastination and lack of conscientiousness. Aim of the study: to determine the relationship between cyberloafing, procrastination and conscientiousness among staff nurses working in Damanhour National Medical Institute. Research Design: A cross-sectional descriptive correlational design with a self-reporting questionnaire was used to obtain data. Setting: The study was conducted in all inpatients units except Intensive Care Units …

Improving Nurse-To-Nurse Handoff Communication At The Bedside Through Simulation-Based, Lisa Thornsberry Mrs.

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Communication among nursing staff is crucial to the outcome of patient care. Poor handoff and communication among professionals can have a negative impact on the safety of patients. The systemic nature of the problem with miscommunication among healthcare clinicians supports the necessity of standardization of communication among nursing as a handoff of care.

Change of shift report, or nurse-to-nurse report ensures the transfer of critical information to promote patient safety and best practices. Transferring and communicating pertinent information from one shift to the next is one factor in providing continuity of care. Bedside Shift Report (BSR) is an opportunity to …

Nurse Manager Leadership Styles, Tristy Morrison

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Strong leadership skills are crucial to establish, grow, and sustain a healthy work environment in healthcare. Transformational leadership behaviors drive nursing teams to achieve higher levels of engagement, increased nursing satisfaction, increased retention rates, and higher commitment levels to the organization. The purpose of this research was to assess the transformational leadership characteristics among assistant nurse managers, managers, and directors, in a southeastern hospital in the United States. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X) was administered to evaluate the leadership characteristics. A convenience sample of 14 nurse leaders rated themselves as more transformational than the norm with an average score of …

Mobile Video Monitoring To Reduce Falls And Sitter Usage, Jennifer L. Forman

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

In the United States between 700,000 to 1,000,000 people fall in hospitals each year. Reducing patient falls in the inpatient setting remains a challenge for many acute care hospitals. Inpatient falls can lead to serious injuries such as fractures and internal bleeding. Fall-related complications can lead to increased hospital stay, prolonged rehabilitation, and increased healthcare costs. Inpatient falls are considered preventable. One intervention commonly used to prevent falls and keep patients safe is the use of an in-person sitter or a patient safety companion (PSC). However, sitters are very costly and considered a variable staffing resource. The need for a …

An Evaluation Of A Pilot Inpatient Hospice Unit And The Impact It Has On End-Of-Life Care At An Academic Medical Center, Cynthia Minetree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Final Clinical Projects, 2016-2019

Background: Research shows that acute care hospitals with inpatient hospice units have an increase in hospice resource utilization and provide end-of-life care that is more aligned with patients’ end-of-life goals compared to hospitals that do not have inpatient hospice units.

Methods: A pilot six-bed General Inpatient (GIP) hospice unit was implemented at an acute care hospital, located in Washington, D.C., to provide hospice care for patients that were not able to transfer to another inpatient setting for hospice care. A six-month evaluation of the pilot GIP hospice unit was done to evaluate the feasibility of the unit and the impact …

Implementing A Discharge Navigator Reducing 30-Day Readmissions For Heart Failure And Sepsis Populations, Karen Weeks

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Final Clinical Projects, 2016-2019

A national focus for healthcare reform is preventing hospital readmissions. Thirty-day unplanned hospital readmissions impact patient outcomes and are costly to the healthcare system. This project explored the impact between the discharge navigator and 30-day unplanned readmissions for heart failure and sepsis populations in a 238-bed community hospital located in central Virginia. The primary aim of this discharge navigator project was to reduce 30-day readmissions for the heart failure and sepsis populations to meet the goals of the top quartile for like hospitals and the evaluation of cost avoidance for these readmissions. Heart failure and sepsis populations are high risks …

The Impact Of A Revised Discharge Process From Acute Care To Home Care On Hospital Utilization In Children With Single Ventricle Heart Disease, Brian M. Stahulak

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Problem Description: It is estimated that approximately ~0.5%, or ~400,000, of all U.S. children, are identified as having complex chronic conditions (CCC) and account for as much as one-third, or ~$100 billion, of health care spending for all children. The goal of this quality improvement (QI) project was to identify the impact of a revised discharge process for children with Single Ventricle Heart Disease (SVHD) on hospital utilization rates and the parent’s perception of discharge readiness during the interstage period. The QI project was conducted in a 44-bed cardiac care unit within a 336-bed freestanding pediatric, academic medical center in …

Mentorship Through Storytelling Program, Debra Marie Perry

Theses and Graduate Projects

The Mentorship Through Storytelling Program began in response to an urgent need to reduce registered nurse (RN) turnover rates and improve nurses’ satisfaction on a medical surgical unit in a Midwestern Hospital. The unit was challenged to hire, integrate, and retain a multigenerational team of RNs. Guided by Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring, the Mentorship Through Storytelling Program was initiated in the fall of 2018 after doing a broad literature review and adapting the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses’ Mentorship Program to include the concepts of storytelling, mentoring, and caring. Digital recordings of five expert nurses’ oral histories (stories) …

Reduction In Hospitals' Readmission Rates: Role Of Hospital-Based Skilled Nursing Facilities, Shivani Gupta, Ferhat D. Zengul, Ganisher Davlyatov, Robert Weech-Maldonado

Faculty Publications

Hospital readmission within 30 days of discharge is an important quality measure given that it represents a potentially preventable adverse outcome. Approximately, 20% of Medicare beneficiaries are readmitted within 30 days of discharge. Many strategies such as the hospital readmission reduction program have been proposed and implemented to reduce readmission rates. Prior research has shown that coordination of care could play a significant role in lowering readmissions. Although having a hospital-based skilled nursing facility (HBSNF) in a hospital could help in improving care for patients needing short-term skilled nursing or rehabilitation services, little is known about HBSNFs’ association with hospitals’ …

Implementation Of Safe Patient Toileting To Decrease Patient Falls On Medical-Surgical Unit, Kimberly A. Goldsborough

DNP Scholarly Projects

BACKGROUND: Patient falls are a serious safety concern in the hospital setting throughout the country. Falls are one of the most challenging patient safety events to prevent, as there are many contributing factors with toileting activities producing the highest incidence. Fall prevention bundles are used to minimize and reduce these such events although multifaceted. The project was conducted with an academic medical center on an acute inpatient medical-surgical unit primarily housing burn wound patients. Nursing leaders and front-line nursing staff participated.

METHODS: Literature review to determine the gap in knowledge of interventions to prevent acute inpatient falls was completed. Concepts …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A System Based Nurse Manager Collaborative Council On Work Engagement, Psychological Empowerment, And Value, Stacy Colligan

DNP Projects

BACKGROUND: Nurse Managers often do not receive direct acknowledgment for their accomplishments or have input into the facility wide decisions which directly impact them. Currently there are no known shared governance programs tailored to the nurse manager level.

PURPOSE: To determine the impact of a system shared governance model on nurse manager’s work engagement, psychological empowerment, and inclusion.

METHOD: A pretest and posttest design was utilized to determine the impact of shared governance participation for nurse managers. Spreitzer’s psychological empowerment scale and the Ultrech “Work and Well-being” instrument, in addition to some Likert scale and open-ended descriptive questions, were included …