Nursing Commons^™

Use Of A Checklist As A Decision Support Aid For Heart Failure Assessment And Management, Maryann Hogan

Doctoral Dissertations

Heart failure is a serious chronic health problem requiring ongoing management to control disease progression. Consequences of inadequate heart failure management include acute exacerbation, worsening baseline status, and possibly death. Nurses play a key role in surveillance of patients with heart failure and in management of their condition as part of the interprofessional health care team. During episodes of acute decompensation of heart failure, nurses must be able to detect onset of signs and symptoms, initiate appropriate nursing interventions promptly, and communicate with the provider and other team members as needed. Although heart failure is a common health problem in …

Building Resilience In Undergraduate Nursing Students: Evaluation Of Changing Minds, Changing Lives, Rebecca Liljestrand

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Undergraduate nursing students report experiencing high levels of stress, which may negatively affect academic, personal, and professional outcomes. Resilience has been found to mitigate the effects of high, prolonged stress. Specifically, nursing students who engaged in a program to enhance resilience had positive outcomes related to themselves, others, and their nursing program.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to implement and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and value of an evidence-based resilience program, Changing Minds, Changing Lives, designed to reduce nursing student stress levels by building resilience and increasing use of positive coping strategies.

Methods: Junior baccalaureate nursing …

Elearning Module For Nursing Students To Improve Delirium Identification, Prevention, And Management, Shannon Baker

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background and Review of Literature: Delirium is a serious, acute alteration in cognition and consciousness, which is common amongst older hospitalized patients and has an overwhelmingly negative impact on patient outcomes. Under-recognition by healthcare providers poses a barrier and contributes to poor patient outcomes, including increased morbidity and mortality.

Purpose: To reduce the incidence of delirium amongst acutely ill patients via internet-based education for student nurses on delirium prevention, assessment, and management.

Methods: An eLearning intervention consisting of a virtual lecture with an unfolding case study for undergraduate nursing students. This project utilized the Nurses’ Delirium Knowledge Assessment (NDKA) …

Implementation Of An Online Mindfulness-Based Intervention For Reducing Stress Amongst Undergraduate Nursing Students, Joy Garmaise-Yee

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background & Purpose: Nurses and nursing students have notoriously high levels of stress, which can lead to burnout, depersonalization, deterioration of mental or physical health or exiting the profession. A pilot educational mindfulness-based intervention was implemented online amongst undergraduate nursing students to decrease stress and increase mindfulness. Mindfulness is an evidence-based self-care skill that has proven effective in reducing stress in student populations and amongst nurses.

Methods: Students in an online nursing theory course engaged in the mindfulness-based intervention online. Stress and mindfulness were measured pre-, immediately post-, and 4 weeks post-intervention and were analyzed using linear regression. Students were …

Delivering Culturally Competent Care To The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender (Lgbt) Population, Evan M. Mcewing

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Purpose: To this day, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities still experience negative health outcomes due to social stigma and discrimination. Additionally, nursing has lagged behind other health professions in the promotion of culturally competent care to members of this minority group. Several national authorities on LGBT health have proposed guidelines for providing such care to the LGBT population; however, many nursing schools are not integrating these recommendations into their curricula. Methods: Using these national guidelines, an educational program was developed for BSN students at a large south Florida university to improve competency in providing care for LGBT …

Increasing Access To Maternity Care In Rural Georgia Through Public Health Advocacy, Fabiola Romain-Lapeine

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Georgia has the second highest maternal mortality rate and eighth highest infant mortality rate in the country. Regardless of location, race, socioeconomic class or education level, access to quality maternity care will significantly improve the outcomes for both mother and baby. In 2012, the maternal mortality rate in rural Georgia was 24.3% compared to 16.5% in non-rural Georgia. Increasing the use of well-trained Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) is essential to the provision of high-quality rural maternity care throughout pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. Including CNMs as preceptors in the Georgia Preceptor Tax Incentive Program (GA-PTIP) policy can increase the …

Improving Discharge Planning And Education Of Nursing Students: A Collaborative Approach, Lea Dodge

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Nurses require training to provide discharge teaching yet nursing students are often not assigned the task of discharge teaching and are overwhelmed by the task once they enter the workforce (London, 2004). Few nursing programs provide opportunities for nursing students to participate in quality improvement projects. In an attempt to decrease post-discharge adverse events (AE) and increase exposure to discharge teaching and quality improvement by nursing students, 13 nursing students in a baccalaureate undergraduate nursing program assigned to a DEU in a sub-acute rehabilitation facility were provided with instruction utilizing the evidenced-based teach-back method. The nursing students conducted the discharge …