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The Effect Of A New Graduate Registered Nurse Residency Program On Retention, Virginia Bradley Jan 2017

The Effect Of A New Graduate Registered Nurse Residency Program On Retention, Virginia Bradley

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

New graduate registered nurse residency programs are being adopted as best practice by many organizations. The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the effectiveness of two different types of programs implemented at an organization to see which produced the largest amount of retention. One group was hired directly into a nursing unit or area where orientation began. Another group was hired into a practice area and rotated through three different areas prior to being matched to a unit or area and then completing orientation. Dr. Patricia Benner's Novice to Expert Framework was used to guide this study because successful …


The Presence Of Compassion Fatigue In The Private Practice Setting, Santisha Lynette Walker Jan 2017

The Presence Of Compassion Fatigue In The Private Practice Setting, Santisha Lynette Walker

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Nurses play an intricate role in healthcare and may carry a burden while providing patient care. Bearing this burden could lead to a significant level of stress, which in turn could cause compassion fatigue. Many nurses face issues of stress and fatigue during their daily nursing practice, lending to unsafe conditions for patients and a decrease in quality of life. The purpose of this study was to assess nurses’ perception of the presence of compassion fatigue for nurses working in the private practice setting. This quantitative study, guided by the Neuman Systems Model, consisted of a non-randomized convenience sample of …


Implementation Of Best Practice Of Simulation Design, Sharon Faye Creed-Hall Jan 2017

Implementation Of Best Practice Of Simulation Design, Sharon Faye Creed-Hall

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The use of simulation has increased in the academic setting. The placement for nursing students for clinical sites has become increasingly difficult. In order to meet the demands of clinical sites, State Boards of Nursing have created standards where simulation can replace clinical rotation. Most State Board of Nursing require the school of nursing to meet the International Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) Standards of Best Practice: SimulationSM, use a theory for debriefing, and show proof of current simulation education for the educators. The Simulation Design project implemented the National League for Nursing (NLN) Jeffries Simulation Theory, the …


The Calm Project: Teaching Mindfulness Meditation In Primary Care Using Computer-Based Application, Vanessa Norton Jan 2017

The Calm Project: Teaching Mindfulness Meditation In Primary Care Using Computer-Based Application, Vanessa Norton

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have been studied extensively and the evidence is now credible that even brief techniques, delivered electronically using web-based applications (apps), easily accessed by smart phone, computer, or tablet, are consistently effective at anxiety reduction as well demonstrating efficacy in other commonly occurring comorbidities such as depression, stress, and panic symptoms. The purpose of this DNP project was to examine feasibility and the effect of the app, Calm.com, on anxious adult patients in primary care, using the Recovery Alliance Theory as its theoretical foundation. This pilot study was longitudinal, using a pre-test/post-test measurement of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder …


The Effects Of Watson’S Theory Of Human Caring On The Nurse Perception And Utilization Of Caring Attributes And The Impact On Nurse Communication, Mary Owens Mcmillan Jan 2017

The Effects Of Watson’S Theory Of Human Caring On The Nurse Perception And Utilization Of Caring Attributes And The Impact On Nurse Communication, Mary Owens Mcmillan

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project was to create a profile of nurses who utilize Jean Watson’s caritas processes and acknowledge caring by forming transpersonal caring relationships with all patients. In an acute care, 468-bed healthcare organization located in southeastern United States, on five adult medical surgical units, an overall score of 52% existed on the nurse communication domain within the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. This score was well below the national top box of the 76th percentile set for the domain of nurse communication. Within the five units selected, 67 nurse participants completed a …


Effects Of Engaging Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients In A Self-Care Management Protocol On Self-Care Self-Confidence Levels, Michele Denise Blakely Jan 2017

Effects Of Engaging Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients In A Self-Care Management Protocol On Self-Care Self-Confidence Levels, Michele Denise Blakely

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Delivering high quality heart failure (HF) management and education to empower patients to manage successfully in the community is imperative. Common trends observed impacting HF patients and concerning inpatient nurses on a medical cardiology unit were identified and discussed. Understanding accessing and adhering to a low salt diet, fluid restriction, and daily weights were all commonly identified challenges by direct care nurses of HF patients. Nurses reported increased frustration with patients not knowing or possessing little awareness of their fluid restriction or how to manage or articulate restrictions during the inpatient stay. Nurses felt intake and output (I&O) and daily …


Patient Safety In The Ambulatory Oncology Environment: A Teamstepps® Journey, Tammi Phelps Hick Jan 2017

Patient Safety In The Ambulatory Oncology Environment: A Teamstepps® Journey, Tammi Phelps Hick

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Problem: Children have reported that pain and anxiety were the most difficult part of hospitalization, and under treatment of pain and anxiety can have short and long term effects on health outcomes. Most healthcare professionals recognize a link between emotional health and physical health, but this may be especially true for pediatric patients who may not be able to marshal adequate coping skills due to their developmental age. Providing age appropriate alternatives, such as distraction therapy, may result in less invasive treatments for pediatric patients. Distraction therapy is an effective non-pharmacological intervention that is often under-utilized in the acute care …


The Effect Of Patient Activation On Transition Clinic Adherence, Megan Sue Mcgraw Jan 2017

The Effect Of Patient Activation On Transition Clinic Adherence, Megan Sue Mcgraw

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Heart failure (HF) affects more than 5 million Americans and is one of the most commonly occurring reasons for admission to the hospital among adults aged 65 and over. Evidence is growing that the higher amount of patient engagement or activation, the better the health and cost outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between a higher patient activation score, as determined by the PAM-10, and completion in the heart failure transition clinic. The design for this study was a quantitative descriptive study. The patients were given the questionnaire prior to discharge from …


Demographic Factors That Correlate With Adherence To Hemodialysis Treatment Regimen, Brittany Ross Jan 2017

Demographic Factors That Correlate With Adherence To Hemodialysis Treatment Regimen, Brittany Ross

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Background: Research has shown that non-adherence to the recommended treatment regimen in patients with chronic health conditions such as end stage renal disease can have detrimental consequences such as cardiac enlargement, difficulty breathing, cardiac arrest, and death. Several studies have shown a patient’s age, marital status, gender, and family support can affect adherence to treatment regimen in hemodialysis patients. Purpose: The goal of this study was to provide insight into the demographic factors that correlate with adherence to treatment regimen in hemodialysis patients. Method: This research study consisted of a retrospective chart review of 75 charts of chronic outpatient hemodialysis …


Nurse Perceptions Of Interactivity During Their Onboarding Orientation: Effect Of An Audience Response System, Angela Perry Wood Jan 2017

Nurse Perceptions Of Interactivity During Their Onboarding Orientation: Effect Of An Audience Response System, Angela Perry Wood

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Nurse educators must use effective teaching-learning tools to orient nurses hired into healthcare organizations. There is a vast amount of literature related to teaching-learning strategies such as audience response systems (ARS) in academia, but little research on ARS use in nursing classes outside of academia. The purpose of this research was to determine nurse perceptions of interactivity during lecture utilizing ARS versus lecture without ARS in an initial onboarding nursing orientation, using constructivism as the theoretical framework. A convenience sample of nurses attending an initial onboarding nursing orientation evaluated a PowerPoint based lecture using an interactivity instrument that included four …


Hospice And Palliative Care: Imperative To The Education Of Nursing, Crystal Lynn Jordan Jan 2017

Hospice And Palliative Care: Imperative To The Education Of Nursing, Crystal Lynn Jordan

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Many advanced practice nursing programs do not have hospice and palliative care content included in their curricula. Reviewing the literature regarding the nature of hospice and palliative care content in advanced practice nursing curricula revealed few published studies. Rather than a small snapshot of what end-of-life care entails, it is vital to integrate end-of-life care into every aspect taught in advance practice nursing school. The purpose of this thesis was ascertain the nature of hospice and palliative care content contained in advanced practice nursing curricula. A survey was sent to advance practice nursing program directors asking for information related to …


Business Plan For A Non-Profit Pediatric Iv Pole Wagon Distribution Program, Susan White Hester Jan 2017

Business Plan For A Non-Profit Pediatric Iv Pole Wagon Distribution Program, Susan White Hester

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Problem: Children have reported that pain and anxiety were the most difficult part of hospitalization, and under treatment of pain and anxiety can have short and long term effects on health outcomes. Most healthcare professionals recognize a link between emotional health and physical health, but this may be especially true for pediatric patients who may not be able to marshal adequate coping skills due to their developmental age. Providing age appropriate alternatives, such as distraction therapy, may result in less invasive treatments for pediatric patients. Distraction therapy is an effective nonpharmacological intervention that is often under-utilized in the acute care …


Registered Nurse Satisfaction: The Impact Of Organizational Communication On Satisfaction Among Registered Nurses In The Acute Care/Hospital Setting, Lori Michelle Lovelace Jan 2017

Registered Nurse Satisfaction: The Impact Of Organizational Communication On Satisfaction Among Registered Nurses In The Acute Care/Hospital Setting, Lori Michelle Lovelace

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Organizational communication can impact the satisfaction of registered nurses in the acute care hospital setting. With the projected growth of the nursing profession, recruitment and retention of registered nurses is essential in building a highly engaged workforce. Literature review identified areas that impact nurse satisfaction including salary and benefits, nursing leadership, nursing engagement, and nursing workload and staffing. The researcher recognized a gap in the literature regarding the impact of organizational communication on satisfaction of registered nurses in the acute care hospital setting. This study evaluates the difference in the satisfaction of organizational communication among registered nurses who spend less …


Clarifying The Need For Inpatient Medication Education, Pamela Cox Raffaldt Jan 2017

Clarifying The Need For Inpatient Medication Education, Pamela Cox Raffaldt

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Low health literacy is a problem for millions of Americans resulting in increased use of avoidable healthcare resources and poor health outcomes. Use of pharmaceutical regimens to manage acute and chronic health issues is the most common treatment modality. Unfortunately, people with low health literacy may have trouble understanding and following provider instructions; reading and following directions on medication bottles, either prescribed and/or over the counter; and identifying proper reasons for taking a medication. The purpose of this study was to increase patient self-agency for the treatment and management of acute and chronic health conditions through medication education. Providing medication …


Effect Of A Student Success Program On The Academic Success Of First Semester Junior Bsn Students, Ann Hardison Black Jan 2017

Effect Of A Student Success Program On The Academic Success Of First Semester Junior Bsn Students, Ann Hardison Black

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Problem: The expectation of the current nurse workforce is to deliver safe quality care while meeting the demands of an ever-changing healthcare system. More nurses are needed to combat the ongoing nursing shortage, as Baby Boomers reach retirement and the need for health care continues to rise. The healthcare industry has a vested interest in schools of nursing graduation rates as they impact the needed supply of nurses to fill vacant positions. Multiple variables collectively influence student success in a nursing program. Many students do not realize the rigor of a nursing curriculum until they are in the midst of …


Improving Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Skills Using Unit Based Simulation, Lesa R. Smith Jan 2017

Improving Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Skills Using Unit Based Simulation, Lesa R. Smith

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The performance and quick interventions by nurses during a code blue event can have significant impact on patient outcomes. Code blue events can be stressful for nurses practicing in the medical surgical environment where, since the implementation of rapid response teams, the number of code blue events has decreased. The traditional basic life support (BLS) offering in the acute care settings offers nurses the opportunity to practice cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with manikins and automatic external defibrillators (AED). However, the experience is lacking real working environment teams and equipment in which nurses practice every day. It is also well documented in …


Primary Care "Catches" Up With Behavioral Health, Michael Hannes Thorarinson Jan 2017

Primary Care "Catches" Up With Behavioral Health, Michael Hannes Thorarinson

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The problems caused by the lack of care coordination between primary care and behavioral health are well documented. Patients with uncontrolled mental health issues along with chronic health problems cost two to three times the health care dollars to manage than patients who have the same chronic health problems but without uncontrolled mental health issues. Despite this, in rural North Carolina, the de facto level of care coordination is none. Mental health and primary care are completely separate, distinct systems that do not routinely communicate. One of the identified barriers to care coordination is the lack of reimbursement for the …


Transformational Leadership Assessment Of Nurse Managers And Assistant Nurse Managers, Susan Braun Duggar Jan 2017

Transformational Leadership Assessment Of Nurse Managers And Assistant Nurse Managers, Susan Braun Duggar

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Transformational Leadership behaviors are essential to build and sustain a healthy work environment in healthcare. Nurse Managers who possess transformational leadership behaviors lead nursing teams with a higher degree of engagement, work satisfaction, and retention. The purpose of this project was to perform an assessment of transformational leadership characteristics among nurse managers and assistant nurse managers, develop an educational program to teach transformational leadership behaviors, and incorporate a transformational leadership assessment into the orientation onboarding process of new nurse managers and assistant nurse managers. The Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM) asserts leaders should use multiple leadership characteristics or behaviors to …


Incorporating Caring Competencies In The Academic Setting Through Simulation, Rebecca Marie Cheyne Threatt Jan 2017

Incorporating Caring Competencies In The Academic Setting Through Simulation, Rebecca Marie Cheyne Threatt

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Teaching caring, caring science, and the importance of caring competencies incorporated throughout the academic curriculum is vital in healthcare education. The purpose of this project is to increase the focus and importance of caring through didactic, interactive activities, and simulation experiences to promote the modeling and incorporation of caring competencies throughout the curriculum. Boykin and Schoenhofer's Caring Theory (2001) framework makes the assumption all persons are caring, and notes the caring relationship between the nurse/provider and the patient takes place in both actual practice and the simulated environment. A convenience sample of 32 first year ADN students enrolled in a …


Using High-Fidelity Simulation To Prepare Nursing Students In The Obstetrical Environment, Cynthia Ann Dixon Jan 2017

Using High-Fidelity Simulation To Prepare Nursing Students In The Obstetrical Environment, Cynthia Ann Dixon

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Aim: The goal of this study was to evaluate senior nursing students and use of high-fidelity simulation in the development of critical thinking skills. Background: Nursing students are only given limited opportunities in the specialty areas, such as obstetrics, and often lack the skills and confidence necessary to provide safe and effective care as they join the health care industry as new graduates. Methods: The senior nursing students were brought into the simulation lab and given a new scenario on a preeclampsia patient. The students were given ten minutes to ask questions of the patient, complete a focused assessment, call …


Clinical Workload Policy In Nursing Programs: Striving To Be Equitable And Transparent, Melinda West Jan 2017

Clinical Workload Policy In Nursing Programs: Striving To Be Equitable And Transparent, Melinda West

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Nursing schools throughout the country are facing a dilemma over how to concisely and fairly count faculty's clinical workload hours. Faculty members report dissatisfaction with their workload as one of the reasons for leaving the education field and contributing to the shortage of qualified nursing educators. There is no standardized method or policy for counting clinical teaching hours, so schools are left to create their own policies or simply not have one. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of the faculty members at a community college of the current clinical teaching workload policy and to determine …


Compassion Fatigue In Medical Surgical Nurses, Ashlee Nicole Simmons Jan 2017

Compassion Fatigue In Medical Surgical Nurses, Ashlee Nicole Simmons

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Often nurses are consumed by providing care to others and forget to care for themselves. The lack of self-care can lead to compassion fatigue in the nurse's life. The purpose of this thesis was to assess the level of compassion fatigue within medical surgical nurses, and determine the correlation between years of experience as a registered nurse and compassion fatigue. The Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL-5) was used to identify the existence of compassion fatigue in medical surgical nurses. Data was collected and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Seventy-five medical surgical nurses working in an acute …


Telephone Follow-Up To Reduce The Readmission Rate In Gynecologic Oncology Surgery Patients, Karla Kenyon Fernandez Jan 2017

Telephone Follow-Up To Reduce The Readmission Rate In Gynecologic Oncology Surgery Patients, Karla Kenyon Fernandez

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Unplanned hospital readmissions are commonly viewed as a marker of poor quality care and result in increased costs for both healthcare institutions and patients. Factors associated with readmission for gynecological oncology patients can be related to the radical surgical interventions required for the management of their disease, as well as complex comorbidity profiles, surgical complexity, cancer stage, and perioperative complications. The purpose of this study was to explore and examine the impact of nursing-led telephone follow up on the reduction of the readmission rate in gynecologic oncology abdominal surgery patients following initial discharge post-operatively. A cross-sectional research study was used …


Primary Care Nursing Barriers To Identifying And Referring Patients To Palliative Care, Angela F. Rutherford Jan 2017

Primary Care Nursing Barriers To Identifying And Referring Patients To Palliative Care, Angela F. Rutherford

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Palliative care (PC) is an interdisciplinary approach that specifically focuses on improving quality of life for people living with chronic, life-limiting illnesses (Kelley & Morrison, 2015). Ideally, PC should be initiated at the time of diagnosis. Research suggest that PC referrals are often delayed until there is a clearly terminal event, leading to unnecessary suffering from preventable symptoms and poor quality of life (Wilson, Avalos, & Dowling, 2016). The aim of this MSN thesis was to determine what barriers exist in the primary care setting to identifying and/or referring patients to PC programs. A descriptive study was performed utilizing an …


Discovering The Living Experience Of Feeling Overwhelmed By The Rapid Response Team Member, Rhonda Wayne Mann Jan 2017

Discovering The Living Experience Of Feeling Overwhelmed By The Rapid Response Team Member, Rhonda Wayne Mann

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Rapid response teams were implemented in efforts to combat mounting safety concerns among hospitalized patients. Numerous differing team compositions exist across the nation, however, most teams are led by a critical care nurse. Responsibilities of the rapid response team, in addition to unit based responsibilities, can lead to the feeling of being overwhelmed. Literature focusing exclusively on the feelings of the rapid response team member is obsolete. A qualitative study using the Parse research method was used to answer the research question: What is the structure of the critical care nurse’s living experience of feeling overwhelmed during rapid response calls? …


Assessing For Barriers To Shared Governance To Increase Employee Engagement, Cheryl Allison Motte Jan 2017

Assessing For Barriers To Shared Governance To Increase Employee Engagement, Cheryl Allison Motte

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Empirical evidence supports the numerous benefits to an organization with engaged employees as well as benefits to those engaged employees. Never-the-less, over half of American workers are not engaged in their work. In healthcare, nurses score the lowest of all professional healthcare disciplines with engagement. Participation in shared governance has been shown to increase work engagement. The purpose of this MSN descriptive research is to assess for barriers to participation in shared governance and increase work engagement on a geriatric behavioral health unit. The study began with an online shared governance needs assessment questionnaire followed by the Utrecht Work Engagement …


Compassion Fatigue And Burnout Of Critical Care Nurses, Lyndsey Brooke Couch Jan 2017

Compassion Fatigue And Burnout Of Critical Care Nurses, Lyndsey Brooke Couch

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore levels of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary post-traumatic stress of critical care nurses. Compassion fatigue is a combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion that caregivers experience when they care for patients who are in physical or emotional distress. Compassion fatigue has affected many nurses and has a direct effect on patients' satisfactions. Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring served as the theoretical framework for this study. The literature shows that there is a prevalence of compassion fatigue of acute care nurses. A quantitative study was performed using the ProQOL …


Does Implementing An Evidence-Based Fall Risk Scale Decrease Fall Rates?, Melissa Jackson Smith Jan 2017

Does Implementing An Evidence-Based Fall Risk Scale Decrease Fall Rates?, Melissa Jackson Smith

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

In this research facility, the falls risk assessment that was previously used was replaced with an evidenced-based tool, the Morse Falls Scale. Fall rates were analyzed for a five month period after implementation of the new scale, from May 1, 2016 – September 30, 2016, and compared to the same months the previous year to see if fall rates decrease with using the evidenced-based scale. Fall prevention is multi-factorial and begins with an assessment of the patients risk for a fall, and interventions which are personalized for each patient. Fall prevention should include all staff, as anyone can make a …


Nurse Workloads: The Relationship Between Nurse Compassion Satisfaction And Burnout, Lisa M. Greene Jan 2017

Nurse Workloads: The Relationship Between Nurse Compassion Satisfaction And Burnout, Lisa M. Greene

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Nurses face a wide variety of challenges and demands while caring for their patients and families. While nurses are an important part of healthcare, both for their compassion and care and for their skills at the bedside, they can become stressed and burned out. Compassion satisfaction is essential for nurses in today’s society. Compassion satisfaction has been defined as the pleasure an individual derives from being able to help others and do their work to the best of their ability. The lack of compassion satisfaction can lead to compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue affects the care provided to patients. Compassion fatigue …


Depression And Personal Depression Stigma Among Hospital Employed Nurses, Christy Herman Moose Jan 2017

Depression And Personal Depression Stigma Among Hospital Employed Nurses, Christy Herman Moose

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Background. Nurses experience depression at twice the rate of the general public. Personal depression stigma may complicate the issue by creating a barrier to help-seeking behaviors. This study sought to determine if depressed nurses have a higher rate of personal depression stigma than non-depressed nurses. Method. This study used a quantitative study design and a convenience sampling method of nurses at a community hospital. Data was obtained using a web-based survey that included the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 item depression scale (PHQ-9) and the Depression Stigma Scale – personal (DSS – personal). The total depression score (TDS) was used to …