Nursing Commons^™

Nurs 230: The Effectiveness Of Space Devices, Lillian Gamble, Madison Taylor

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

We decided to conduct research in an effort to answer our question, “Are spacer devices the most effective treatment option for patients with asthma?”. We recognized that there has been debate about whether or not the standard prescribed metered-dose inhalers effectively administer medication to a patient's lungs due to the need for hand-breath coordination. Therefore, we wanted to discover if attaching spacer devices onto inhalers would deliver medication more thoroughly by eliminating this need as well as the overall effectiveness of this device when compared to other treatment options. We reviewed recent and relevant literature pertaining to this question to …

An Osteoporosis Risk Assessment Workshop For Advanced Practice Nurses, Linda Gay

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Osteoporosis is noted as one of the foremost causes of disability and morbidity worldwide (Rapp et al., 2016). An osteoporotic fracture can result in significant debility, resulting in significant financial burdens. Screening guidelines for osteoporosis are in place, but confounding variables often lead to missed screening and treatment opportunities. Xu, Lombardi, Jiao, and Banfi (2016) state that bone health is essential for maintaining quality of life and overall health and that one out of two Caucasian women will suffer an osteoporotic-related fracture in her lifetime. Current research supports identifying those at risk, screening, and potentially implementing pharmacological treatment regimens to …

Nurses Improving Nutrition Group Attendance Through Rn Invitations, Shelly Johnson, Susanna Mitchell

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Background: Gestational diabetes (GDM), a common pregnancy complication, increases the risk of dangerous birth outcomes, fetal anomalies, and sustained disease and comorbidity for mothers and infants throughout the lifespan. Insulin use is an independent predictor of anomalies. Our prenatal care did not include detailed nutrition assessments and modifications such as Mediterranean diet, a lifestyle associated with reduction in non-pregnant adult diabetes incidence, even reversal. Adding hands-on cooking to nutrition counseling has improved A1c outcomes. We hypothesized a comprehensive package of diet review, nutrition guidelines, and participation in an onsite cooking class initiated at the beginning of prenatal care (Green …

Patient With Questions About Cancer Risk, Deborah O. Himes, Jennie Vagher

Faculty Publications

Primary care nurse practitioners routinely care for patients with personal or family histories of cancer. Approximately 5% to 10% of all cancers are related to hereditary cancer syndromes (HCSs), which cause an increased risk for developing more cancers and cancers at earlier ages than the general population. Nurse practitioners in primary care must become comfortable with identifying patients at risk for HCSs. Ordering genetic tests can be a challenge because the number of genetic tests available is growing at a rapid pace. This case highlights a woman who survived breast cancer at age 25 and basal cell carcinoma at age …

Acue Effective Teaching Practices: Module Reflections, Nancy Wolf

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

This is a collection of ACUE (Association of Colleges and University Educators) implementation and reflection assignments. The Teaching Resource Center partnered with ACUE and the corresponding modules were offered to a set of accepted instructors at CSUSB. These assignments focused on teaching practices designed to enhance the learning experience for both on-ground and online instruction.

CSUSB – CNS – Department of Nursing Full-time Lecturer, Nancy Wolf, completed a 25-module course in effective teaching practices requiring the implementation of evidence-based instructional approaches. The credential is co-issued by the American Council on Education and distinguishes faculty for their commitment to educational excellence …

Impact Of Meaningful Recognition On Work Environment Perception Of Critical Care Nurses, Kristin Meinershagen

Dissertations

Problem: Absence of nursing staff recognition can lead to compassion fatigue, burnout, job dissatisfaction, and increased turnover rate resulting in high costs for hospitals. Meaningful recognition has been found to decrease compassion fatigue and reduce burnout. A meaningful recognition program was implemented over a 3-month period for staff nurses in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a large midwestern, metropolitan hospital to determine its effect on nurse’s perception of work environment and turnover rate in the ICU.

Methods: This was an observational, descriptive, cohort design utilizing the AACN Healthy Work EnvironmentSurvey instrument for assessing results before and after implementation …

Prevalence Of Syphilis Disease Throughout Some Expatriate Workers In Iraq, Israa Mamdooh Subhi, Abdul-Raheem Yahya Mahdi

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Medical Sciences

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum. Syphilis has been a major infection in man throughout recorded history and has challenged clinicians with its many clinical manifestations. It can also spread to other people by kissing or close body contact. The disease begins with sores and then could spread to other parts of the body through its stages (primary, secondary, tertiary and latent stages) and can also reach the heart and nervous system, and it may be fatal. The data on this disease in Iraq is limited and literature is scanty. A total of 70 …

Nefopam Versus Ketorolac For Post-Operative Pain Control In Cesarean Section, Shireen Kh Almuradi, Ali H. Mosleh, Ghison Ik Al-Adal

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Medical Sciences

More than 230 million people undergo surgery each year worldwide, and the number is increasing annually. Surgery commonly causes postoperative pain that should be alleviated as soon and as effectively as possible to reduce suffering, promote the healing process and rehabilitation, and prevent complications. However, clinical pain management after surgery remains far from successful despite the dramatically increased scientific evidence in this area. Many patients suffer from severe pain after surgery. Aim: The aim of this study is to compare between ketorolac and nefopam when administered intravenously as post-operative analgesia in cesarean section. Patients and methods: 60 patients, who were …

Exposed Root Coverage After Soft Tissue Tumor Removal Using Two-Step Surgery Technique (Case Report), Nafhat Almisk Amer Saleh, Yousif Laith Mahmood

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Medical Sciences

When intra-oral lesions in soft tissue reach the gingival margin, they can produce aesthetic problems during their presence and after their removal. Periodontal plastic surgery can be used in the correction of the gingival contour using many different techniques. This is a case report of a peripheral ossifying fibroma removal in the interproximal area between the maxillary left central and lateral incisors. The procedure also included the coverage of the exposed root in the affected area using two surgical stages: the first stage involved keratinized gingival tissue augmentation surgery with a free gingival graft concurrent with the removal of the …

Detection Of Van B Gene In Staphylococcus Spp. Isolated From Food In Baghdad/Iraq, Zina A.S Hadi, Mohamed F. Al-Marjani

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Medical Sciences

Seventy-three Staphylococcus spp. isolates were recovered from bacterial samples including poultry, foods, sewage, and soil. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were conducted on all environmental isolates for Methicillin and Vancomycin. The results showed that 39 Staphylococcus spp. isolates (53.42%) were resistant to Methicillin, while 26 isolates (35.61%) were resistant to Vancomycin. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) range of Vancomycin was found to be between 2-512 µg/mL. Plasmid DNA extraction from Methicillin and Vancomycin-resistant isolates revealed that some isolates had one plasmid band. Detection of Vancomycin resistance genes (vanA and vanB) showed the presence of the vanB gene in isolate No. ESf44 with …

Betamethasone Gel Compared With Lidocaine Gel To Reduce Tracheal Tube Related Post-Operative Airway Symptoms, Mustafa Bs Atatfah, Ali H. Mosleh, Ghisan Ik Al-Adal

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Medical Sciences

Background: The commonest method to secure the airway in general anesthesia is the use of cuffed Endotracheal Tube (ETT). However, the recovery is often complicated by ETT-induced airway and circulatory reflexes, which can lead to potentially dangerous complications. Many studies and researches have been focused on the prevention of these emergence phenomena (EP); nevertheless, the problem is still far from a final solution. Aim: To compare the efficacy of Lidocaine gel vs. Betamethasone gel in attenuating the ETT-induced EP. Patients and methods: 51 patients chosen for elective intermediate average duration operations and classified in class 1 & 2 of the …

Amending California Law To Incentivize Preceptors, Marina Nguyen

Culminating Project Papers (DNP)

Clinical preceptorship training is a unique component in medical doctors, physician assistant, and nurse practitioner's academic curriculum. Preceptors are licensed clinicians, mentor student(s) during their regular hours of employment without additional compensation. California is currently experiencing a primary care shortage crisis, and with the push to train more health care professionals to meet these shortages, there has been an increase in schools, but not enough preceptors to train new students. This shortage in preceptors is widespread throughout the United States, with many programs having difficulty securing a preceptor site to educate students (Association of American Medical Colleges, 2018).

The culminating …

High-Risk Pregnant Patients In The Third Trimester: Comparing Mental And Physical Health, Megan Maxwell

MSN Capstone Projects

The purpose of the paper is to compare physical and mental health in high-risk pregnant patients in their third trimester who are managed in an inpatient setting compared to an outpatient setting. This paper looks at specific high-risk pregnancy diagnoses.

Home Telemonitoring In Heart Failure, William Huff

MSN Capstone Projects

Heart failure (HF) exacerbation is a major source of hospitalization, mortality, and healthcare cost to home health agencies. Unmonitored accumulative fluid retention between skilled nurse visits, base knowledge deficits in HF pathophysiology and dietary restrictions, and lack of basic monitoring equipment such weighing scales are primary contributors to HF related hospitalizations in the home health setting. It has been discovered that early recognition of decompensating HF can reduce or eliminate HF related hospitalization, mortality, and healthcare costs associated with the management of exacerbation. When a patient is sent to the emergency room (ER) for fluid overload secondary to HF, massive …

Hourly Rounding: The Effects On Fall Rates In Adult Population In Acute Care Setting, Sheyla J. Pellicier Mercucci

MSN Capstone Projects

Falls are one of fourteen categories of hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) listed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2020). Falls are costly and stressful for everyone involved; patients, families, nursing staff and physicians. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (2019), about seven hundred thousand to one million hospital admitted patients fall every year. The estimated cost of a fall is about fourteen thousand fifty-six dollars if an injury occurs and can extend patient’s hospital length of stay (LOS) to up to 6.3 more days (Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, 2019).

When a patient …

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing For Nurses In Emergency And Critical Care Departments, Rachel A. Davis

MSN Capstone Projects

Front-line healthcare workers such as emergency department nurses, trauma nurses, and other nurses working within intensive care services are exposed to significant trauma on the job as they care for their critically wounded and dying patients. While trauma cannot be removed from the job descriptions of such staff members, individuals and their facilities can work together to try and ensure traumatic events do not have significant, lasting effects on the mental well-being of these nurses. Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) after traumatic events in the workplace has been cited as a relatively inexpensive way to decrease the impact of negative …

Prevent The Preventable: Children With Hypertension Due To High-Sodium Diets., Shana M. Cobb

MSN Capstone Projects

Heart disease in the United States is the number one cause of death and costs $317 billion annually (Centers for Disease Control, [CDCa], 2018). Heart disease is usually considered an adult disease, but today we are finding that more children are developing symptoms of high blood pressure and sodium consumption is the link (Webb, 2017). Health care spending for hypertension is at an all-time high and is expected to triple over the next 20 years (Bussenius, Zeck, Williams, & Haynes-Ferere, 2018). The American Heart Association (AHA) states if sodium consumption was decreased to around 1,500 milligrams (mg) a day, blood …

Controlled Donation After Circulatory Death: Benchmark Study, Marilyn R. Strait

MSN Capstone Projects

Abstract

In potential organ donors after circulatory death (P), does the utilization of an evidence-based critical pathway from identification of potential donor to organ donation (I) versus no utilization of an evidence-based critical pathway (C) increase the rate of organ procurement and the satisfaction of donor families with the donation process (O)? A benchmark study was conducted to answer this question, and in short, yes, it does. The utilization of a critical pathway, when individualized to a local population and hospital’s organization increases the organ procurement rate, the donor family satisfaction with the process, and increases staff satisfaction with the …

Geriatric Medication Adherence, Heather Granados

MSN Capstone Projects

Improved patient education can lead to increased medication adherence in geriatric patients.

Emergency Department Homeless And At Risk Homeless Screening Benchmark Study, Emily Mulder

MSN Capstone Projects

Individuals experiencing homelessness drastically overutilize emergency department (ED) services compared to non-homeless individuals (Ku et al., 2014). Many unhoused individuals have serious medical and psychosocial needs, which are chronic in nature, and become exacerbated due to poor management while living on the streets (Ku et al., 2014). The health needs of such individuals would be best managed through primary care continuity. However, care coordination becomes complex when a patient does not have a physical address or knowledge of available community resources (Mitchell, León, Byrne, Lin, & Bharel, 2017). By understanding the unique barriers that homeless and at risk homeless patients …

Nurse Residency Program: A Critical Care Benchmark Project, Dana Wagner

MSN Capstone Projects

Nursing school is arguably one of the most challenging degree plans in existence. The level of professionalism and intelligence of newly graduated nurses (GNs) is exceptional, and the expectation is that they will excel in whatever field of nursing they choose. That said, navigating the theory-practice gap between school and a GN’s first job can be extremely intense, especially in specialty areas such as critical care. According to Belvins (2016), both The Joint Commission and the Institute of Medicine recognize that many GNs are not prepared for fast-paced, high-acuity healthcare environments. The recommendation is the implementation of additional education and …

Implementation Of A Patient Acuity Tool And The Impact On Nurse Satisfaction, Amber M. Denson

MSN Capstone Projects

Increased workloads contribute to nurse stress, affect nurse-patient relationships, and can ultimately lead to nurse turnover (O’Connell, Nettleton, Bunting, & Eichar, 2020). Nurse satisfaction can also be influenced by nurse-patient assignments (Allen, 2019). Implementation of a patient acuity tool (PAT) to balance workload and evenly distribute patient acuity in nurse-patient assignments can improve nurse job satisfaction, quality of care, and nurse retention (Firestone-Howard, Gonzalez, Dudjak, & Rader, 2017; Al-Dweik & Ahmad, 2019).

Discussions were held on a 20-bed medical-surgical unit in an acute care hospital with stakeholders that included the nurse manager, charge nurses and bedside nurses at staff meetings …

Self-Engagement To Decrease Blood Pressure Readings And Decrease Non-Compliance., Teresa G. Townes

MSN Capstone Projects

Hypertensive patients are the patients that are seen in every aspect of health-care. They are seen in outpatient clinics, home health, in-patient settings, and in home health. Many times these patients have an abundance of education to absorb and many medications to take on a daily basis. The interest of how these patients are engaged in their own health-care and how it affects their blood pressure readings.

Many patients may know that they take a medication for their blood pressure, but they might not remember the name, dosage, or frequency of the medication. When a patient cannot recall their medications, …

Mindfulness Meditation For Nursing Students, Christine Cho

MSN Capstone Projects

This capstone project discusses an eight-week Mindfulness Meditation Program for nursing students. It can be implemented virtually or face-to-face in either the didactic or clinical portion of a course. This capstone project was implemented virtually. The purpose of the project is to introduce mindfulness meditation to nursing students to build resilience and reduce stress. The weekly topics include: Orientation, Being Fully Present, Responding Mindfully Without Judgment, Communication, Teamwork, Compassion, Balanced Life, and Closure. Pre- and post-assessments of anxiety, stress, and mindfulness are evaluated with the Burn Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Mindfulness …

Early Initiation Of Palliative Care, Ann R. Phillips

MSN Capstone Projects

The overall aim of this project, based upon the best available evidence, clinical experience of oncology nurses, and patient preferences for information about palliative care, is to propose the creation and initiation of a protocol which empowers oncology/palliative care nurses to be able to initiate early discussions about palliative care for patients with advanced stage cancer (III-IV) diagnoses.

By having frank conversations surrounding palliative care early on in the treatment process, patients are better able to make informed decisions about treatment, depending on the trajectory their disease takes. Such conversations provide patients with a clearer picture of what is likely …

Enhancing Perceptions Of Labor Experiences Through Evidence-Based Education, Sherrie Fontenot

MSN Capstone Projects

The cesarean section (C-section) rate has risen dramatically in the past several decades both in the United States and throughout the world. Domestically, the C-section rate has risen from 4.5% in 1965 to 32.2% in 2014 (National Partnership for Women & Families [NPWF], 2016a). Worldwide, roughly 19% of births occur via C-Section (Betrán et al., 2016). Concurrently, the induction rate has also increased, doubling in the United States between 1990 – 1998 (Davey & King, 2016). As of 2014, about 23% of all women had their labors induced in the United States (NPWF, 2016b). Furthermore, the trend toward electively inducing …

Venous Thromboembolism Prevention, Heidi K. Gibson

MSN Capstone Projects

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention is important to patients, families, and healthcare institutions. Education is key in prevention VTE. This educational capstone project poses the question as to what type of educational material is most beneficial in decreasing VTE and also increasing VTE protocol compliance rates among nurses. The paper addresses the following PICOT question: In staff nurses (P) how does venous thromboembolism prevention education (I) compared to no venous thromboembolism prevention education (C) affect compliance with the established thromboembolism protocol (O) during the three months following completion of the required education for the intervention group (T)?

“Save My Baby”: The Lived Experience Of Hospitalized Pregnant Women With A Threat Of Preterm Birth, Dua' Yousef Al-Maharma, Inaam A. Khalaf, Fathieh Abu-Moghli, Sajeda Alhamory

The Qualitative Report

Activity restriction in hospital to prevent preterm birth (PTB) is widely used as the first step of treatment. It is associated with adverse physiological and psychological effects on maternal and fetal health that might persist years after birth. A sample of 10 pregnant women who were hospitalized for being at risk for PTB were purposively recruited to describe their lived experience via semi-structured in-depth interview. Five themes were identified, the maternal role establishment and suspending responsibilities, the women's perception of fear of uncertainty and finding support, dissatisfaction of care, the change of routine life and family relationships, and the cultural …

Community Cooking Course To Combat Nutritional Knowledge Deficit, Heather R. Bohman

MSN Capstone Projects

More than two-thirds of American adults and almost one-third of American children are overweight or obese. Not only are the statistics alarming, the cost of obesity is staggering. Obesity robs an individual of their quality of life and costs the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $147 billion a year in obesity-related illness (Finkelstein, Trogdon, Cohen, & Dietz, 2009). The need to find solutions to improve the health of Americans is clear and communities are called to respond. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2018) recommends partnership with local agencies to promote obesity prevention initiatives and create a healthier …

Nurs 230: Ebrp: The Gold Standard Of Checking Ng Tube, Estela C. Hurd, Caroline Nham, Mayana Hamilton

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

No abstract provided.