Nursing Administration Commons^™

Peri-Op Protect: A Unified Pre-Op To Pacu Medication Reconciliation System, Tyler G. Van Note, Ariana Amalia Anast, Samantha Ashley Steiner, Tara Gilbert

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Peri-Op Protect: A Unified Pre-Op to PACU Medication Reconciliation System

Peri-Op Protect is a nurse-led change initiative designed to improve medication safety and communication during surgical patient transitions from pre-operative care through the operating room and into the post-anesthesia care unit at a local hospital. Transitions of care are among the most vulnerable moments in the surgical process, as critical medication information – including home medications, last doses, allergies, intraoperative medications, and pain management plans – must be accurately communicated across multiple teams. Communication breakdowns are a leading contributor to adverse events in healthcare, and inconsistent medication handoff processes can …

Voice Your Choice, Sarah Olson, Mercy Bustamante-Vizarretea, Hannah Bauman, Sally Hall

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Our proposal seeks to develop and implement a standardized Charge Nurse Interest Survey which will create a structured process for identifying those most interested and best suited for the position of charge for all registered nurses on a local med-surg unit. Nurses on this unit are appointed and eligible to serve in the charge nurse role after six months of experience on the unit. Research shows that charge nurses who demonstrate emotional stability, composure under pressure, strong organizational skills, and proactive planning contribute to improved team functioning and decreased workplace strain (Gottlieb & Gøtzsche-Astrup, 2018).

To clarify the charge nurse …

Responsible Pain Management For Postpartum Patients, Anna Beth Wyatt, Isabella B. Conwell, Kaley E. Edelbrock, Missy M. Sterkel

SPARK Symposium Presentations

At Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s postpartum unit on 4 East, uncontrolled pain is a leading cause of decreased patient satisfaction and increased risk for complications. Effective, timely, and conscientious pain management plays a crucial role in improving patient satisfaction and promoting safer recoveries. Given the wide range of pain management needs due to varied birth experiences and complications, nursing judgment and clear patient communication are essential in ensuring both comfort and long-term safety. This makes 4 East an ideal unit to explore standardizing communication strategies to optimize patient care. The primary goal of our intervention is to enhance patient satisfaction …

Navigating Excellence: A Comprehensive Program Evaluation Of An Academic Clinical Nurse Educator Pilot Course, Rachel Marquart, Jennifer Sternberg, Kathryn Dambrino, David Phillippi, Jessica Savage, Tammy Legge

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Project title: Navigating Excellence: A Comprehensive Program Evaluation of an Academic Clinical Nurse Educator Pilot Course

Background and Rationale: Clinical instructors play a key role in nursing education, yet clinical instructors have varying degrees of formal preparation for the role. These inconsistencies affect student outcomes and instructors’ ability to effectively teach, mentor, and evaluate students. To address this, Belmont University developed the Academic Clinical Nurse Educator Program online course. This project conducted a comprehensive program evaluation to assess its effectiveness.

Aim: This project evaluated the effectiveness, success, and sustainability of an online Clinical Nurse Educator and Preceptor course designed to …

Nurse Retention Through Mentorship, Leah Lodato, Campbell Wroblewski, Sarah Endre, Annika Eldred

SPARK Symposium Presentations

High turnover rates contribute to staff shortages, increased workload, burnout, and a decline in patient care quality. Nurse retention can be incredibly costly, and it is estimated to cost $56,300 per every RN who leaves their job. For the average hospital, this can equate to roughly $3.9 to $5.8 million in losses per year.” (2024 NSI National Healthcare Retention and RN Staffing Report). Our initiative focuses on implementing a structured mentorship program for new graduate nurses at Vanderbilt’s 6 East Med-Surg unit. By pairing new nurses with experienced mentors, the program aims to improve job satisfaction, provide professional …

Navigating Excellence: A Comprehensive Program Evaluation Of An Academic Clinical Nurse Educator Pilot Course, Rachel D. Marquart

DNP Projects

Background and Rationale: Clinical instructors play a key role in nursing education, yet clinical instructors have varying degrees of formal preparation for the role. These inconsistencies affect student outcomes and instructors’ ability to effectively teach, mentor, and evaluate students. To address this, Belmont University developed the Academic Clinical Nurse Educator Program online course. This project conducted a comprehensive program evaluation to assess its effectiveness.

Aim: This project evaluated the effectiveness, success, and sustainability of an online Clinical Nurse Educator and Preceptor course designed to prepare registered nurses to teach undergraduate students and new nurses in clinical settings.

Design …

The Impact Of High Deductible Health Plans On Mental Health Treatment, Kristian D. Dambrino

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Project Title: The Impact of High Deductible Health Plans on Mental Health Treatment

Background and Rationale: High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) are designed to reduce overall healthcare spending by shifting more upfront costs to patients to discourage overutilization of care, yet HDHPs often increase financial burden, particularly in outpatient mental health care. Patients covered by HDHPs often face substantial out-of-pocket costs before reaching their deductible. This can lead to potential delays or discontinuation of psychiatric treatment. Financial transparency interventions by the mental health provider may mitigate these barriers through more-informed patient decision-making regarding payment options. This project evaluates the impact …

Safe Nurse-Patient Ratios: A Guide For Healthy Staffing, Daria Sickler, Molly Mills, Carly Ross, Leah Cepeda

SPARK Symposium Presentations

In order to enhance patient outcomes and nurse well-being, our initiative focuses on optimizing patient-staff ratios, which improve overall quality of care while reducing nurse burnout. With involvement of key stakeholders such as legislators, policymakers, hiring departments, managers, charge nurses, and nurses themselves, we aim to foster a. collaborative approach that addresses the root causes of stress and dissatisfaction. The goal to create this supportive environment where nurses have manageable workloads, leads to increased job satisfaction and reduced burnout. We expect to see improved patient outcomes, and higher nurse retention rates due to healthier, more sustainable work environments. This approach …

Preventing Nurse Burnout In The Trauma Icu, Annelise Wilson, Samantha Pendleton, Hailey Dowd

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This change project identifies that nurse burnout is a prevalent problem within the healthcare setting, specifically with nurses working in a critical care environment. Burnout can be described as a negative outcome resulting in exhaustion (emotional, mental, physical) due to stress. The population focused on is the nursing staff on the trauma intensive care unit at VUMC. The proposed recommendation for change is to have a mandatory resource nurse on every shift. Essentially, this nurse is one who has no patients and can be utilized to fill in for breaks and perform anything under the nurse's scope of practice when …

Student Veterans’ Transition To Nursing Education: Barriers And Facilitators, Bruce P. Hunter, Steven Busby Dr., Jeannie Giese Dr., David Phillippi Dr.

DNP Projects

Student Veterans’ Transition to Nursing Education: Barriers and Facilitators

Abstract

The transition for student veterans from military service to higher education can be a challenging endeavor, especially for those pursuing an education in nursing. While the experiences and perspectives of each student veteran is unique, their successful integration into an academic environment can be influenced by a complex array of barriers and facilitators. This mixed-methods study aims to explore the themes and concepts that can be found in the transition experiences of student veterans in nursing education, with a focus on identifying the barriers they face and the facilitators that …

Promoting Mental Health And Well-Being Among Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Practice Guideline, Armen Mailyan

DNP Projects

Poor mental health and well-being among undergraduate nursing students negatively affects social dynamics, communication, decision making, and stress management, thus compromising the quality of healthcare delivery and patient care outcomes. It is imperative that nursing programs support students to develop positive self-care, resilience, and mental health skills while in school to foster their well-being, enhance their academic success, and to promote high-quality, patient-centered care in their future practice. The purpose of this Doctor of Nurse Practice (DNP) project was to develop a mental health and well-being practice guideline with a comprehensive set of evidence-based interventions for academic nursing programs to …

Rn Perception Of Resources, Communication, And Leadership During Covid-19 And The Impact On Rn Satisfaction And Turnover In A Multi-Hospital System, Gina Bullington

DNP Projects

Abstract

While RN retention has been a perennial challenge, COVID-19 has exacerbated the problem. The project’s purpose was to study RNs’ perception of communication, resources, and leadership during COVID-19, and the impact on RN turnover in a multi-hospital system. 3280 RNs’ engagement survey responses and turnover percentages from pre-COVID-19 (November 2019) were compared to engagement survey responses and turnover percentages 12 months later (November 2020). 90% (n = 2963) were female and 43% (n = 1396) were between the ages of 25 and 39 years. The majority of RN respondents were employed 1-9 years (59%, n = 1934). …

A Quality Improvement Project To Improve Blood Specimen Acceptance Rates In An Emergency Department, Christian Hankins

DNP Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to implement a quality improvement project to improve blood specimen acceptance rates at a specific Emergency Department (ED) using strategies to enhance knowledge, improve motivation, and reinforce skill. Background: Specimen acceptance rates continue to fall outside of the recommended target rate of 98% or higher at a specific ED. In this particular ED, the responsibility for specimen collection has shifted away from phlebotomists and towards nurses, many of whom have received little to no phlebotomy training. Without proper blood collection techniques, specimens are more likely to be rejected, and re-collection of rejected blood …