Pediatric Nursing Commons^™

Ntchs© Health Literacy Intervention Pilot Study, Genevieve Evenhouse

Doctoral Projects

This pilot study explored the effectiveness of a validated curriculum called, “Navigating the Health Care System” (NTHCSÓ) in improving the health literacy of high school-aged adolescents in response to the national call to promote knowledge and skills in all ages, and socio-economic and cultural groups to achieve healthier lives. Low health literacy has been shown to greatly affect the quality of lives, health outcomes, and health spending of individuals with and without health conditions across social demographics. High school-aged adolescents are the population of interest of this study due to their developmental milestones which allows for knowledge and skill building …

Decreasing Hospitalization In Infants, William Hang

MSN Capstone Projects

Infants are the most vulnerable population at risk for serious diseases. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a disease that can be detrimental in infants because of their immature lungs and immune system. Palivizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody medication, given every 28-30 days has been shown to reduces RSV symptoms and decrease rates of hospitalization by 15%. By reducing the rate of hospital stay, it will also reduce cost.

Integrating Autism-Specific Care Plans For Pediatrics: Increasing Satisfaction, Madison S. Vandiver

Scholars Week

Abstract

Recent studies have explored the importance on integrating Autism-Specific Care Plans (ACP) into practice. These care plans provide patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or their caregivers the opportunity to identify individualized needs that are imperative for healthcare providers to provide personalized care and accommodations. These ACPs identify baseline characteristics, behavior patterns, communication techniques and management strategies for the patient with ASD during hospitalization. The focus of the ACP is to recognize patient needs and make those available to those providing care. Understanding the patient’s normal behavior variations can alert providers to a problems or stressors of the patient …

Evaluation Of An Advanced Quality Improvement Program, Arjun M. Dangre Bds Mph, Angelo P. Giardino Md, Phd

Journal of Nursing & Interprofessional Leadership in Quality & Safety

Texas Children’s Hospital implemented the Advanced Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Program (AQI) in 2009, designed to train clinicians and staff to develop leaders in quality improvement to improve patient care, lower costs, change culture, and lead improvement initiatives at the organization. Evaluations of the AQI programs measured the program’s effectiveness in achieving its goals and objectives. This paper describes the Texas Children’s Hospital’s Advanced Quality Improvement and Patient Safety program (AQI,) the program’s evaluation processes, and show the results of the evaluation of the AQI programs using evaluation surveys completed by QI participants over the span of 13 successful …

The Effects Of Kangaroo Care On Parental-Infant Bonding, Megan Stroud, Cortney Voisard, Quinn High

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Welcoming home a new baby is a challenging and sometimes stressful situation for even the most seasoned of parents. There are several decisions parents must make about the care their new baby will receive. One of those choices is kangaroo care. Although this intervention may not always be performed due to immediate medical concerns, immediate bathing, hospital policies, and cultural norms, it has been proven to have several benefits. Kangaroo care is defined as skin to skin contact in which the baby is placed on a parent’s bare chest and is swaddled in warm blankets similar to how a mother …

Breast Feeding Vs Bottle Feeding Effecting The Amount Of Hospitalizations In The First Year, Haley Maurer, Becca Young, Shelby Bohman

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Breastfeeding and formula feeding are two ways to feed an infant after it is born. The importance of this is significant because of infections that children are suspectable to at such a young age. Children who breastfeed exclusively are shown to have lower infection/hospitalization rates than children who are formula-fed. Breastmilk has several qualities that help prevent infections in infants that formula does not. Formula is a good source of nutrients but it does not have the ability to stop infections from occurring. Infections can be very serious for infants especially if they are born preterm so having a way …

Implementation Of Early Mobility In The Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Kelly Lubbers

Doctoral Projects

Patients admitted to pediatric intensive care units and pediatric cardiac intensive care units often experience prolonged periods of immobility due to critical illnesses and surgical interventions. Many pediatric intensive care unit survivors develop physical and developmental disabilities that have long-lasting impacts into childhood and adulthood. Early mobility may be one aspect to mitigate the risks associated with pediatric intensive care unit admissions. Early mobility protocols have shown to be a safe and feasible intervention to encourage mobility in pediatric patients. This quality improvement project developed and implemented an infant holding tool to promote the mobilization of infant patients admitted to …

Preterm Babies Risk For Malnutrition, Shannon Lyons, Molly Mancini

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Babies born prematurely can experience a variety of health issues. Preterm babies can develop “breathing problems, developmental delays, and vision problems” (“Preterm Birth”, 2019). On top of these issues, babies can also experience feeding difficulties. The purpose of this research study was to explore the effects of being preterm has on the ability to feed and risk of developing malnutrition compared to full-term babies. We will observe various studies on this, along with our own clinical experiences.

Relief Of Procedural Pain In Infants And Neonates, Allye Camden

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Procedural pain occurs in the hospital setting due to a variety of procedures and treatments conducted throughout a patient’s stay. Pain is often assessed in infants and neonates but is not always treated consistently due to the multiple number of pain relief methods. The objective of this literature review is to identify the most effective interventions to relieve procedural pain in infants and neonates. Forty articles were analyzed and synthesized to determine the best pain relief methods to use when providing nursing care to infants and neonates. Based on the results of the literature review, nutritive sucking, positioning techniques, and …

The Development, Implementation And Evaluation Of An Evidence-Based Biohazard Training Program Within A Pediatric Ambulatory Practice, Lakeshia L. Evans Mba, Fnp-Bc

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Communicable disease(s) such as Ebola or Coronavirus can cause a catastrophic health crisis within the United States healthcare system, especially among the pediatric and elderly population. Lack of knowledge, skills and confidence among health care professionals in the pediatric setting regarding these infectious organisms can affect early identification, proper isolation, early treatment, and increased risk of a possible pandemic and/or fatalities.

Aims/Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate an evidence-based biohazard training program-using the Identify, Isolate and Inform (3I) tool within a pediatric urgent care center to increase the staff’s knowledge, skills and confidence …

Safe Sleep, Jenna Czart

Student Scholars Day Posters

Many parents and healthcare providers are either unsure of safe sleep practices or fail to implement them. This presentation will display safe sleep guidelines that are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Impact Of A Pediatric Nurse Residency Program On Newly Licensed Registered Nurses At Six Months, Amy Rohn

Doctoral Projects

Background: Newly licensed registered nurses (NLRNs) face challenges as they transition from the academic setting to professional practice. These challenges can leave NLRNs feeling dissatisfied and vulnerable in their new positions. Nurse residency programs (NRPs) are an effective way to provide support for the NLRN.

Objectives: The purpose of this project was to evaluate the impact of a newly implemented NRP on NLRNs at six months related to their perception of support, patient safety, stress, communication/leadership, and professional satisfaction.

Methods: The project setting was a large midwestern children’s hospital. The sample consisted of twenty-six NLRNs who participated in the NRP …

The Impact Of Vaccination On Grand Rapids Public Schools’ Students, Jeremy Abreo, Kayeleigh Eder, Jordyn Francis

Honors Projects

The focus of our project was to analyze the amount of children vaccinated in Grand Rapids Public Schools. After determining the percentage of vaccinated children, we planned to implement an intervention to promote vaccination education to parents in the Grand Rapids area as well as increase awareness of the detrimental complications of refusing vaccinations.

As one of the focuses of our project, we decided to create a set of pamphlets. We focused on two main vaccines: the MMR vaccine and the Influenza Vaccine. After we gathered information about the two different vaccines, we compiled this information into an organized manner …

Hand Hygiene, Sami Hopkins, Lyndsey Dusanek, Emily Filley, Chandler Durkee, Katie Johnston

Nurse Presentations

Describes a project surveying multiple provides in the PICU and how they felt about their compliance with hand hygiene.

Chloraprep Dry Time, Nikki Jones, Chelsea Dennison, Becca Millard, Kristin Sapp

Nurse Presentations

Describes a project to increase the dry time compliance for solutions used in general surgery in the operating room.

Safe Sleep, Katie Tracy, Sarah Valentine, Sophie Weyers, Krystal White

Nurse Presentations

Describes a project focused on the non-compliance of safe sleep practices in the ICN.

Antimicrobial Stewardship, Lauren Delay, Mary Catherine Digiacinto, Hailey Hoisington, Sydney Lowe, Hannah Mcdonald

Nurse Presentations

Describes a project to increase nurse awareness of the patient's antimicrobial course in Children's Mercy PICU.

Trauma Informed Care And Nurse Resiliency, Macy Allred, Shannon Bertrand, Lauren Estes, Angela Honer, Randi Meyer, Katie Tetrick

Nurse Presentations

Describes a project involving nurse participation in and effectiveness of a nurse-led wellness team on nurse compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress in PICU nurses.

Trauma Informed Care, Grace Allen, Samantha Brown, Regan Schoeman

Nurse Presentations

This team studied whether the application of trauma informed care minimizes Secondary Traumatic Stress and impacts the rate of compassion satisfaction and burnout.

Kangaroo Care In The Icn, Taylor Disper, Johanna Moore, Nicole Westlie

Nurse Presentations

Describes a project focused on improving Kangaroo Care rates in the ICN.

Visitor Infection Prevention, Rachel Rittinghouse, Alyssa Stone, Tamara Wall

Nurse Presentations

Describes a project focused on increasing the number of visitors properly using PPE based on the isolation precautions of the patient.

Central Line Buzz, Sarah Hightree, Rachel Lawson, Danielle Sharkey

Nurse Presentations

Describes a project to increase the percentage of nurses discussing central lines in detail during shift hand-off.

Safe Sleep, Taylor Bishop, Rachel Bryant, Austin Howard, Karli Katzer, Olivia Parkhurst, Paige Pruitt, Sydney Smith

Nurse Presentations

This team focused on increasing the compliance with safe sleep on two floors of CMH.

Antimicrobial Stewardship, Morgan Hudson, Hannah Eisele-Miller

Nurse Presentations

Describes a project to increase the value of the nurses' role in antimicrobial stewardship.

Nursing Annual Report 2019, Children's Mercy Hospital

Nursing Annual Reports

Annual report for nursing services at Children's Mercy Kansas City.

Breastfeeding Issues Leading To Early Cessation, Brandy Kirstein

DNP Research Projects

Breastfeeding has come to the forefront in modern research as a necessary and important phenomenon to understand and address due to the vast amount of evidence revealing its health benefits for both Mom and baby. Disparities exist related to socioeconomic status, education level, poverty, young age, obesity, alcohol use, smoking, and living in rural areas. This project aims to discover the areas that need the most awareness and change specific to the state of Tennessee to increase the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding for six months (EBF6) creating healthier future generations and society. This project was a non-experimental, retrospective, correlational design, …

Reflection And Application Of Acue Course For Effective Teaching Practices, Diane Mejia

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

Q2S Reflection on the benefit and practical application of The Association of College and University Educator (ACUE) for Effective Teaching Practices course. Reflection includes results after utilizing these principles while teaching a Nursing Pediatric Clinical Lab. Specifically, this paper includes course design for learning outcome revision, assessments aligned with cognitive level, teaching methods corresponding to learning outcomes, and reflection on student response and refinement.

Timely Follow Up Care After Initiation Of Adhd Medication In Children: A Quality Improvement Project, Rebecca Haas

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background: Enhancing medication safety, strengthening compliance and mitigating side effects requires close monitoring. A child, defined by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as being between the ages of 6 years and 12 years of ages, with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) must have an initial medication visit within 30 days of a first-time trial of ADHD medication. Increasing staff awareness of organizational policy of expected timeframe for medication checks and annotating appointment slots as initial medication checks will decrease the number of days between the first-time trial of ADHD medication and a child’s medication assessment. Methods: The Model for …

Impact Of Nicu Design On Feeding-Related Outcomes In Preterm Infants, Emma Kate Calvert

Theses and Dissertations--Communication Sciences and Disorders

Many NICUs around the country are moving away from traditional open-bay designs in favor of single-family rooms (SFRs) as more is understood about the impact of the sensory environment on neurodevelopment in preterm infants. SFRs house one infant and their family for the length of the infant’s stay and are associated with improvements in numerous outcomes, including increased milk intake and weight gain and earlier transition to enteral feeding. Oral feeding remains a critical requirement for NICU discharge; however, the impact of NICU design on feeding outcomes remains unknown.

The purpose of this study was to compare feeding outcomes between …

A Systematic Review: Effectiveness Of Complementary Therapies On Mental Status Of Pediatric Oncology Patients, Sara Fredricks, Jessica Lloyd, Whitney Wendling

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Children with cancer frequently suffer from depression, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, and psychological stresses related to knowledge of potential risks, associated treatments, and the illness itself. These psychological problems can cause many additional physiological problems for these already chronically ill patients and may be detrimental to their overall health. The purpose of this systematic review is to review and critically appraise the evidence to determine if the use of Complementary and Alternative Methods (CAM), along with standardized care, affects mental health outcomes in pediatric cancer patients. Twenty-one primary source publications between 2013 and 2019 were analyzed for this systematic review. …