Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing Commons^™

Utilizing Motivational Interviewing To Promote Condom Use Self-Efficacy, Ann Maria Bell

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Condom use is one of the most important preventive mechanisms available to combat sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies, yet over 70% of adolescents and young adults lack education on the proper use of condoms. Lack of education and confidence in using condoms contributes to a decrease in condom usage, resulting in increased rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies. The purpose of Project Motivate was to determine if motivational interviewing significantly improves self-efficacy related to condom use among patients presenting for screening of sexually transmitted diseases. The project sought to determine if motivational interviewing is an effective intervention …

Improving Attitudes Toward Interdisciplinary Collaboration Between Nursing And Medical Students In Simulation, Kristy H. Williams

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

This capstone project assessed whether a curriculum change for senior nursing students could have an impact on improving attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration. A convenience sample of 60 senior level nursing students and eight residents were enrolled in the study. The nursing students and residents participated in a high-fidelity simulation scenario, and were given a pretest and posttest using the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration. There was strong evidence (t= -1.971, p=.05) that the attitudes of physician-nurse collaboration improved for nursing students through a simulation based scenario with residents. The confidence interval for the difference was (-0.22, 0.002). Although …

Relationship Between Patient Safety Culture And Safety Outcome Measures Among Nurses, Jamie Kay Brown

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Preventable errors in healthcare are a significant problem in today’s society, contributing to numerous adverse patient outcomes and even deaths on a daily basis. Identifying adverse outcomes is an imperative first step in creating a safer healthcare system, which can be followed by cause analyses and action plans to address systematic issues and improve process reliability. Despite the widespread use of voluntary reporting systems to identify adverse events, recent literature has found extreme limitations and severe underreporting with its use in healthcare facilities. A frequent theme in the literature implies that identifying reportable events and discouraging hesitation in reporting begins …

Behind Closed Curtains On Eighteen Wheels: The Risk Factors And Consequences Of Intimate Partner Violence In Female Long-Haul Truck Drivers, Kim Bourne

Nursing Faculty Publications

Background. Intimate partner violence affects more than 1.3 million women in the United States (US) each year and 50% of all female homicides are committed by current or former intimate partners. Intimate partners are defined as a spouse or sex partner who cohabitate together. There are nearly 122,000 female long-haul truck drivers in the US who drive as part of a team with their intimate partners. Their jobs require them to be in close proximity with their intimate partners 24-hours a day for days to weeks at a time increasing the potential for intimate partner violence. Little has been published …

Mine Workers, Heat Related Illnesses, And The Role Of The Occupational Health Nurse, Kim Bourne

Nursing Faculty Publications

Across the United States, workers in m any occupations face weather and related extreme conditions on a daily basis. Hot weather and manual labor increase a person’s core body temperature. This heat gain comes from a combination of environmental and self-generated (or internal) heat. Environmental heat is both weather related and man-made, and internal heat is produced from metabolic processes (Xiang, Bi, Pisaniello, & Hansen, 2014). But, it’s just not the heat that causes problems; it’s the humidity, too. E ach year thousands of workers suffer heat related illnesses as a result of becoming overheated. Between June, 2013 and July, …

Developing A Healthy Work Environment For Radiology Nurses Through Metaphor, Anne Cords

Theses and Graduate Projects

A healthy work environment is an essential part of a nurse's professional practice. Providing nurses access to resources to understand the importance of a healthy work environment should be present in healthcare organizations. After evaluating a Radiology Department at a large hospital in the Midwest, the themes of communication, collaboration, and authentic leadership were revealed as areas to be improved upon for this work environment. Not only will these themes contribute to the workplace as well as providing effective patient care. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments (Barden, 2005:2016) and Martha …

The Relationship Between Stressors And Intent To Leave Nursing Homes Among Directors Of Nursing, Crystal R. Williamson

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, some nursing homes have been ranked worst in the nation when rating the quality of resident care. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative strength of workplace stress, job satisfaction, organizational support, and personal data (number of years employed, age, highest education level) in predicting director of nursing (DON) intentions to leave the position. This information contributes to social change because it is important to know that DONs need to experience general satisfaction in order to maintain stable leadership that positively contributes to the quality of care in …

Increasing Compliance Of Personal Protective Equipment S Election And Use For Isolation Precautions Among Rns & Nas On A Med-Surg Unit, Megan R. Alsmeyer

Master's Projects and Capstones

Background: Due to the high potential of transferring infectious diseases and/or organisms among patients, themselves, and the community, healthcare workers (HCWs) must be knowledgeable and confident in selecting the appropriate type of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the use in technique when putting on (donning) and removing (doffing) PPE based on the level of isolation precautions required for the patient being cared for.

Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is to determine whether assessing the knowledge and actual practice with observing, and utilizing an innovative approach of video and educational tools to isolation precautions would improve the consistency of …

An Evaluation Of Fall Prevention Interventions Among Older Adults In A Long Term Care Facility, Courtney Anita Bennett

Doctoral Projects

Falls are serious unwanted events that are a common occurrence among older adults in long term care facilities (LTC). Fall prevention in LTC facilities requires the efforts of an interprofessional team that promotes safety within an organization. The purpose of this capstone project is to implement and evaluate evidence-based fall prevention interventions at a LTC facility. Specific objectives of the project include: (a) providing education to healthcare professionals on evidence-based practices to recognize, assess, and prevent falls among older adults in a long term care facility and (b) replacing the existing fall prevention policy and program with a falls and …

"Nursing Contamination: Wearing Scrubs In Public", Kemble Green

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nurses are frequently seen in public in their “scrubs,” which could mean that contaminated clothing is being brought into the community, thereby posing an infection risk. The purpose of this study is to investigate if and which contaminants are present on the fabrics and the actions nurses are taking to eliminate contamination risks.

Eleven scrub tops were worn on hospital units over one twelve-hour shift. The contaminated scrubs and three control tops were then swabbed and used to inoculate agar plates. After incubation, colonies were counted, streaked onto nutrient and Mannitol-salt agar for isolation, and incubated. Using API Staph strips …

Exploring The Relationship Between Reporting Medication Errors And Nurse Fear Of Retribution, Emily J. Hanna

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Studies have shown that medication administration errors are a critical issue in healthcare and more importantly preventing this type of error depends on precise reporting. Analysis of medication errors can lead to healthcare system improvement and reduced risk if the errors are detected, reported, and used to formulate improved patient care practices and systems. Nurses are the front line of defense to intercept and report errors. Through a review of the literature, it has been determined that nurses possibly fear blame and punishment when a Medication Administration Error (MAE) occurs; therefore, the purpose of this Master of Science in Nursing …

Utilization Review Software: The Impact On Productivity And Structural Empowerment In Case Management Nurses In An Acute Care Setting, Kimberly Frazier

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) seeks to achieve cost control by implementing aggressive cost containment mechanisms for an exploding Medicare population. One such mechanism is utilization review, which is employed to limit reimbursement of medical care that is determined to not be medically necessary. The CMS Conditions of Participation mandate that all hospitals determine whether a patient qualifies for an Inpatient or Observation stay. Utilization Review Specialist (UR) nurses were given the Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire II (CWEQ-II), Organizational Relationship Scale II (ORS-II), and the Job Activity Scale II (JAS II), six months after McKesson InterQual software …

Implementation Of A Second Victim Program: Hope Team, Sherrie Lee

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The healthcare workforce is composed of a variety of roles and disciplines that do their best ensuring patient safety and quality care. Nurses spend more time with the patient than any other discipline. They not only are responsible for the care of their patients but their families during hospitalization. The role and responsibilities of a nurse puts them in a position for making mistakes. After a mistake is made, the patient becomes the first victim, the nurse becomes the second victim, and the organization becomes the third victim. A second victim is a healthcare worker who makes a mistake and …

Patient Navigator's Role Definition, Joann Smith

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Patient navigation as a care coordination model continues to evolve. Early programs focused on access to care for the underserved and uninsured. With no standard credentials, title, training or job descriptions, navigator programs are as varied as the people who perform these duties. The nurse navigator provides a holistic approach to care delivery and focuses on care coordination, education, and physical, social and emotional aspects of care. Workload for the navigators is increasing as a result of patient, facility, departmental, and national accreditation demands. The goal of this capstone project was to redefine the job descriptions of the Oncology Nurse …

Relationship Between Job Satisfaction And Nurse To Patient Ratio With Nurse Burnout, Kayla Teeter

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

There is evidence that the increase in patients per nurse ratio and job dissatisfaction are leading causes of nurse burnout in the United States; however, current research mostly focuses on the hospital setting which limits the generalization of the findings. Therefore, more research is needed beyond the hospital environment. The purpose of this MSN thesis was to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and nurse-patient ratio with nurse burnout among home health nurses. The hypothesis is that home health nurses who experience a higher nurse to patient ratio and greater job dissatisfaction will experience increased nurse burnout. A review of …

Staff Perception Related To Family Presence During Resuscitation, Stephanie L. Herron

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the perception of health care professionals (staff nurses) regarding family presence during resuscitation. The sample consisted of 59 nurses of different ages and working in different departments. The Staff Perceptions of Family-Witnessed Resuscitation questionnaire was used to collect data. The relationships between participants' demographic data and perceived attitudes and beliefs were also analyzed. Many of the healthcare professionals felt that it was acceptable to have family members present during resuscitation if the patient makes clear decisions prior to the incident or if the physician makes the decision for the patient. Almost half …

Discharge Education In The Emergency Department: Are We Effectively Teaching Chest Pain Patients?, Emily Edwards Nishiyama

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Millions of individuals visit the emergency department (ED) each year with complaints of chest pain. Many chest pain patients do not have an underlying condition of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) but the health and well-being of these patients is indispensable. Research has indicated soaring costs, an increased demand in medical resources, and an increasingly poor quality of life for these patients after discharge. Although research encourages quality education at discharge, very few studies have been conducted on ED discharge education for non-ACS chest pain patients. Using a cross-sectional descriptive research design, this quantitative study discovered the frequency of education provided …

Lateral Violence In The Emergency Department, Lesley Swafford

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

This study examined the types, frequency, and scopes of emergency room nurses' personal experience with disruptive behavior and its impact on staff, their patients, and the organization. Seventy registered nurses completed the Johns Hopkins Disruptive Clinician Behavior survey. Descriptive statics were used to analyze results. The most significant findings included: (a) Passive aggressive behavior was the most commonly reported form of disruptive behavior occurring on a daily basis, (b) RN's were identified as the most common instigators of disruptive behavior, (c) pressure from high census, volume, and patient flow was identified as the most common trigger of disruptive behavior occurring …

A Measure Of Perceived Fatigue Among Nurses In Western North Carolina, Karen R. Cochran

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

We are anticipating a heightened shortage of nurses as our aging population retires. A shortage of workers tends to lead to overtime for those still in the work force. Previous research has demonstrated a link between working long hours, fatigue, and decreased performance among nurses. Fatigue has specifically been linked to on the job injuries and poorer patient outcomes. This research study examined perceived fatigue among nurses in western North Carolina. A convenience sample of nurses from five hospitals in western North Carolina was surveyed to measure fatigue, as well as compare differences in reported fatigue across varying demographic groups. …

Simulation Collaboration: Will Screen Capture Change Attitudes?, Jeffrey Carmack

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The ongoing call for interprofessional education with healthcare providers who routinely work together has largely gone unanswered. Parallel to this call, a large number of nursing programs across the United States exist in a stand-alone setting. These programs are unattached to a school of medicine. This creates barriers including a lack of access to physicians and lack of funding to hire medical staff as embedded participants. At the same time, aging nursing faculty, increasing enrollment, and decreasing clinical facility availability create an increased need to use simulation-learning environments to continue to maintain existing capacity in nursing programs. This project used …