Nursing Commons^™

Improving Dental Care To The Elderly In A Nursing Home, Cara M. Licavoli

Master's Projects and Capstones

The project is about the collaboration between Peninsula Health Care District (PHCD) and Apple Tree Dental (ATD) in a team approach to address the current issues of improving dental care of frail and elderly patients in nursing home facilities. The specific aim is to improve dental care of clients at the San Mateo County nursing home facility by 100% by May, 2015. The methods use in this project was the adaptation and implementation of existing dental/oral health assessment tools, that is nurse driven for patient assessment upon admission to the nursing facility. The process includes staff education regarding the adapted …

Emergency Response Improvement Project, Ewan Stephen Macdonald

Master's Projects and Capstones

The objective of this CNL internship project is to improve team response to emergencies through staff education and protocol development with 100% participation within six months. This need was determined after an intense analysis following a near code on a pediatric patient. After an investigation, two problems were chosen as a focus for improvement: limited educational opportunities, and poor coordination and delegation during codes. Lewins’s theory of change was used as the theoretical framework, which involves the concept of unfreezing, movement, and refreezing. The method utilized was to offer education and training sessions twice per month in the form of …

Prospectus Summary Brief: Nicu Communication Improvement, Joy E. Lawley

Master's Projects and Capstones

Joy Lawley RNC, NICU Communication Improvement: A prospectus summary brief. Effective communication in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) not only reduces errors and adverse patient outcomes but also create an environment that promotes staff satisfaction. The purpose of this prospectus is that of improving the process of communication between the perinatal departments. The specific aim was to improve communication to the NICU through standardize communication tools (SBAR) from patient delivery to discharge starting April 1, 2015. With 100% participation of all staff members within a three month period and a 95% staff satisfaction related to improved communication from staff …

Delirium Education For Nurses On A Medical-Surgical Unit, Carole Santos

Master's Projects and Capstones

Failure to recognize delirium compromises patient safety and may lead to harmful outcomes. By June 2015, nurses on medical-surgical units will screen 100-percent of patients for delirium according to an established protocol. The project mesosystem is a 411-bed, level I trauma center and teaching hospital; the microsystem is a 28-bed medical-surgical telemetry unit.

An audit of microsystem data collected over four months in 2014 revealed that delirium was consistently underidentified (10% in September, 26% in October, 34% in November, and 22% in December), suggesting that medical-surgical nurses were not equipped to effectively perform delirium screening.

Nursing education consisting of bedside …

Patient Engagement In Transitional Care, Sheeree Dela Pena

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Clinical Nurse Leader Master’s project was conducted about a public health program called the Transitional Care Program that was working in partnership with a county hospital system, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. The specific aim was to reduce hospital re-admissions of high-risk patients by supporting patient motivation and engagement in the Transitional Care Program by May 2015. Over a four-month period, data was collected through ten client visits, interviews with two public health nurses, information available about the program, and current research conducted on transitional care, hospital discharges, and patient engagement. Various aspects of the program were assessed, such …

Vap Prevention In The Cticu, Pres Lorenzo

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2015) has cited ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) as the most common infection in the ICU. In 2014, four episodes of VAP were identified in the 25-bed adult cardio-thoracic ICU (CTICU), a dynamic clinical environment within an academic medical center in Northern California specializing in complex cardiac surgery patients, including heart and lung transplants. In early 2015, the CTICU embarked on an evidence-based project to decrease the number of episodes of VAP to zero. Using the ACE Star Model of Knowledge Transformation as the theoretical framework and the CUSP (Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program) standards as …

Perinatal Patient Management, Natalie Whitten

Master's Projects and Capstones

The medical center has lacked the bed capacity and nursing staff to accommodate the needs of maternity patients. Patients are redirected to other network and non-network medical centers due to lack of bed availability, inadequate nurse staffing, and poorly managed patient movement. This project aims to improve patient management in the perinatal departments, including the discharge process. We will have 100% staff participation to facilitate bed management. The patient management project was conducted in a 200-bed hospital serving the residents of an urban area. The perinatal areas of labor & delivery (L&D), antepartum, and postpartum (OB) are highly productive units …

In-Patient Self-Management Diabetes Education, Amy Matthews

Master's Projects and Capstones

The diabetes program strives to provide diabetes self-management education to the in-patient with diabetes. The specific aim is to improve and standardize diabetes education for the inpatient with diabetes by June 2015. The microsystem is a medical surgical unit for patients 18 years and older who present with diabetes as either a primary diagnosis or secondary diagnosis. Fifty percent of the diabetes patients on this unit are ages 65-89 years old, twenty nine percent are ages 50-64. The unit has 32 beds and is filled to capacity ninety five percent of the time. The fishbone diagram revealed our microsystem lacked …

Improving Patient Safety: Reducing Medication Errors In The Microsystem, Erica M. Dent

Master's Projects and Capstones

In a 72-bed for-profit long-term acute care hospital located in an urban setting, there has been a fifteen percent increase of medication errors that the pharmacy department has detected across nursing, and pharmacy departments, as well as with physicians from both day and night shifts. Over the last month there has been a total of twenty-eight medication errors including the transcription, administration, evaluation, and documentation processes. The microsystem consists of a telemetry/medical-surgical unit as well as a small intensive care unit consisting of ten beds.

The prospectus details a project implemented to reduce medication errors within the microsystem. The steps …

Biomechanics Of Lower Limbs During Walking Among Candidates For Total Knee Arthroplasty With And Without Low Back Pain, David R. Burnett, Naira N. Campbell-Kyureghyan, Robert V. Topp, Peter M. Quesada

School of Nursing and Health Science: Faculty Scholarship

The effect of joint pathologies, such as unilateral knee osteoarthritis (UKOA) or low back pain (LBP), on bilateral gait symmetry has gained increased attention during the past decade. This study is the first to compare gait patterns between patients with UKOA and LBP in combination and with UKOA only. Temporal, kinematic, and kinetic variables were measured bilaterally during gait stance phase in 31 subjects with UKOA and LBP (Group I) and 11 subjects with only UKOA (Group II). Group I patients exhibited less hip rotation in the affected limb (A) than in the nonaffected (NA) limb during walking in contrast …

Fueling The Flame: Complementary And Alternative Methods To Prevent Burnout, Natalie Masco Dixon

Nursing Faculty/Staff Publications

Do you feel tired, stressed or overwhelmed? Do you have little time to care for yourself or are looking for new ways to bring wellness to your life? Nurses must be healed in order to heal. Modalities often considered complementary or alternative may offer the rejuvenation in your health and wellness you have been looking for! This session introduces the audience to common causes of burnout and ways in which acute and critical care nurses can find balance in their own lives through self-care practices. Modalities to be examined and practiced include centering, mindfulness, acupressure and aromatherapy. Personal experiences with …

Confronting The Nursing Faculty Shortage: Identifying Solutions To Address The Issue, Stacy Ann Emerson

Student Theses and Dissertations

Recently there has been much attention focused on the shortage of nurses in the United States with an anticipated deficit in excess of one million registered nurses by 2020. Practical and theoretical explanations for the shortage often cite a lack of nursing faculty as a contributing factor to the crisis. Each year, thousands of qualified students are denied admission to nursing schools across the nation, in large part due to lack of faculty and clinical resources. Although economic, social, and financial motivators may provide clues as to why so few nurses pursue faculty lines, solutions for reversing the trend, such …

Hush - Helping Understand Sleep Heals “Quiet Icu” Aacn Csi Project, Marion Daku Bsn, Rn, Ccrn, Eva Fox Bsn, Rn, Heather Koch Rn

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

Prevalence Of School Nurses In Kentucky And Student Outcomes, Teena Darnell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify whether the presence of a nurse in the public high school setting was associated student outcomes. Data gleaned from the study will be used to enact a new legislative policy mandating the presence of a nurse in all public schools in the state of Kentucky.

Background: Nurses employed in the school setting support both the educational mission of the institution, as well as the health and well-being of students. Studies have explored the relationships between school nurse presence and student health. It has been suggested that when children experience poor …

The Relationships Among School Nurse To Student Ratios, Self-Efficacy For Type 1 Diabetes Management, And Glycemic Control In Adolescents, Lori Wilt

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. Adolescents with T1DM experience decreased treatment adherence, poor glycemic control, and acute complications more frequently than adults. Self-efficacy is the belief that one can carry out specific behaviors in specific situations and is the major determinant of intention, and has been shown to influence diabetes self-management in the adolescent.

School nurses are in a unique position to influence self-efficacy for type 1 diabetes management in adolescents. Although previous research has shown that school nurses positively influence student health outcomes in a variety of ways, there …

Perinatal Health Education Intervention For Adolescent And Young Adult Pregnant Homeless Women Living In Transitional Housing, And Best Practice Teaching Intervention Program For Staff Responsible For Care Of The Mother-Baby Dyad, Colleen Carrington

Seton Hall University DNP Final Projects

Purpose: A population at great risk is pregnant homeless adolescents and young adult women. Research shows that about 20% of homeless young women become pregnant (Bender, & Thompson, 2007). These pregnant young women are at an increased risk for low birth weight infants and a high infant mortality due to inadequate health care, poor dietary habits, and a knowledge deficit related to maintaining good health during pregnancy and to care of the infant and growing child. A transitional shelter may offer many psychosocial services to assist the women in becoming independent; however, a significant gap exists regarding the medical …

Spiritual Perspective, Mindfulness, And Spiritual Care Practices Of Hospice And Palliative Care Nurses, Patricia Ricci-Allegra

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Spiritual care is an ethical obligation of the nursing profession and an essential component of palliative care, but is often misunderstood. Lack of conceptual clarity is problematic, for each nurse will provide spiritual care based on his or her understanding of what this care should include.

Regardless of how a nurse defines spiritual care, an important element of spiritual care is what nurses bring of themselves to the patient encounter. Findings from several studies have shown a positive relationship between a nurse’s spiritual perspective and spiritual care practices. Spiritual perspective has increased as a result of participating in programs designed …

Exploration Of The Relationships Between And Among Role Strain, Faculty Stress, And Organizational Support For Clinical Nurse Faculty Faced With A Decision To Assign A Failing Grade, Jeannie Couper

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Despite a stressful process, Clinical Nurse Faculty (CNF) are ultimately responsible for assigning a grade indicating that a student successfully met clinical course outcomes and standards of safe practice required to progress (Amicucci, 2012). The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to explore the relationships between perceived role strain (PRS), perceived faculty stress (PFS), and perceived organizational support (POS) for CNF who faced the decision to assign a failing grade to a student in a clinical practicum. A national sample of 390 predominantly full-time, female, experienced CNF teaching in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs completed the online survey consisting …

Conference Learnings, Diane Fritts

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Relationship Between Moral Distress And Coping In Emergency Nursing, Kathleen Evanovich Zavotsky

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Background: Emergency Department (ED) nurses practice in environments that are highly charged and unpredictable in nature and can precipitate conflict between the necessary prescribed actions and the individual’s sense of what is morally the right thing to do. As a consequence of multiple moral dilemmas ED staff nurses are at risk for experiencing distress and how they cope with these challenges may impact their practice.

Objectives: Is to examine moral distress in ED nurses and its relationship to coping in that specialty group.

Methods: Using survey methods approach. One hundred ninety eight ED nurses completed a moral distress, …