- Development of a Palliative Superuser Educational Curriculum to Improve Nurses' Comfort and Knowledge in the Provision of End-of-Life Care: A Hospital-Based QI Project
- Patients who are receiving comfort-directed care at the end of their lives will be cared for by nurses throughout their hospital stay. Providing bedside end-of-life care requires specialty assessment, communication, and intervention skills. Nurses who provide bedside end-of-life care in the acute care setting may not receive specialty palliative care training as part of their undergraduate education. To address this an educational curriculum was designed by members of the Palliative Care team and a Palliative Superuser training program was developed. Guided by the Comfort ALways Matters (CALM) framework the course focused on specialized assessment and symptom management, holistic approaches to patients and their caregivers, and communication instruction. Course description is a four-hour workshop presented by certified registered nurse practitioners from the inpatient palliative care team.
- Effect on Patient Knowledge and Readiness to Change of a Brief Online Asynchronous Nutritional Education Program
- This small pilot study used participants in a brief online asynchronous program. The criteria were people ages 18-65. Each volunteer participant gave written consent to participate and be evaluated during the program. Each volunteer participant answered the preprogram questionnaire, watched the virtually based PowerPoint presentation linked under YouTube, and then answered the same questionnaire to assess their new knowledge and willingness to change to a healthier lifestyle. The General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire was the tool used for evaluation. This small sample pilot study concluded that online educational programs for nutrition could increase nutritional knowledge amongst men and women adults.
- Improving Identification of Admitted Patients at High Risk for Complicated Alcohol Withdrawal Using the Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale (PAWSS) Tool
- Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has among been reported in 10-32% of hospitalized patients. The evidence suggests the need for screening and early management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). Methods: This project included 2 phases - retrospective and prospective chart reviews. Demographic variables (age, gender, race) and length of stay were examined. Statistical tests were conducted to compare data from the phases. The outcome variables examined were the Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale (PAWSS) and the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA) scale.
- Nurse Practitioner Patient Ratios and Satisfaction of Care
- To quantify how ratios of patients per healthcare provider impact patient satisfaction, this project examines one nurse practitioner's (NP) monthly patient volumes in an urgent care setting and its relationship on satisfaction of care. This retrospective evidence-based project will evaluate one NPs monthly patient volumes and examine the relationship with monthly patient satisfaction scores over a 3-month period.
- Reducing Prolonged Hyperoxia in Mechanically Ventilated Patients Through Implementation of a Conservative Oxygen Weaning Protocol Versus the Current Practice: A Quality-Improvement Project in Three Intensive Care Units at a Level II Trauma Tertiary Care Hospital
- Background: Hyperoxia is known to be detrimental in healthcare, yet it continues to be a problem in mechanically ventilated patients. Oxygen weaning protocols have been discussed in many studies that have evaluated various outcome measures with mixed findings. A study completed by Cuevas et al. (2020) evaluated respiratory therapists' compliance with an oxygen weaning protocol. The conclusions of this study found that the protocol was often not followed. At a level II trauma hospital tertiary care hospital in three ICUs, patients' FIO2s were not being weaned in a timely manner. Due to the previous research on the risks of hyperoxia and poor outcomes, a conservative oxygen weaning protocol was developed. The aim of this study was to assess if implementing a conservative oxygen weaning protocol would improve oxygen weaning times in mechanically ventilated patients compared to the current oxygen weaning practice.
- Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Intervention for Parents and Caregivers
- The purpose of this evidence-based project is to increase awareness for parents and caregivers of children diagnosed with SCD. Nola Pender's health promotion model was utilized to for this project. The methodology was a quasi-experimental one-group, pretest-posttest design to show the relationship between providing SCD education pre and post intervention. This study could be beneficial as a resource tool for family and caregivers.
- Use of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions in the Prevention of COVID-19 in People Experiencing Homelessness in Emergency Shelters
- This project focused on COVID-19 and its impact on the homeless population in northwestern Pennsylvania. The theoretical framework was the Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice Model (JHEBP). A survey collected self-reported data on the practice and barriers to using personal NPIs. Participants were adults ages 18 years or older residing in one of two emergency shelters on the data collection date. The Questionnaire to Assess Preventative Practices Against the COVID-19 Pandemic in the General Population was modified to facilitate its use in an emergency shelter setting in the United States. Surveys were distributed to 142 individuals over the four data collection times; 28% were returned with 93% complete.
- Use of the Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Tool for Sepsis Screening
- Sepsis is a clinical condition that requires early identification and initiation of evidence-based interventions to improve mortality and outcomes. A quality concern that has been identified is that the emergency department at the practice site is not actively screening for sepsis patients. This has resulted in difficulty meeting three-and six-hour sepsis bundle metrics. The purpose of this quality improvement project is to implement a sepsis screening methodology to correct this gap in practice. The door to lactic acid collection metric will be used to determine if any statistical improvement was made after the implementation of a sepsis screening tool. The screening tool selected for the project will be the qSOFA tool as this is one of the easiest tools to use and implement. The quality improvement project used a quantitative methodology with quasi-experimental design. The results demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the collection times of lactic acid post-implementation. The results further support the use of sepsis screening in the emergency department setting for rapid identification and treatment of sepsis conditions. Emergency nursing plays a pivotal role in the identification and treatment of this condition as nurses are often the first healthcare professional a septic patient will encounter.