nursing

A nationwide survey of more than 2,000 nurses and nursing students reveals a workforce driven by purpose - but under growing strain since 2022. While 83% enter nursing to make a difference (up from 66%), burnout has surged from 39% to 67%, pay and benefits concerns from 24% to 53%, and those feeling undervalued from 26% to 49%. Short staffing also rose from 53% to 61%. Even so, 62% prioritize fle…

Suicide remains a significant public health concern, with increasing prevalence across diverse populations. Outpatient nurses frequently encounter individuals at risk for suicide; however, many report limited confidence and inconsistent use of evidence-based assessment tools, contributing to missed opportunities for early intervention. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice staff educati…

This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project evaluated the impact of optimizing the charge nurse role on workflow efficiency and communication within a Community Living Center. Identified practice gaps included role ambiguity, inconsistent delegation, and communication breakdowns, which contributed to delays in care and decreased staff satisfaction. An evidence-based approach was used to standar…

Undergraduate nursing education presents ongoing challenges related to student stress and persistence, and the COVID-19 pandemic further complicated these existing challenges for many students and programs. In this quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional study, the relationships among state mindfulness, trait mindfulness, and academic self-efficacy in undergraduate nursing students were exam…

This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project evaluated the effectiveness of a structured staff education program aimed at improving nurses’ knowledge and confidence in early sepsis recognition and management using the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) tool. Despite the availability of evidence-based screening methods, inconsistent application and limited nurse confidence were ide…

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), including agitation and aggression, present significant challenges in acute care settings and contribute to increased staff injury risk and inconsistent patient care. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to evaluate the impact of a structured dementia de-escalation education program on staff knowledge, confide…

Patients with chronic conditions have the tendency to return to the hospital. Staff education to address high-rate re-hospitalization among patients with chronic conditions is the focus of my Doctor of Nursing Practice project. This is a significant practice problem, since patient outcomes and increased healthcare costs is compromised. Regarding re-hospitalization prevention and ultimate aid in r…

Immobility is a significant concern given that nearly half of all hospitalized adults are immobile during their hospitalization, placing them at increased risk for adverse outcomes. As a result, it is critical for nurses to implement strategies that promote safe, structured patient mobility. Thus, the purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to determine if an educational inte…

Nurse care managers (NCMs) play a central role in shaping patient experience, yet care plans are often developed based on clinical expertise and assessment data without a structured framework to ensure person‑centeredness. This doctoral project addressed the practice problem of inconsistent person‑centered care planning by implementing an educational intervention for NCMs within a managed care or…

In this Doctor of Nursing Practice quality improvement project, I used a staff education intervention to address nursing knowledge gaps related to catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) prevention in a large outpatient urology clinic in the southeastern United States. Registered nurses (N = 28) participated in a single, 45-minute, in-person education session comprising PowerPoint sli…

Site monitoring identified inconsistent adherence to scheduled follow-up care as an operational concern, underscoring the need for standardized nursing strategies to enhance follow-up communication. This staff education project aimed to determine whether a focused educational intervention could improve nursing knowledge of adherence support strategies, with confidence measured as a secondary outc…

Pain is one of the most common reasons that patients seek medical care, and chronic pain is a major health problem. The goal of this project was to address a lack of current, evidence-based knowledge of nurses regarding pain reassessment. The context for this project was a medical-surgical area in a rural hospital. The Doctor of Nursing Practice project attempted to answer the practice focus ques…

The United States Department of Defense and Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that female veterans and nurses experience work-related trauma at rates of 51% or higher. While many studies have examined their mental health outcomes, posttraumatic worsening of physical health has been less studied in this population. This generic qualitative inquiry was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of…

Medication and lifestyle nonadherence remains a persistent and costly problem within healthcare systems and represents a critical gap in nursing practice. Approximately half of adults prescribed long-term medications do not adhere to recommended regimens, contributing to poor disease control, preventable hospitalizations, increased mortality risk, and substantial healthcare expenditures. These ch…

Inpatient falls are a common and preventable problem that affects health care costs, patient safety, and clinical quality. Inpatient falls occur within hospitals, cause harm, extend hospitalization, and require additional healthcare funding. Falls harm a patient’s physical health and cause emotional trauma, decrease patient satisfaction, and undermine confidence in the hospital care systems. Fall…

Nursing leadership in Belize is lacking but crucial to the well-being of patients, families, and the healthcare team. The purpose of this non-experimental, descriptive, comparative study was to a) determine the difference in leadership self-efficacy for current nurse leaders with three years or less of leadership experience compared to current nurse leaders with more than three years of leadershi…

Exploring nursing faculty job satisfaction is important for retaining faculty in undergraduate nursing programs because they are vital to training future bedside nurses. There is a nursing faculty shortage in the United States, and retaining faculty is critical to addressing it. The purpose of this study, guided by Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, was to (a) understand the relationship betwe…

This quality improvement project aimed to enhance the assessment of dyspnea in patients presenting with shortness of breath, particularly those with asthma, through a staff education program. At the practice site, staff primarily relied on SpO₂ readings to evaluate dyspnea, which often led to misassessment and delays in care. The project addressed this gap by providing urgent care staff with …

This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) staff education project addressed a lack of confidence and training for nursing staff who care for patients with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. The practice problem identified at the local project site was the inconsistent care of this patient population. Addressing this gap was essential because inadequate training can reduce care qu…

Depression is a serious public health concern affecting over 280 million people globally and leading to significant morbidity and mortality if left undetected and untreated. At the local organization, leadership identified inconsistent depression screening as a practice problem among nursing staff. Thus, the purpose of this doctor in nursing practice (DNP) project was to determine if an education…