Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Final Projects
The Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Projects collection contains the completed works of students from the DNP Program at Arizona State University's College of Nursing and Health Innovation. These projects are the culminating product of the curricula and demonstrate clinical scholarship.
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Emergency Department
- All Subjects: Patient Portals
Methods: At an urban primary care pediatric office located in the southwestern US, an educational quality improvement project for healthcare practice providers and front office staff was conducted to increase the utilization of the existing EMR-linked patient portal. The healthcare providers were asked to complete a pre- and post- survey evaluation of their knowledge and usage of the patient portal. Provider and patient portal data usage was collected over a five-month period, September 2019 to January 2020.
Results: Data was analyzed using the Intellectus Statistics softwareTM. Significant results were found at the conclusion of the project in the number of active patient portal users, web-enabled, portal logins, labs published/viewed, messages sent, appointment reminders and Santovia utilization. At the end of the project no significance was found with messages received by the healthcare providers or staff through the patient portal. Survey results found significant differences between pre- and post- portal usage. No significance was found on providers’ knowledge on how to web-enable patients. Providers’ also demonstrated no significant change in their perceptions of the benefit in utilizing the portal in patient care after the educational intervention. Survey results allowed for additional analysis of commonly utilized portal functionalities, disease or health topics utilized in Santovia, and suggestions on how to make the use of the patient portal easier for providers.
Implications for Health Care Providers: This quality improvement project found that implementation an EMR-linked patient portal requires a comprehensive practice approach with structured education sessions. Including all employees can improve patient portal utilization. This educational project resulted in significant increases in most portal functionalities within 5 months. Further practice change evaluations are needed to evaluate how to improve patient portal utilization with a larger group of participants in a variety of outpatient settings.
Purpose: The purpose of this project was to assess provider readiness for patient portals and provide an educational intervention to address perceived barriers.
Method: Ten providers at a large family practice clinic in the southwest United States were surveyed using The Provider Readiness Questionnaire prior to and after an educational intervention addressing common concerns.
Results: Improved response to patient portal use after the provider viewed the learning module. A paired-samples t-test was conducted to compare pre-and post-intervention responses. There was a statistically significant difference in the scores for the question “increase my workload” Pretest (M= 3.78, SD=1.201) and; Posttest (M=2.67, SD=1.225) ;(t (8) =5.547, p = .001). There was also a statistically significant difference for the question “increased provider professional satisfaction” Pretest (M=3.89, SD= .333) and Posttest (M= 4.44, SD=.527); t (8) = -2.294, p=.051).
Implications: Providing education addressing perceived barriers to portal use can assist the provider in understanding the value of the portals to improve patient outcomes and address common concerns about the impact of portal use on provider productivity.
Methods: This project was guided by a The Rosswurm and Larrabee Model for Change to Evidence- Based Practice and Pender’s health promotion framework. IRB Approved by ASU. The instruction was implemented at an urban clinic in downtown phoenix that serves uninsured and underserved individuals. Uninsured participants were recruited (n=50). A survey pre and post registration was conducted to assess knowledge and medical portal participation in addition a random pre and post chart review was performed.
Results: Descriptive statistics was used to describe sample and outcome variables. A chi-square test of independence was calculated comparing pre and post intervention significant change was found (χ2 (1) = .002, P<0.05.), a paired sample t test was calculated to compare knowledge pre and post registration instruction the mean pre-10.187(SD = 4.422), post mean was 16.958(SD=.856). A significant increase of knowledge was found (t (47) =-9.573, p (<.001).
Outcomes: In this population both patients and providers have seen significant benefits such as increased communication and patient participation, from the implementation of evidence based educational tools such as instruction with teach back, and the usage of brochures. Potential Implication for sustainability includes the lack of a designated individual that is bilingual to register patients, making patients aware of the existence of a medical patient portal, patient’s fear of sharing immigration status.
Purpose: This project sought to evaluate the gap that exists between best practice and current practice, for sepsis identification and EGDT implementation.
Methods: The project was completed over a four-month period with prior Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval and consisted of evaluation of sepsis knowledge and barriers to EGDT. Questionnaires included demographics, sepsis knowledge, barriers to EGDT and AHRQ quality indicators toolkit.
Results: Sample (N=16) included registered nurses (RN) and healthcare providers. Descriptive statistics were utilized for evaluation of questionnaires. Results indicate staff have sound understanding of signs and symptoms of sepsis, however application through case studies demonstrated lower performance. Overall system barriers were minimal, with greatest barriers in central line monitoring and staff shortages. High level unit teamwork exists within the ED, however collaboration is lacking between ED staff and upper management. Results demonstrate moderate disengagement between upper management and staff leading to miscommunication. Recommendations included increased, consistent sepsis education, utilization of Institution for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) triple aim framework for evaluating systems, implementing a closed loop approach to communication, and having a staff champion for sepsis be included in meetings with upper management.
Children often present to the emergency department (ED) for treatment of abuse-related injuries. ED healthcare providers (HCPs) do not consistently screen children for physical abuse, which may allow abuse to go undetected and increases the risk for re-injury and death. ED HCPs frequently cite lack of knowledge or confidence in screening for and detecting child physical abuse.
The purpose of this evidence-based quality improvement project was to implement a comprehensive screening program that included ED HCP education on child physical abuse, a systematic screening protocol, and use of the validated Escape Instrument. After a 20-minute educational session, there was a significant increase in ED HCP knowledge and confidence scores for child physical abuse screening and recognition (p < .001). There was no difference in diagnostic coding of child physical abuse by ED HCPs when evaluating a 30-day period before and after implementation of the screening protocol.
In a follow-up survey, the Escape Instrument and educational session were the most reported screening facilitators, while transition to a new electronic health system was the most reported barrier. The results of this project support comprehensive ED screening programs as a method of improving HCP knowledge and confidence in screening for and recognizing child physical abuse. Future research should focus on the impact of screening on the diagnosis and treatment of child physical abuse. Efforts should also be made to standardize child abuse screening programs throughout all EDs, with the potential for spread to other settings.
Suicide has become a national concern due to the increasing rates across the country. The 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention aims to improve the area of clinical prevention. Emergency departments (ED) play a key role in addressing this effort as they have multiple opportunities to connect with patients who are at risk. There exists a high-risk period of time immediately following a patient’s discharge from emergency care. To address this period of concern, a review of the literature was conducted on the effectiveness of follow-up contacts as a means to prevent suicide and suicide related attempts in this at-risk population.
Based on this review, a follow-up intervention was proposed to increase patients’ social support and knowledge on suicide prevention through a safety plan and the use of caring postcards. The aim was to evaluate the degree to which implementation of a safety plan and follow-up using postcards reduces suicide risk in the ED. ED suicide prevention practices such as safety planning and caring contacts with postcards have shown to be feasible and cost-effective methods to reduce patients’ risk of suicide as they provide education and address the high-risk period of time after discharge.
Using a quasi-experimental pre and post-test design, English speaking adults 18 years of age and older, admitted to an ED in the Phoenix Metropolitan area with suicidal ideation, were voluntarily recruited for two weeks. The self-rated Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R) was used as a baseline assessment along with the introduction of a safety plan. Participants were then followed with the receipt of postcards with caring messages over a two-week period, and a final SBQ-R. The SBQ-R has shown beneficial reliability and validity measuring suicidality in the adult population. Data from the pre-SBQ-R was analyzed using descriptive statistics as no post-SBQ-Rs were received. Outcomes for this project included a reduction in suicidal ideation and suicide risk.
This project provides insight into the implementation of a safety plan and follow-up intervention in the ED and their attempts to reduce acute suicide risk as well as highlight the value that post-ED support provides.
Keywords: suicide, prevention, safety plan, caring messages, postcards, emergency department, follow-up, contacts, brief intervention