Implementation of Cultural Awareness and Cognitive Bias Training Within Graduate Nursing Programs.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive bias negatively affects patient outcomes, resulting in medical errors, sentinel events, and legal claims. The brunt of bias-induced inequities and disparities has fallen on Black and Brown people, women, and the LGBTQ+ communities. Faculty training programs have rapidly increased in number, whereas student training has lagged. METHOD: A three-part curricular series was developed for students seeking nurse practitioner (NP) training. The series addressed racial bias, microaggression, and gender bias using vignettes and guided pre- and debriefing. RESULTS: The series was initially implemented to 70 students from four different specialty areas of study. Students resoundingly reported the content as valuable and challenging and the environment as a safe space to learn, be vulnerable, and be empathetic to the experiences of others. CONCLUSION: This three-part series has been implemented across eight NP majors and has become a required component of the NP on-campus intensive experience. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(X):XXX-XXX.].

Evaluation of a Nurse-Driven Fluid Management Protocol to Improve Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients.

This article reports results of a nurse-driven fluid management protocol in a medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU). Use of static measures such as central venous pressure monitoring, heart rate, blood pressure, and urine output is poor predictors of fluid responsiveness and can result in inappropriate fluid administration. Indiscriminate administration of fluid can result in prolonged mechanical ventilation time, increased vasopressor requirements, increased length of stay, and greater costs. Use of dynamic preload parameters such as stroke volume variation (SVV), pulse pressure variation, or changes in stroke volume with a passive leg raise has been shown to be more accurate predictors of fluid responsiveness. Improved patient outcomes including decreased length of hospital stay, reduction in kidney injury, decreased mechanical ventilation time and requirements, and reduced vasopressor requirements have been demonstrated by using dynamic preload parameters. ICU nurses were educated on cardiac output and dynamic preload parameters and a nurse-driven fluid replacement protocol was established. Knowledge scores, confidence scores, and patient outcomes were measured pre- and post-implementation. The results indicated that there was no change in knowledge scores between pre- and postimplementation groups (mean = 80%). There was a statistically significant increase in nurse confidence in using SVV (P = .003); however, this change is not clinically significant. There was no statistically significant difference in other confidence categories. The study indicated that ICU nurses were resistant to adoption of a nurse-driven fluid management protocol. While anesthesia clinicians are familiar with technologies to evaluate fluid responsiveness in the perioperative setting, the new technology posed challenges to ICU confidence. This project demonstrates that traditional methods of nursing education did not provide the support needed for implementation of a novel approach to fluid management, and that there is a need for further improvement in educational strategies.

A Quality Improvement Initiative to Evaluate the Effectiveness of the ABCDEF Bundle on Sepsis Outcomes.

Sepsis affects 1.7 million Americans annually and often requires an intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Survivors of ICU can experience long-term negative effects. This quality improvement initiative was designed to increase compliance with ABCDEF bundle elements and improve clinical outcomes. A significant improvement was seen in the completion of spontaneous awakening and breathing trials (P = .002), delirium assessment (P = .041), and early mobility (P = .000), which was associated with a reduction in mortality and 30-day readmission rates. Findings were consistent with other research that demonstrated an improvement in care delivery and some clinical outcomes.

Effect of bundle set interventions on physiologic alarms and alarm fatigue in an intensive care unit: A quality improvement project.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if the implementation of an evidence-based bundle designed to reduce the number of physiologic monitor alarms reduces alarm fatigue in intensive care nurses. DESIGN: This quality improvement project retrospectively reviewed alarm data rates, types, and frequency to identify the top three problematic physiologic alarms in an intensive care unit. An alarm management bundle was implemented to reduce the number of alarms. The Nurses' Alarm Fatigue Questionnaire was used to measure nurses' alarms fatigue pre- and post-implementation of the bundle. SETTING: A combined medical surgical intensive care unit at an accredited hospital in the United States. RESULTS: The top three problematic alarms identified during the pre-implementation phase were arrhythmia, invasive blood pressure, and respiration alarms. All three identified problematic physiologic alarms had a reduction in frequency with arrhythmia alarms demonstrating the largest decrease in frequency (46.82%). When measuring alarm fatigue, the overall total scores increased from pre- (M = 30.59, SD = 5.56) to post-implementation (M = 32.60, SD = 4.84) indicating no significant difference between the two periods. CONCLUSION: After implementing an alarm management bundle, all three identified problematic physiologic alarms decreased in frequency. Despite the reduction in these alarms, there was not a reduction in nurses' alarm fatigue.

Early Recognition of Preventable Factors Associated with Delirium Saves Lives and Costs.

Delirium is a complex diagnosis characterized by inattention accompanied by either disorganized thinking or an altered level of consciousness. Delirium affects approximately 15% of older adults in the hospital. Delirium is associated with a 62% greater risk of mortality within 1 year of discharge and a significant increase in health care costs. Although the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health-5 has defined delirium, its characteristics, and has recommended diagnostic tools, one of the greatest challenges has been instituting timely and effective treatments. Effective management of delirium includes nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic interventions simultaneously instituted to control agitation while exploring causation.

Faculty development workshop on gender-associated incivility in nursing education.

BACKGROUND: Men comprise the minority of entry-level baccalaureate nursing students and are at increased risk of experiencing gender-associated incivility. PROBLEM: Uncivil peer-to-peer behavior can negatively affect students' mental and physical well-being, and learning experience. Nursing faculty must be able to identify and address gender-associated incivility among students. AIM: The purpose of this quality improvement program was to train nursing faculty to prevent, identify, and manage gender-associated incivility in the educational environment. METHODS: A day-long interactive workshop utilizing trigger films, small group discussions, and interactive theater was developed to train nursing faculty to implement proactive and reactive techniques to address uncivil behavior which will enhance the learning environment for all students. Utilizing Kirkpatrick's Model of Evaluation, participants were surveyed at the conclusion of the workshop and four months postworkshop to evaluate their learning and its implementation. RESULTS: Participants gained greater understanding of the impact of gender-associated incivility and felt both empowered and better prepared to manage gender-associated conflict. CONCLUSION: Similar approaches may be useful for schools of nursing that wish to empower their nursing faculty to support an equitable nursing education environment free of gender-associated incivility.

Embracing Disruption: Measuring Effectiveness of Virtual Simulations in Advanced Practice Nurse Curriculum.

Changes in academia have occurred quickly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person simulation-based education has been adapted into a virtual format to meet course learning objectives. The methods and procedures leveraged to onboard faculty, staff, and graduate nurse practitioner students to virtual simulation-based education while ensuring simulation best practice standards and obtaining evaluation data using the Simulation Effectiveness Tool-Modified (SET-M) tool are described in this article.

Implementation of a Disease Management Program in Adult Patients With Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 5.7 million people in the United States are diagnosed and living with heart failure (HF), with projected prevalence rates to increase 46% by 2030. Heart failure leads hospital admissions in the United States for individuals 65 years or older, with many acute exacerbation admissions resulting from a lack of medication management, poor patient treatment plan adherence, and lack of appropriate follow-up within the health care system. In 2017, the 30-day HF readmission rate at the facility of implementation was 27%, 3% higher than the national average and, more specifically, 18.5% for the cardiac care unit (CCU). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop an HF disease management program to reduce 30-day readmission rates for HF patients through the implementation of a structured program including self-care education utilizing the teach-back method, multimodal medication reconciliation, multidisciplinary consultation, telephone follow-up within 48-72 hr of discharge, and follow-up visit within 7-10 days of discharge. PRIMARY PRACTICE SETTING: The implementation of the disease management program took place at a major military treatment facility in the continental United States. The facility is a teaching facility housing a 272-bed multispecialty hospital and an ambulatory complex. The implementation took place on the CCU, the primary unit for cardiac admissions, with approximately 30 admissions a month for a primary diagnosis of HF. METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLE: In August 2018, a multidisciplinary disease management program was implemented to include patient education utilizing the teach-back method, multimodal medication reconciliation, multidisciplinary consultation, telephone follow-up within 48-72 hr of discharge, and follow-up visit within 7-10 days of discharge. Data were collected and analyzed for 90 days and compared with retrospective data from 2017. FINDINGS: Participants in the disease management program had a statistically significant improvement (p < .001) in the hospital readmission rate. The overall 30-day readmission rate decreased from 27% to 10.2% during the implementation period, a decrease of 38%. Ninety-three percent of the patients completed the self-care education, and telephone follow-up was successfully achieved with 96% of these patients. Only 4 patients in the HF disease management program experienced readmission within 30 days. Patients and caregivers reported increased satisfaction with their care due to the disease management program and increased follow-up with care. IMPLICATIONS FOR CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE: The findings of this innovation suggest that a multidisciplinary disease management program can reduce avoidable 30-day readmissions. The program improved patient follow-up and decreased follow-up appointment no-shows. Multiple participants expressed increased patient satisfaction. The program supports the need for coordinated, interdisciplinary disease management to improve the quality of life of those affected by HF and improve the use of resources to reduce the overall health care burden. Case management is critical to the organized care of HF patients due to the complex, individualized care to achieve optimum patient outcomes.