School of Nursing DNP Final Projects

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https://hdl.handle.net/10323/11352

The School of Nursing at Oakland University offers a DNP Program that builds upon the university’s long tradition of civic engagement and reform-oriented advocacy. The DNP program provides students with a holistic perspective that enables them to exercise high-impact, results-based health care leadership. The completion of a DNP Final Project is required for graduation; it demonstrates synthesis of the course work and lays the foundation for future scholarship. The Doctor of Nursing Practice Project Handbook provides more specific information and policies related to the project.

Beginning in 2021, the DNP Final Projects are collected here and made publicly available.


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Browsing School of Nursing DNP Final Projects by Subject "Anesthesia"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating an Opioid-Sparing Thyroid/Parathyroid Anesthesia Protocol: A Quality Improvement Initiative
    (2022-08-01) Brainard, Cody; Roggentine, Kayla; Bittinger, Andrea; bitting2@oakland.edu
    The recent scrutiny around opioid use and abuse in the United States has been alarming. As anesthesia providers, we are tasked with managing both acute and chronic pain in a variety of settings. A balanced, opioid-sparing technique has been demonstrated to be effective for a variety of different surgical procedures in the literature. In this paper, we discuss opioid-sparing anesthetics for patients undergoing thyroid and parathyroid surgery. This project was completed by doing a retrospective chart review before and after the implementation of an opioid-sparing protocol. The protocol was developed from an evidence-based literature review on the subject. Primary outcomes were evaluating the protocol’s effect on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), overall pain scores at multiple stages throughout the stay in PACU, respiratory depression, and total opioid dose in morphine-milligram equivalents (MME). Secondary outcomes were time spent in PACU and protocol compliance. A total of 30 patients meeting inclusion criteria received the protocol from November 2021 through February 2022. When compared to a similar pre-intervention cohort, those that received the protocol had significantly less PONV (10% in protocol group vs. 90% in pre-protocol group). Other outcomes that were analyzed had no statistical significance. Since thyroid/parathyroid surgeries are not associated with significant perioperative pain, an opioid-sparing anesthesia for these surgeries may decrease negative outcomes associated with opioid administration.
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    Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Standardized Hand–Off Communication Tool at Children's Hospital of Michigan
    (2022-08-04) Balde, Isabela; Thurman, Nicole; Hranchook, Anne; hranchoo@oakland.edu
    Poorly communicated information during postoperative patient hand-offs can result in medical errors that compromise patient safety. Applying a standardized communication hand-off tool encourages consistency and accuracy during transfer of patient information, subsequently reducing communication failures that are associated with preventable medical errors. The aim of this evidence-based quality improvement project was to design and apply a standardized hand–off tool for use between Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) CRNAs, Pediatric Anesthesia Fellows, Anesthesiologists, and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Fellows and RNs at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. The tool was developed in collaboration with an interprofessional team and incorporated input obtained from a pre-intervention survey that the stakeholders identified as critical to communicate during transfer of care for their patient population. The communication tool was piloted for one month following which a postintervention survey was administered to assess the perceptions of the CRNAs, Pediatric Anesthesia Fellows, Anesthesiologists, and PICU Fellows and RNs regarding the tool’s use and functionality. The tool was modified according to this input and is under consideration for permanent adoption by Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
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    Magnesium Sulfate as an Anesthesia Adjunct: Establishing Opportunities for Enhancing Outcomes of Care
    (2022-08-09) Savalle, Olivia; Dolan, Hunter; Golinski, Mary; golinski@oakland.edu
    Magnesium sulfate can be utilized as an analgesic adjunct for patients undergoing surgery. It can lead to decreased postoperative pain scores, improved patient outcomes, better perioperative care, and it can curb the current opioid crisis. When administered as an analgesic adjunct, the sole reliance on opioids to manage perioperative pain is reduced therefore the associated adverse effects of opioids are also minimized. Magnesium Sulfate effectively provides pain relief for a multitude of different surgical populations, is relatively easy to administer, and is inexpensive. It works as an analgesic by noncompetitively blocking NMDA receptors as well as acting as a calcium channel blocker. A formal educational webinar was provided to Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) that are members of the Michigan Association of Nurse Anesthetists (MANA). The purpose of the webinar was to inform providers of the mechanism of action, efficacy, and benefits of intravenous magnesium sulfate as an opioid sparing analgesic adjunct in select surgical scenarios. A post-webinar evaluation was distributed to webinar attendees and their respective responses were evaluated. Overall, CRNAs responded positively and provided comments that the webinar was extremely informational permitted a greater understanding of the benefits to enhance patient care outcomes.