Nursing Student Papers (UMKC)
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The items in this collection are papers written by students of the School of Nursing and Health Studies. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Kansas City. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
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Item An Educational Toolkit to Improve Fall Prevention Knowledge in the Elderly(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2025) Buechler, TarynPatient falls continue to be one of the healthcare industry’s most complex problems. Despite 20 to 30% of falls being preventable, many patients are unaware of effective fall prevention strategies. One way to bridge this gap is through patient education using the Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries toolkit, which raises awareness of modifiable risk factors and fall prevention techniques. The evidence-based quality improvement project used a quasi-experimental, single-cohort, pretest-posttest design to determine whether providing fall prevention education to adults aged 65 years and older improved their fall prevention knowledge. Ten patients participated in the project at a small primary care clinic in Pueblo, Colorado. The results of the project demonstrated a mean seven-point increase in the pre- and post-test scores following the intervention, suggesting increased knowledge in fall prevention strategies and practices, although a paired-samples t-test yielded inadequate statistical significance. Continued use of the Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries education enhances fall awareness, increases fall prevention knowledge, and reduces falls and fall-related injuries, ultimately promoting a higher quality of life.Item Decreasing Burnout and Promoting Well-Being in Nurse Practitioner Students Using Mindfulness(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2025) Shumate, ChelseaNursing burnout is a dangerous phenomenon that poses threats to healthcare quality, safety, cost, and accessibility. There is a call for action urging academic institutions to offer well-being assessments and early interventions for burnout in clinical training programs. The aim of this quasi-experimental single-cohort mixed-methods study was to improve clinical nurse practitioner student well-being, decrease the likelihood of burnout, and improve perceptions of patient safety using mindfulness. This study took place at a Missouri university and relied on convenience sampling. Ten clinical nurse practitioner students voluntarily participated and completed a five to- 10-minute guided mindfulness exercise one to two times per week for eight weeks. Outcomes included participant well-being and likelihood of burnout, measured using the Well-Being Index for Advanced Practice Providers, and patient safety, measured using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Pre- and post-intervention outcome data was collected before and after the eight weeks of mindfulness practice. Participants demonstrated statistically significant improvements in well-being (p=0.029) and likelihood of burnout (p=0.036) after six weeks of mindfulness compared to no intervention. There were no significant changes to patient safety perceptions with mindfulness. Incorporating mindfulness into nurse practitioners’ formal education may benefit future clinical practice and aid in sustaining a robust healthcare workforce.Item Reducing Clinical Nursing Students’ Perceived Stress Through Devoted Coaching(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2025) Vroman, AmberUndergraduate nursing students face complex challenges requiring additional support to achieve success and well-being. Reducing perceived stress and improving the success and well-being of clinical nursing students before transition to practice could help curb the early-career exit of new nurses. The project aimed to determine whether implementing a clinical student success coach using a holistic Student Success Care Model improved the perceived stress of clinical nursing students. The intended outcome was reduced perceived stress. A quasi-experimental design was used to assess participants' perceived stress in a pre- and post-intervention cohort format using the Perceived Stress Scale-10. Data before and after the intervention were collected from six participants who were undergraduate nursing students enrolled in the traditional or accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at a university in Missouri and had been referred to success coach services. The evidence-based intervention was the new success coach faculty role and delivery of services for students through individual and small-group coaching as the central provision in a newly developed Student Success Care Model at the project site. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed, indicating statistical significance on the magnitude of difference between pre- and post-intervention perceived stress scores (p = 0.036). Pre-intervention stress (Mdn = 26) was categorized as moderate, while post-intervention stress (Mdn = 13) was low. Evidence demonstrates that coaching can positively impact nursing student stress, burnout, distress, and attrition. Reducing nursing student stress and burnout could help prepare a healthier nursing workforce and reduce the early career exit of new nurses.Item Screening Guardians in Pediatric Psychiatry to Improve Medication Adherence(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2025) Wells, MatthewNon-adherence to medication among guardians of child and adolescent psychiatric patients can pose a significant risk to their well-being, potentially leading to increased mortality, morbidity, poor treatment outcomes, hospitalization, substance abuse, relapse of illness, and reduced quality of life. This quasi-experimental, one-group, pre- and post-test evidence-based quality improvement project aimed to determine whether implementing the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS) screening, followed by counseling and referring patients to social resources, could improve medication adherence. This study used convenience sampling with nine guardians of psychiatric patients aged 8 to 17 years who have been prescribed psychotropic medication at an outpatient clinic. The study was conducted over 4 months at an Eastern Jackson County, Missouri, community mental health center. A paired-samples t-test was performed on the pre- and post-intervention MMAS scores, indicating a mean score increase of 0.694 between the pre- and post-intervention. Although the mean MMAS score increase was not statistically significant (p = 0.179), the clinical and practical implications of the results are promising for medication adherence in the child and adolescent psychiatric patient population. Continued use of the MMAS, counseling, and referring patients for medication adherence counseling can improve patient outcomes, reduce hospitalizations and healthcare costs, improve quality of life, and decrease morbidity and mortality.Item Standardized Management of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension in the Neonate(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2025) Trees, CarolPersistent pulmonary hypertension is a well-described phenomenon that results in elevated pulmonary vascular resistance and delayed transition to adult circulation. Many treatment modalities exist, with the final option being extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which is fraught with morbidity and mortality. Most treatment modalities are widely accepted, although evidence-based clinical practice guidelines were not published until 2022. The quantitative quasi-experimental evidence-based quality improvement project aimed to determine if the evidence-based persistent pulmonary hypertension management intervention decreases outbound transfer in infants greater than or equal to 34 weeks gestation with persistent pulmonary hypertension from a level III neonatal intensive care unit to a level IV neonatal intensive care unit. A total of 15 infants were included in the project: 11 in the pre-protocol group and 4 in the post-protocol intervention group at a hospital in the Midwest. Outcomes measured were outbound transfer and length of stay at either institution. The project was not powered to meet statistical significance, but the transfer rate decreased from 60% to 25%, which may be clinically significant. Consistent, evidence-based management can reduce the time to medical stability, decrease outbound transfers, and preserve revenue for the birth hospital.