Nurse Residency

This is a collection of work created by members of the New Graduate Nurse Residency Program of MaineHealth. This program serves as an adjunct to the traditional clinical orientation experience of one-on-one with a registered nurse preceptor.

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How will the use of a black out hour and the improvement in handoff communication increase patient safety when arriving on the medical surgical units?

Mackenzie Aleva

Background: Change of shift admissions also increase nurse's frustration and workload. Most importantly change of shift admissions pose a risk for patient safety. On this unit specifically there are frequent change of shift admissions that occur.
Virtual Reality in Pain Management

Morgen Allain and Jessica Dupler

Problem description:

Pharmacologically managed pain is a substantial component of inpatient, bedside nursing. Many of these drugs have side effects that are counterproductive to health and healing. Technological advancements have made virtual reality available on the consumer market, could they help manage pain without side effects?
In patients aged 70 and above, male and female, how does the length of stay after treatment compared to early discharge impact the patient's level of orientation?

Amanda Ames, Caitlin Chasse, and Jamie Beaupre

Background: The length of stay after treatment can put patients’ health and well-being at a disadvantage. Length of stay can not only cause delirium but can also have detrimental impacts on pre-existing comorbidities. By decreasing a patient's length of stay following the completion of treatment, there are lower levels of adverse outcomes that not only benefit the patient but also those around them.
Labor & Delivery EBP Project: Reducing Implicit Bias in Nursing as a Way to Decrease Maternal Racial Health Disparities and Improve Outcomes

Julianne Andreades and Robin Illian

Introduction/Background:

• Maternal mortality for Black birthing people in the United States is 3X higher than it is for white birthing people (CDC, 2022).

• Racism, including implicit bias, is a driver of these disparities (CDC, 2022).

• Research has shown that clinicians' implicit bias, defined as unconscious attitudes and beliefs that impact behaviors, affects treatment decisions and patient outcomes (Groves et al., 2021 and Siden et al., 2022).
The Impact of Clustered Nursing on Adult Patients in the ICU

Haley Armentrout and Jacob Sackett

Background: Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are at risk of developing many different complications due to the complex nature of their health conditions as well as the care required in the critical care environment. Among the different complications that can occur in this population, delirium and issues associated with mechanical ventilation are especially concerning.
The Importance of Early Mobilization in the Inpatient Setting

Amanda Brawn

For hospital patients, how do early mobility interventions, compared to current practice (no intervention), affect their length of hospital stay and readmission rate?
Turn and Stay Turned

Whitney Brown

Does the use of specialized positioning tools compared to standard hospital pillows improve the degree of turn achieved and maintained in patients requiring regular turns to offload pressure?
Shared Governance and Impact on Nursing Job Satisfaction

Karl Buhr and Colleen Lagulli

Background: Emergency departments are extremely dynamic environments that require continuous quality improvement and adaptation. Implementation of change is necessary but has a great effect on the workflow of nursing staff.
Delirium Prevention Strategies in Hospitalized Patients

Julia Couture

In hospitalized patients do pharmacological interventions targeted to prevent or treat delirium reduce the incidence, severity or duration of delirium compared to non-pharmacological interventions during hospitalization?
Differences in Outcomes in Patients with Treatment-resistant Depression (TRD) Receiving Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) vs. Ketamine Infusion Therapy

Kimberly Crowley

In patients with treatment-resistant depression, how does ketamine infusion therapy compare to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in its impact on depressive symptoms and remission rates?
The Comparison Between Chlorhexidine and Providone-Iodine Antiseptics in the Operating Rom to Prevent Surgical Site Infections

Eleanor Decarolis

Background: Surgical site infections (SSI's) are one of the most common and costly complications from surgery. Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) and Povidione-Iodine (PVI) are the most common antiseptics used in surgery. The efficacy and uses of these surgical preps have been studied to determine the most effective in preventing surgical site infections.
Resources for Reduction of Stress and Burnout in Healthcare Workers Following a Mass Casualty Event

Emily Dunn and Tonya Ernst

Background:

Being in healthcare, employees are faced with all sorts of challenges regarding their own mental and physical health and how to prioritize it, on top of caring for patients and their families. One challenge that healthcare workers hope they never have to learn how to cope with is the stress of mass casualty events.
The Therapeutic Use of Intraoperative Music to Reduce Postoperative Pain in Patients Receiving General Anesthesia

Caroline Ford

Background: The recovery from surgery can be very painful for some patients and require opioid management and longer hospital stays for unmanaged pain. Music has been a non-analgesic way of helping patients with chronic pain and recent studies have shown that music intraoperatively can greatly improve the patients' pain after surgery requiring general anesthesia.
Trans and Non-Binary Patient Satisfaction in Relation to Practitioner Education

Kristen Goodale

In trans and non-binary patients, how does the use of mandatory education modules compared to no specific mandatory education modules impact patients’ satisfaction, safety, and trust in the care they receive in the emergency department?
Improving the Balance Between Patient Satisfaction and Efficient ED Throughput

Jessica Graham and Izzi Marceau

Background: Patients come into the Emergency Department (ED)when they are having an emergent health concern. One role of the ED nurse is balancing the patient expectations of care with ensuring the flow of the department. The studies reviewed here examine the way that ED nurses can help to coordinate realistic expectations for patients as they are waiting to be seen.
Smoke Evacuation in the Operating Room

Meghan Holley and McKenzie Moon

In perioperative staff, does mandating the use of smoke evacuation in the surgical setting compared to no smoke evacuation decrease the amount of exposure to toxic byproducts found in surgical plume for each surgical case?
HELP Programs Impact on Delirium

Abigail Holt

Background: Delirium is a condition that affects 1/3 of patients in the hospital. It is a condition that is preventable and reversible.
Use of Language-Adapted Resources in the Non-English Speaking Patient Population

Jenny Lansing and Emma Dubois

Background: Across the healthcare field, it is essential that patients and families can both communicate and understand the care they receive. A lack in this can lead to delays in care, missed findings, unnecessary care and costs, and even preventable emergencies. Limited research surrounds the impact that language barriers pose as well as methods to address this.
Purewick Versus Foley Catheters

Ashleigh Lunt, Grace Tibbetts, and Tia Hufstader

Background: A Foley catheter is an indwelling urinary drainage device that is placed in a patient's urethra and remains in their bladder, continuously draining urine into a bag. In hospital settings, there are many indications for indwelling catheters such as strict I&O monitoring, incontinence, retention, end of life comfort, surgery, and immobility.
Improving Nurse-Provider Communication

Caitlin Martel-Harrington and Martha Mary Lane

Background: Ineffective communication among healthcare staff has been shown to cause an increase in errors and decrease in patient satisfaction.
The Benefits of Self-Care and Wellness

Tara Nau

Among practicing nurses, does participation in health-promoting self-care and lifestyle interventions improve their health behaviors and well-being compared to those who do not engage in such interventions?
Intermittent Auscultation vs Electronic Fetal Monitoring in Laboring Patients

Nichole Plummer and Jennifer Kellerman

In healthy laboring women, how does the use of Intermittent auscultation, compared to continuous monitoring, affect fetal and maternal outcomes?
Newborn Bathing Within 24 Hours

Julie Sirois

Does delayed bathing in newborns decline negative patient complications compared to those who received a bath prior to 24 hours of birth?
The Effects of Care Handoffs and Hospital-Wide Flow

Abbey Siulinski, Kaitlyn Leavitt, Ryan Pullen, and Katie Schmid

Introduction: Observed extended boarding of admitted patients and increased length of stay in the ED due to delay in handoff resulting in decreased ability to provide full extent of care.
Evidence-Based Diabetes Exercise Intervention

Laura Smith

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic, noninfectious disease that affects a large population of adults in the world. Typically, it is associated with obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and the consumption of undesirable meals (Nakrani et al., 2020/2023). Even with various treatments available for type 2 diabetes, most patients find it challenging to maintain a steady blood glucose level.