This summer, two survey-based demonstration research projects are currently wrapping up their recruitment and experimental phases! Learn how each group plans to reimagine health care at UF Health.
Stroke care success
When it comes to treating stroke, every second counts.
The fifth leading cause of death in the United States, stroke is also the main cause of adult disability in the nation. Nurses who are specially trained to recognize and treat stroke play a key role in how fast patients receive critical medications, as well as how well they recover from their condition.
Recognizing that even more knowledge at the bedside could lead to better long-term stroke care outcomes, UF Health nurse Nicolle Davis, PhD, RN, SCRN, ASC-BC, FAHA partnered with UF Nursing Associate Professor Saun-Joon Yoon, PhD, RN, to create a project to transform how the UF Health system approaches stroke care as part of the 2022-2023 Demonstration Project Initiative.
Through eight modules, nurses caring for stroke patients will have the opportunity to participate in a virtual stroke care education model to improve their level of confidence and knowledge-base when caring for stroke patients. Over 200 nurses across four UF Health hospitals —UF Health Shands, UF Health Jacksonville, UF Health Leesburg, UF Health Villages are currently being recruited.
Once this curriculum is complete, participants will complete a virtual stroke care escape room opportunity to show-off their new knowledge. Two surveys will be delivered both before and after nurses view the stroke education content to learn how their confidence and stroke care competence changed over time.
The team’s efforts to get the project off the ground have already won high praise from lead demonstration project coordinators, including Director of Clinical Research, Laurie Duckworth, PhD, APRN, FNP-C , FAAN.
They are now turning the corner,” Duckworth said. “This group busted down every barrier that comes their way and is starting to see some results!”
Study enrollment is expected to be completed by mid-summer.
Saying thanks
For nurses, caring for patients at the bedside can often feel like a huge, but underappreciated, responsibility.
But thanks to a demonstration project launched by College of Nursing Clinical Assistant Professor Bryce Catarelli, DNP, APRN, FNP-C and transplant nurse Jamie Dees, MSN, RN, BMTCN, nurses at UF Health will have a new opportunity to be recognized for their dedication to delivering world-class patient care.
The team is using a publicly displayed digital signage board on the Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit at UF Health Shands to show positive feedback. Unit achievements are also featured and regularly updated as more accolades and gratitude submissions are provided voluntarily by patients and staff through QR codes.
Surveys sent out before the project launches, as well as in the days following its completion, will also record the levels of gratitude that the unit’s nurses feel during their work day. The team believes that measuring gratitude levels could reveal hidden insights into nurses’ levels of job satisfaction.
And according to Catarelli and Dees, these small words of thanks may soon prove to have a big impact on nursing staff.
“It is imperative for nursing leadership to utilize innovative strategies to improve nurse retention,” Catarelli said. “We know from previous research that public displays of gratitude have been shown to improve morale among healthcare staff, increase job satisfaction and create a sense of belonging and community among colleagues.”
The pair theorize that by increasing the amount of positive recognition that nurses receive, their levels of gratitude for the workplace will also improve in kind, also helping increase their job satisfaction and retention rates.
“Through this project, we are hoping to increase nursing and unit staff feelings of self-worth and appreciation,” Dees said. “In addition, we hope to develop an easy way to display real time feedback and positively change some perceptions of the nursing profession as a whole.
Data analysis is expected to begin by mid-summer.