What led to your current perspective and direction?

RESPOND TO EACH DISCUSSION BOARD POST and ANSWER THE DISCUSSION BOARD QUESTION IN 1/2
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DISCUSSION BOARD QUESTION: Now that you have completed a series of assignments that have led you into the active project planning and development stage for your project, briefly describe your proposed solution to address the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need and how it has changed since you first envisioned it. What led to your current perspective and direction? ***PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CAPSTONE TOPIC IS Handwashing: Soap and Water VS Antibacterial Foam, using them in a hospital-like setting to prevent infections

1. A cost we came up with was the cost of having a specific person that is responsible for the training and education process to help aid in the diabetes training. Additionally, the quality aspect is that there would be a higher patient outcome. When all nurses are properly educated, then they can properly educate the patient. Patient education is an important aspect of the nursing process. “There is also compelling evidence about the value of being sufficiently informed; a patient’s misunderstanding of a condition and its care can result in non-compliance to a doctor’s recommendations, significantly and adversely affecting outcomes” (2016). Lastly, the clinical aspect would be less patient numbers. This is because we currently see a high number from patient with diabetic issues that are preventable. When the numbers dissipate from preventable measures being taken, then our time and resources will go to those who need it most.

2. My capstone project is a virtual diabetes support group meeting that includes diabetes education.
One financial aspect that my preceptor and I identified from my capstone project are improved diabetes management behaviors can decrease the direct medical costs associated with diabetes. Diabetes education can also help to reduce the indirect costs related to diabetes, such as lost productivity due to the disease. In 2017, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) reported direct medical costs were over 7 billion dollars in GA. Another 3.1 billion dollars were spent on the indirect costs in GA. A quality initative for diabetes would be a plan to have preventive tests done, such as annual foot and eye exams or Hgb A1C every 3 months. A clinical aspect are the symptoms from hyperglycemia in diabetes: polydipsia, polyphagia, and polyuria. After DSME, patients understand how to use meal planning, medication, and exercise to manage hyperglycemia and symptoms.
3. Quality and finances go together because quality is increasingly linked to a hospital’s financial health, adverse outcomes related to inadequate staffing will have a growing impact on a hospital’s bottom line. The most direct example of the quality–finance link can be seen in the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Inpatient Prospective Payment System rules, which state that hospitals will no longer be reimbursed for any patient care needed because of a hospital-acquired condition. Many of these events directly related to EBP or influenced by nursing care. Many studies have shown that hospital-acquired events like postoperative infections, CAUTI’s, pneumonia, and pressure ulcers as well as CLABSI’s were preventable conditions that could be reduced with increased nurse staffing and following the EBP for these concerns (Serafim, Dell’Acqua, Castro, Spiri, & Nunes, 2017). Nursing is the single most important factor involved in patient satisfaction in every part of the hospital. My proposal to adequately provide cardiac patients and staff with the Pre-Stress test education and the importance of withholding caffeine and beta-blockers for an accurate diagnostic reliable test result. Many insurance companies will only pay for one per calendar year, whether normal or abnormal. This is the importance of adhering to proper test preparations for not only patient safety but the quality of patient outcomes. By not adhering to the education of patients and staff the results we obtain if not accurate could very easily cause patient harm and even death. The stress test not only shows if chest pain is reproducible but if there are any ischemic changes and can provide the likelihood of major cardiac events in the future.

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