Improving Oral Care Before Elective Cardiovascular Surgery: A Quality Initiative.

Purpose: Oral care (brushing teeth) may reduce the risk of hospital-acquired pneumonia. The number of patients completing oral care before elective cardiovascular surgery (CVS) was unknown at the study institution. The aims of this quality improvement project were to determine the baseline of oral care completion before elective CVS and increase the number of patients who self-reported oral care completions through an educational intervention.

Developing Clinical Judgment During Transition to Practice With Rapid-Cycle Deliberate Practice Simulation.

Background: New-to-practice nurses (NPNs) make more errors than their experienced peers, affecting patient safety and contributing to sentinel events. Additionally, new nurses have a high attrition rate in their first year of practice. Simulation-based education may bridge the gap between education and practice by supporting the development of clinical judgment of NPNs.

Completing accreditation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A step-by-step process for success.

Many higher-education administrative processes have transitioned to the online environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing program accreditation site visits were not spared from this shift. This article describes the step-by-step online, interactive, and collaborative process one nursing department used for program re-accreditation.

High-Fidelity Simulation and Clinical Judgment of Nursing Students in a Maternal-Newborn Course.

Clinical judgment, one's ability to think like a nurse, is an essential skill for safe nursing practice. With the rise of simulation to replace clinical experiences, there is limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of simulation on the development of clinical judgment. This study explored differences in clinical judgment in maternal-newborn courses between undergraduate nursing students participating exclusively in simulation and those participating in hospital-based clinical experiences.