Surgical smoke, a byproduct of surgical procedures, poses significant health risks to healthcare workers and patients. However, surgical staff often overlook it as a biohazard in operating rooms. This project highlights the harmful toxins of surgical smoke, including exposure to carcinogens and infectious agents, and the need for policy change to mandate local smoke evacuation. Effective policies and guidelines for smoke evacuation modeled from evidence-based research, combined with adequate education, awareness, and training, can minimize the risks of surgical smoke in the operating room and empower nurse leaders to ensure the safety of healthcare workers and patients.

Although the benefits of physical activity are well established, many adults do not meet the recommended weekly aerobic physical activity guidelines. Internal barriers such as enjoyment and affective response may challenge engagement and adherence of exercise. While walking and jogging are common modes of exercise, incline walking has recently gained popularity. Therefore, this study aims to compare physiological (fat and carbohydrate utilization) and psychological (enjoyment, affective response, rating of perceived exertion) differences between 20% incline walking and level grade jogging at isocaloric intensity.

The purpose of this project is to help increase inmate adherence to mental health medications during incarceration to decrease the duration of incarceration as well as decrease return incarcerations.

Twelve-hour shifts for nurses have become increasingly popular due to the perceived benefits, including a way to fight nursing shortages. However, recent evidence suggests that twelve-hour shifts may negatively affect patient safety. Therefore, this project argues for creating a new policy for nurses to work eight-hour rather than twelve-hour shifts. The project examines the evidence regarding the impact of twelve-hour shifts on patient safety, nurse fatigue, and avoidable errors and discusses the benefits of eight-hour shifts. This project advocates for a change towards shorter work hours for nurses to improve their productivity and increase patient safety.

While walking on the ground and using a treadmill are the standard mode of exercise, treadmill walking has gained popularity recently. Treadmills are more efficient and reliable because of the better control of speed, and grade, and can be used in all weather conditions. Even though multiple studies looked over the impact of surfaces at different inclines at biomechanics (gait, impact forces, tibial acceleration, and muscle activation), still the impact of surfaces has not been examined using different treadmill manufacturers while comparing high-incline (20%) with low-incline (1%).

This Capstone research project dissects the complexities of chronic pain management and pushes for a system wide move aware from opiate dependency. This project proposes interventions such as CAM therapy, ERAS and PPACT to battle chronic pain, avoid opiate misuse and over prescription within the healthcare system.

Acute aggression poses a risk of harm to patients and staff in acute care. On one hand, disparities in the management of aggression are well documented, with factors like race affecting the likelihood of restraint use. However, agitation is also a leading cause of staff injury, with the majority of such injuries occurring during the application of restraints. Using the Model for Evidence-Based Practice Change, this project aims to implement an aggression order set modeled after the Project BETA (Best Practices in the Evaluation and Treatment of Agitation) guidelines. With this approach, duration of restraint application and incidence of staff injury will decrease by 50% over the next year.

Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) continue to rise across the nation. Implementation of advancing technology must occur to decrease this problem. Any individual with a urinary catheter for greater than thirty days is at a large risk for developing bacteriuria. Bacteriuria increases the chances of developing a urinary tract infection. Using noble metal alloy lined catheters, we can change this. These catheters have a non-pharmacologic, non-toxic coating that creates a small charge. This micro current makes it much more difficult for bacteria to colonize in a catheter. Noble metal alloy catheters will decrease CAUTI rates in patients with chronic foley catheter.

Numerous obstacles prevent rural residents from accessing high-quality cancer treatment, such as long distances to treatment centers, a shortage of specialized medical professionals, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure. To address the challenge of advanced cancer care in rural areas, a comprehensive approach is required that includes improving access to specialized medical professionals, investing in healthcare technology, and prioritizing palliative care services. Palliative care is a critical element of cancer care that focuses on symptom management, enhancing quality of life, and providing support for patients and their loved ones.

This poster describes an exploratory study that was completed this semester to explore the question of whether or not there is a need for an indoor field on the North Coast that would provide a solution that allows organized field sports to continue activities during adverse weather conditions in the low-income areas of Humboldt and Del Norte counties. Gathering data for research was carried out by talking to local individuals involved in recreational facilities development and members of sports associations. It was written to raise awareness of the need for such a space and in the hope of getting the community a step closer to figuring out how to provide such a recreation facility.