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Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

Recent Submissions

Access status: Open Access ,
Opening Digital Humanities to All: Approaches to Supporting Accessible Omeka Projects
(Anthology of Computers and the Humanities, 2026-07) Kaefring, Allison; Daugherty, Jennifer; Hoover, Jeanne K.
In 2024, the Department of Justice issued revised Title II regulations under the American Disabilities Act, requiring that all government institutions make their digital content accessible and in compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. In response, the Digital Humanities Working Group at a public institution is navigating the procedural changes needed to ensure our future digital humanities projects are fully accessible, while also exploring technical and ethical ways to make our past projects accessible. Using tools like WAVE, we have evaluated common accessibility barriers to our past digital humanities projects based in Omeka. The working group is developing solutions to our future digital humanities tool trainings, workflows, and user agreements. In this paper, we will share our process, the challenges encountered, and recommendations or supporting students and faculty in creating digital humanities projects that are accessible to all users. This paper will address both common accessibility issues we have identified in digital humanities projects and ways to make our commitment to accessibility sustainable.
Access status: Open Access ,
Advancing Nurse Leader Financial Competence Through Professional Development
(2026-07-22) Patricia Richardson
Nurse leaders are expected to balance clinical priorities with financial realities, yet many enter these roles without formal preparation in healthcare finance. Limited financial knowledge can reduce confidence and engagement in financial decision making that influences care delivery and organizational sustainability. The purpose of this project was to implement and evaluate a healthcare finance education module designed to strengthen financial competence among nurse leaders. A quality improvement initiative was conducted in a rural community hospital in North Carolina to evaluate the impact of an asynchronous healthcare finance education module on financial knowledge and confidence. New and emerging nurse leaders were identified and invited to participate, and outcomes were measured using pre and post intervention assessments. Project findings demonstrated improvements in financial reasoning and financial competence following implementation of the healthcare finance education module, with financial reasoning scores improving by 40% from pre to post assessment and participants reporting increased confidence in four of the eight financial competency domains. Although participation was limited by leadership transitions, competing operational priorities, and time constraints, the findings suggest that integrating healthcare finance education into leadership development programs may strengthen financial competence, support leadership effectiveness, improve alignment between clinical and financial decision making, and promote resource stewardship.
Access status: Open Access ,
Improving Troponin Turnaround Time to Enhance Early Cardiac Event Detection: A Quality Improvement Project
(2026-07-21) Hatch, Christie J.
Background & Purpose Troponin, a cardiac biomarker that helps to diagnose myocardial injury in the setting of a heart attack, is an essential tool used by providers early on in a myocardial infarction (MI). The current guidelines recommend trending this lab value a minimum of twice at standard intervals after the suspected cardiac event. The American College of Cardiology has several recommendations for chest pain centers to follow in order to reduce door-to-reperfusion times for patients who require intervention for their MI, one of which relates to the amount of time for the troponin lab value to result (which should be less than or equal to 60 minutes from patient arrival). Prior to this initiative, at an acute care hospital, which is an ACC-accredited facility, 12% of the troponin labs resulted within the goal timeframe. Patients at risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) require efficient testing to diagnose and treat their condition. With a median turnaround time of 95 minutes (prior to this initiative), patients having an MI are at risk of further injury. The hospital ED put together a project team to oversee a quality improvement project aimed at increasing the number of troponin results that meet the goal timeframe. Methods: This QI project used a PDSA format, with several phases of introduction during implementation. Results: Improvement from 12% to 22% of troponin results met goal during the 12-week implementation, with the biggest increase being the week that phlebotomists were added. Conclusion: As a result, additional phlebotomy staff will be requested in the ED to help with lab draw compliance and timely results.
Access status: Open Access ,
Leveraging End-Tidal Carbon Dioxide Monitoring to Improve Sepsis Bundle Compliance
(2026-07-21) Short, Amy
Sepsis is a life-threatening response to infection that requires early recognition and treatment to reduce morbidity and mortality. This quality improvement project evaluated whether pre-hospital end-tidal carbon dioxide values could be used to support early sepsis identification and improve sepsis bundle compliance in the emergency department. A quality improvement project was conducted in a Level III Trauma Center emergency department in central North Carolina from January 7 to April 30, 2026. Adult patients arriving by emergency medical services with a reported end-tidal carbon dioxide value of 30 mmHg or less were eligible for a nurse-driven point-of-care testing lactic acid standing order. The primary outcome measure was the administration of intravenous antibiotics within 60 minutes of arrival. During the study period, 3,481 patients arrived via emergency medical services. End-tidal carbon dioxide was documented in 467 cases, and 67 patients had values of 30 mmHg or less. After exclusions, 34 patients met the inclusion criteria. The median time from arrival to provider evaluation was 4 minutes, while the median time to antibiotic administration was 65 minutes. Fifteen patients (52%) received antibiotics within the 60-miute goal. Compliance was highest during the first month of implementation, with 68% meeting the target. Although rapid provider evaluation was achieved, time to antibiotic administration remained inconsistent, exceeding the 60-minute goal for many patients. Limited utilization of the nurse-driven point-of-care lactic acid intervention prevented meaningful assessment of its effectiveness. Future quality improvement initiatives should focus on addressing workflow barriers, improving adherence to standardized sepsis protocols, and increasing opportunities for early sepsis identification to enhance bundle compliance and treatment timeliness.
Access status: Open Access ,
A Quality Improvement Initiative to Optimize Pediatric Post-Discharge Outcomes
(2026-07-17) Lisa M.Klosek
Patients and caregivers commonly experience stress during the discharge process, and brief teaching encounters may not provide enough time to ensure understanding of home care instructions. Families often leave the hospital without scheduled follow-up appointments or access to their patient portal, creating gaps that can compromise care continuity and contribute to readmission's and emergency department revisits. Pediatric patients enrolled in a hospital-at-home program between March 2026 and May 2026, along with their primary caregivers, received additional educational support. The program's nurse navigators served as facilitators for this quality improvement project. Ninety-three patients and their caregivers received enhanced discharge education, which included guidance on using the patient portal and literature specific to their clinical diagnosis. Ninety-one patients activated their patient portal, and 78 received the educational materials. Of those patients, three had unplanned 30-day readmission's, resulting in a 3.2% any-condition readmission rate, outperforming the site's 6.3 %. For pediatric populations, improved caregiver readiness directly affects child safety and recovery, while reducing anxiety and strengthening trust between the family and the healthcare team. Ensuring that education is plain language, accessible, and family-centered leads to safer discharges.