Master of Science in Nursing Students Recommend Informed Healthcare Solutions in Capstone Projects

Curry College Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) students recently presented their culminating capstone research at Beth Israel Deaconess-Plymouth. Their work was the conclusion of a three-year graduate post-licensure curriculum preparing them for their chosen track of nurse educator or nurse administrator.

View photos from the 2023 MSN Capstone Presentations

 The students, most of who are working nurses, researched topics of their choice about issues they see in healthcare while offering solutions and best practices. Topics ranged from hospital procedures, to graduate nurse retention rates, and beyond.

Vanessa Brown MSN ’23 researched the increase of Diabetes in young people as a growing clinical and public health concern. “As a school nurse in Quincy Public Schools (QPS), a large urban school district, I have seen the need firsthand for streamlined care for students with Diabetes,” she said. “With almost 30 students with Diabetes in the district, every health office had different individualized health care plans (IHP) and ways of managing care for students with Diabetes. This created a lot of confusion when floating to other schools or having a substitute nurse cover the health office.”

Recognizing the abrupt growth of pediatric Diabetes, Brown created a standard IHP Template for Quincy Public Schools, recommended to serve as an exemplar for other needs of students to improve care and communication. In her development work, 20% of Quincy Public School nurses “strongly agreed” that a standardized diabetes IHP is beneficial, helpful, and sustainable for the care of students with Diabetes.

“I feel that I truly made a difference by providing uniformity throughout the health offices, education for the school nurses, and better care for the student with diabetes,” said Brown. “Being able to present this at the poster presentation at BID Plymouth Hospital and engage with my cohort, professors, medical professionals, and the community was a great, rewarding experience!”

In the emergency room field, Amanda Glover MSN ’23 researched the elevated lack of communication in bedside shift reporting. Through literature review, evidence-based practice, and focus groups, Amanda recommended that in order to minimize communication failures and inadequate handoff communications, proper education and training should be implemented to improve patient safety, nursing staff satisfaction, accountability, and more.

Megan Wallace-Andrade MSN ’23 investigated nurses’ confidence level in postmortem care. Megan found that traditionally nursing schools do not have end-of-life care on their curriculum and surveyed postmortem confidence with a test group of new graduate nurses. She then created an educational presentation for postmortem care, which took place during a new graduate nurse residency program. As a result, new graduate nurses felt more confident in providing care after death after watching Megan’s presentation.

“The quality improvement work completed by these outstanding graduate students has begun the ripple effect that will change the lives of nurses, patients, and students!” said Dr. Julie Grady, Associate Professor and MSN Program Director. “It is an honor to serve as their director.”