Tending to the needs of newborns represents a particular challenge for a nurse since the specified demographic is especially vulnerable to a vast variety of threats. Therefore, ensuring that the breastfeeding process remains consistent and that newborns are provided with a sufficient amount of nutrients during it are crucial steps. By applying the DNP and AONE competencies regarding patient education and collaboration, one can create a project for quality improvement through enhanced parent education.
The application of the DNP competencies is particularly useful since they have provided a patient-focused approach and encouraged me to deploy patient care technology into clinical practice. Applying the DNP essentials such as interpersonal collaboration and evidence-based practice (EBP) will lead to the launch of a change process in the breastfeeding strategies in the target facility (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2006).
Promoting patient education by encouraging mothers to accept the fact that their newborn children will not spend the full 24 hours with them in the clinical setting is the first objective that will have to be accomplished to ensure quality care. The issue of discontent and stress among breastfeeding women is a common concern in the hospital setting since the specified issue often leads to disruptions in the lactation process (American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2015).
Therefore, the first step of the project will be to establish a strategy for patient education following the AONE guide (American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2015). Precisely, the guide insists that nurses should “monitor clinical activities to identify both expected and unexpected risks” (American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2015, p. 2). The application of the suggested ideas to the target setting led to the improvement in the quality of care since the mothers’ emotional well-being remained stable, and the breastfeeding process stayed consistent throughout their stay at the hospital (Folker-Maglaya, Pylman, Couch, Spatz, & Marzalik, 2018). It is expected that, within three weeks from the start of the program, patients will receive the required instructions about the needs of their children.
The second objective includes increasing the amount of time during which a mother and an infant remain together to 23 hours per day. The specified change will lead to a more consistent breastfeeding schedule (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2006). Therefore, the proposed technique should be integrated into the nursing setting to reduce the stress that mothers and newborns experience when separated in the nursing environment (Dimitraki et al., 2016). By the end of the program, the amount of time that mothers spend with their newborn babies will be increased to 23 hours.
Finally, the third objective involves addressing the communication between a patient and a nurse. According to both DNP (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2006) and AONE (American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2015), it is essential to ensure that nurses remain supportive to patients and positive in their attitude throughout the target population’s stay at the hospital (Carrico, Garrett, Balcom, & Glowicz, 2018). The process of training nurses and introducing communication tools will take approximately two weeks, after which the quality of the nurse-patient dialogue is expected to rise with the subsequent increase in interactions by 25%.
Integrating the DNP and AONE competencies concerning the promotion of collaboration and patient-centered care allowed me as a DNP to build a project that has led to improved breastfeeding outcomes in newborn patients. The incorporation of patient education and continuous patient-nurse communication that allowed providing the required support has led to significant improvement in patients’ well-being. Specifically, from a DNP standpoint, one can create a program that would help to keep a mother and her child together for at least 23 hours a day to facilitate consistency in breastfeeding. Thus, the premises for quality improvement in the designated area will be created.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2006). The essentials of doctoral education for advanced nursing practice. Web.
American Organization of Nurse Executives. (2015). Nurse executive competencies. Web.
Carrico, R. M., Garrett, H., Balcom, D., & Glowicz, J. B. (2018). Infection prevention and control core practices: A roadmap for nursing practice. Nursing, 48(8), 28. Web.
Dimitraki, M., Tsikouras, P., Manav, B., Gioka, T., Koutlaki, N., Zervoudis, S., & Galazios, G. (2016). Evaluation of the effect of natural and emotional stress of labor on lactation and breast-feeding. Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 293(2), 317-328. Web.
Folker-Maglaya, C., Pylman, M. E., Couch, K. A., Spatz, D. L., & Marzalik, P. R. (2018). Implementing a breastfeeding toolkit for nursing education. The Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing, 32(2), 153-163. Web.