NR 730 Week 1 Discussion; Analyzing a Practice Gap

NR 730 Week 1 Discussion on Analyzing a Practice Gap Purpose: The purpose of this discussion is to analyze a gap in practice, which will catalyze the development of the DNP practice change project. Instructions: Reflect on your readings this week and provide your proposed DNP practice change project purpose statement in one concise sentence. The statement should clearly identify the following: Gap in practice Population impacted Goal of the project My DNP practice change project purpose statement is: The Use of CBT combined with Lifestyle Changes (physical exercises and a healthy diet) in Adult Obesity Care for Improved Outcomes over Twelve Weeks. Week 1: Discussion - Analyzing a Practice Gap This week, I learned about identifying and examining a gap in practice, focusing on how DNP-prepared nurses can drive quality improvements by identifying current and future issues impacting healthcare systems and patient outcomes. The first step in this process involves evaluating current practices to identify emerging gaps that affect patient care and healthcare system performance. Through a gap analysis, I can identify variations in current practice levels of skills, knowledge, practices, and processes and compare these measures with desired outcomes. After identifying the gap, it is essential to gather statistical evidence to evaluate the significance of the problem using internal and external reports, such as HCAHPS survey scores, readmission rates, infection rates, and other relevant data. After the readings this week, I evaluated the current practice setting at Doctors Memorial Hospital to identify gaps. I noted that the hospital's designation as a Critical Access Hospital has led to increased workload and patient acuity, contributing to perceived stress and burnout among medical practitioners in the Critical Care Unit (Batanda, 2024). In my review of existing evidence, I identified that exposure to work-related stress and increased workload in medical practitioners is linked to adverse outcomes such as impaired decision-making, burnout, and increased length of patient stay due to delayed recovery and compromised care quality (Garcia et al., 2019; Izdebski et al., 2023; Batanda, 2024). Therefore, my proposed DNP project will focus on addressing this gap by targeting the impact of perceived stress on patient length of stay among medical practitioners working in acute care settings. As an intervention, I explored evidence-based solutions to address this issue. One strongly supported practice is implementing the Palouse Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program, which has been shown to reduce stress levels among healthcare providers and improve decision-making processes (Kriakous et al., 2021; An et al., 2022; Yavuz Sercekman, 2024). The MBSR program includes mindfulness techniques, meditation, and cognitive exercises to enhance self-awareness, emotional regulation, and resilience. By reducing perceived stress, this program aims to improve clinical performance and, ultimately, reduce the length of patient stay in acute care settings (Batanda, 2024). The proposed project will target a population of 20 medical practitioners (both full-time and part-time staff) working