Educating Nurses on Early Assessment of Diabetes
NURS 499 Capstone Project Progress Report #2
Student: Crystal Thomas
Professor: Dr Hauck
October 2, 2022.
Introduction/overview: Diabetes is the third leading cause of premature death in people 65 years
old and younger in Kings County Hospital. Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular
events, microvascular disease, and premature mortality. In 2020, diabetes was the eighth leading
cause of death in the U.S. and resulted in >100,000 deaths. Diabetes also imposes a substantial
economic burden, costing patients and the health care system. (Fang, M.,2020). Statistics show that
African Americans are mostly affected/ diagnosed with type II diabetes. One of the recurring
factors I have noticed while completing my clinical in the ambulatory department is that majoring
of the patient affected by type II diabetes are African American/Black which is relative to genetic
factors along with the subtle influences of economics, access to care, environment, attitude,
behavior, lifestyle, social support, quality of life, personal responsibility, and self-care. (REHM, K.
B. 2018)
Goal #1 My goal for the past 2 weeks was to work with the ten nurses participating in the
Capstone project to finalize the survey questions.
Goal #2 To start utilizing the survey question daily by the nurses participating in the project
Song, Y., Chiu, N., Wadhera, R. K., Shen, C., & Kazi, D. S. (2022). Diabetes Screening by Race
and Ethnicity in the United States: Equivalent Body Mass Index and Age Thresholds. Annals of
Internal Medicine
Goal#3 To meet with my preceptor and the unit ADN to discuss the project implementation
(Fowler, J. (2016). From staff nurse to nurse consultant: Clinical leadership part 1: leadership or
management? British Journal of Nursing, 25
The project will utilize Lewin’s change theory which consists of three phases: unfreezing,
movement, and refreezing. During unfreezing, individuals become aware of and believe there is a
need for change. The movement phase includes the planning and implementation of the change.
The final phase, refreezing, integrates the change into the current work environment. (Cunning, G
2011). I think as the project progressed the participating staff members have gone through all three
phases, and we are currently in the refreezing phase with the implementation of the survey.
Challenges: There has been a resurgence of covid which has affected the nursing staff therefore
several nurses who are participating in the were out due to being infected with covid. To overcome
this, we moved the in-person meeting to conference calls, so we were able to stay on track. Due to
short staffing, my preceptor had to work on the unit leaving little to no time to discuss the project,
to overcome this I stayed the entire shift until she had completed her assignment and had time to sit
and discuss the project.
Utilization of coaching and/or mentoring: I had a meeting with professor Dr. Hauck which help
me to focus on my assignment and gather information to incorporate into the assignment. My
preceptor facilitated a meeting with the unit ADN so we can get approval on the survey question to
start the implementation of the project.
My preceptor also tried to help me recruit more nurses to participate in the project, six nurses
agreed to answer next week if they will participate in the project.
Project Progress: My preceptor and I meet with Leadership from this meeting we laid out the
project’s goal and received approval. The project is progressing but there were a few sets this week
due to the staff coming down sick with the covid vaccine. We were able to complete the survey
questions and give them to the nurses to start using to analyze the effectiveness of the survey.
Leadership and Lessons: The past 2 weeks have highlighted the difficulties in leadership, seeing
the extra work leaders had to put in during stressful situations such as short staffing. My preceptor
had to work the floor as a Staff nurse while expected to also complete her head nurse duties. This
week enforced the importance of implementing a nursing leadership style that best suit your unit,
my preceptor demonstrated a transformational leadership style. Transformational leadership
happens when a leader’s actions influence and encourage subordinates to outperform their
perceived abilities, transformational leadership had positive results for patients, professionals, and
institutions alike. (Gasparino, R. C. 2022).
Outcomes achieved: My preceptor and I have made several attempts to meet with leadership but
were unable to due to scheduling issues, we were able to finally have a sit-down meeting where we
discussed in detail the goals for the capstone project and got approval. The survey was discussed in
detail with the participant and the nurses implemented the use of the survey with feedback about its
effectiveness. Using different research sources, I continue to gather information to incorporate into
my project.
Clinical Hours/Activities: In the past 2 weeks I have completed a total of ten clinical hours and 4
hours doing research. My clinical hours spend collaborating with nurses on the floor observing
them and meeting with my preceptor to discuss the progression of the project. I used 4 hours doing
EBP research.
References
REHM, K. B. (2018). Ethnic, Racial and Hereditary Influences in Diabetes: Is it nature, nurture, or
both?
Fang, M., Wang, D., Coresh, J., & Selvin, E. (2022). Undiagnosed Diabetes in U.S. Adults:
Prevalence and Trends. Diabetes Care, 45(9), 1994–2002.
WELLS, J., MANUEL, M., & CUNNING, G. (2011). Changing the model of care delivery:
nurses’ perceptions of job satisfaction and care effectiveness. Journal of Nursing Management
Fowler, J. (2016). From staff nurse to nurse consultant: Clinical leadership part 1: leadership or
management? British Journal of Nursing, 25(7),
Aggarwal, R., Bibbins-Domingo, K., Yeh, R. W., Song, Y., Chiu, N., Wadhera, R. K., Shen, C., &
Kazi, D. S. (2022). Diabetes Screening by Race and Ethnicity in the United States: Equivalent
Body Mass Index and Age Thresholds. Annals of Internal Medicine
Ferreira, T. D. M., de Mesquita, G. R., de Melo, G. C., de Oliveira, M. S., Bucci, A. F., Porcari, T.
A., Teles, M. G., Altafini, J., Dias, F. C. P., & Gasparino, R. C. (2022). The influence of nursing
leadership styles on the outcomes of patients, professionals, and institutions
