Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Oscar D. Lee

Abstract

Lung cancer affects many individuals each year and accounts for many deaths around the globe. Lung cancer screening is a preventative health measure that has the ability to detect lung cancer earlier. The purpose of this project was to focus on the education of nursing staff within a community health system, with subsequent implementation of an electronic health record clinical decision support system, to create a direct referral pathway to lung cancer screening, delivered through patient education. The concept of prevention was the framework for this project design, which was further organized around the plan-do-study -act model, while taking into consideration the health belief model and theory of interpersonal relations. Using systemized dashboard reports within the electronic health record software, specific variables were targeted for data collection and analyzed for the purpose of this project. Final data demonstrated an increase of triple the programmatic volume of the previous year, directly following the implementation of the above initiative. Further comparative statistics bespeak to the significant needs of the community regarding tobacco dependence and lung cancer screening. High-risk individuals who are current or former smokers will benefit from this initiative by receiving education about lung cancer screening and tobacco dependence treatment while within the care of the community based health system. A nursing-driven pathway to preventative care could also serve other cancer screening programs effectively, as well as be applied to a variety of chronic disease comorbidities to make a significant positive social change.

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