Polk State Nursing grad & professor publish research in renowned journal
Polk State College Nursing graduate Kori Stolzman and Professor of Nursing Joan Connors are celebrating months of research and collaboration with their publication in renowned journal Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing.
The article titled “Implementing a Comfort Care Cart: A Quality Improvement Nurse-Driven Initiative in the Intensive Care Unit” started as Stolzman’s capstone course project in 2018, when Connors had taken over the course and implemented the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s “Plan-Do-Study-Act” model.
Stolzman, a mother of four who was working full-time as a trauma care nurse in the intensive care unit, admitted she was just trying to get through school when Connors encouraged her to pursue her project through to publication – a process that would extend more than a year after graduation.
“It has been all of the little moments that kept me going,” Stolzman said. “From Dr. Connors telling me this was research that needed to be published and asking me at graduation if I was still going to pursue it, to the editor telling me she loved my idea. Those little moments got me here.”
Connors, also a Polk State Nursing alum, explained that she was inspired to implement the “Plan-Do-Study-Act” model in the capstone course while the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing was conducting its on-site visit and asked, “how do you know students are ready to graduate?”
“It got us thinking and researching,” Connors said. “That’s when I found the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s model and asked my students to fill out the template for quality improvement projects. It sparked their creativity and, as practicing nurses working in all sorts of fields, it allowed them to create projects tailored to and beneficial for them, rather than assigning one project to everyone.”
Stolzman used her experience as a nurse at Lakeland Regional Health to develop the idea for her project.
“Polk State’s professors are genuinely invested in the success of their students. They are knowledgeable and approachable, and as working nurses in the BSN program, they make themselves available at all hours, knowing that we don’t have normal schedules.”
Kori Stolzman
Polk State Bachelor of Science in Nursing December 2018 graduate
“End of the year projects can be daunting, but the model was very clear in outlining the steps we needed to take,” she said. “In the ICU, I saw the strongest, seasoned nurses struggle with how to care for families in the aftermath of terminal extubation or the discontinuation of life-saving measures. Our direction of care changes and some would say, ‘What do we do now that we’re not saving their lives?’”
Stolzman’s answer was to make patients and their families as comfortable as possible. She developed the idea of a comfort care cart to provide resources for nurses to extend active caring to patients reaching the end of life.
When it was time to do some research, however, she came up short.
“Part of the capstone project includes a literature review of peer-reviewed articles from professional journals,” Connors explained. “When Kori told me she couldn’t find anything, I told her that it was a sign that she was doing the right project – that this was something that needed to be published.”
With information about creating a comfortable environment for patients and families from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, Stolzman stocked the cart with drinks, healthy snacks, mints, tissues, lotion, oils, and battery-operated scented candles. Additionally, she made a nondenominational script available for staff or family to recite for a bedside ceremony as well as literature such as grief support brochures and inspirational texts.
Once the project was implemented, she received positive feedback from nurses, healthcare workers, and families of patients.
“Although the end of life is an emotional time for families and nurses who have developed connections with patients after weeks of care, the cart fosters continued care,” Stolzman said. “It shows that although a patient has been terminally extubated, it’s not like there isn’t anything left to do. As nurses, we are still there for our patients and their families.”
Connors noted that this philosophy of care is instilled in students in the Polk State Nursing Program, and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing builds on the foundational skills of the Associate in Science in Nursing by training nurses in leadership, research, and interpersonal communication, and bringing those skills to the bedside.
Stolzman touted her Polk State experience as one that has made her the skillful nurse – and now published researcher – that she is today.
“Polk State’s professors are genuinely invested in the success of their students,” she said. “They are knowledgeable and approachable, and as working nurses in the BSN program, they make themselves available at all hours, knowing that we don’t have normal schedules.”
The quality of Polk State Nursing is evident in Polk State’s 100 percent pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) compared to the state’s 76 percent and the nation’s 89 percent pass rates.
“Polk State’s professors are genuinely invested in the success of their students. They are knowledgeable and approachable, and as working nurses in the BSN program, they make themselves available at all hours, knowing that we don’t have normal schedules.”
Kori Stolzman
Polk State Bachelor of Science in Nursing December 2018 graduate
Connors added that the editor of Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing expressed that Stolzman’s research and writing were graduate school-level work.
“I can be good at what I do, but my true accomplishment comes from the success of the students,” Connors said with great pride of Stolzman.
Additionally, former Polk State Nursing professor and published researcher Dr. Mimi Jenko didn’t hesitate to assist Stolzman and Connors through the manuscript writing process. In their acknowledgments, Stolzman and Connors also thank Bartow Regional Medical Center, Lakeland Regional Health, and Baycare for their support and empowerment of nurses. Polk State enjoys longstanding partnerships with these local healthcare facilities, which provide clinical and internship opportunities for students and often hire the College’s graduates.
And while the article published in the May/June 2020 issue because it was to be featured at the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition canceled due to COVID-19, Stolzman and Connors are grateful that their research is now available for healthcare professionals and readers around the world.
“We hope this gives nurses the tools they need to implement positive change in their hospitals,” Stolzman said.