DNP Projects

Date of Award

7-31-2024

Document Type

Graduate Paper

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Carie Braun

Subject Categories

Nursing | Pediatric Nursing

Abstract

Background: Childhood obesity rates continue to rise, leading to comorbid conditions presenting in adolescence and adulthood (Durbin, 2018). Individualized toolkits focusing on various health habits have been identified as an effective intervention in pediatric primary care practices (Byrne et al., 2018; Henderson, 2021; Mead et al., 2017; Smith et al., 2021 & Wright et al., 2018). This project assessed barriers of the current obesity prevention program at a pediatric primary care clinic, Operation Get FIT. This project identified steps to revising Operation Get FIT to tailor it more to the needs and goals of the participating clinic, the providers, and the patients and families that seek care. The aim of this project was to create, implement, and evaluate the feasibility of using an evidence-based toolkit used during yearly well-child visits for children ages 2 to 12 years. Feasibility was determined by evaluating time efficiency, cost effectiveness, and satisfaction of families and providers.

Methods: Five primary care providers at one Midwestern pediatric primary care clinic participated in this feasibility study. The participating providers used the newly created individualized toolkit during routine well-child visits for patients aged 2 to 12 years old for three months. Following implementation semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants. The collected data were analyzed using qualitative inductive analysis.

Results: The toolkit was determined to be cost-effective, widely accepted by providers and families, and easily used during the timeframe of a well-child visit. Satisfaction among providers and families was a common theme. Results showed that the toolkit was interactive, informative, and tailored to the patient with supplemental age-appropriate activities.

Conclusion: This program evaluation supported using individualized childhood obesity toolkits as an efficient, cost-effective, and appropriate intervention for childhood obesity prevention and was feasible to use in daily practice. Future suggestions were to improve workflow and adherence to using the toolkit in daily practice and monitor its long-term effectiveness.

Additional Files
MSexeDNPPosterPresentation.pdf (330 kB)
Project Poster
Toolkit.png (324 kB)
Figure 1
Download

Share

COinS