DNP Projects

Students in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program develop, complete and present a project. This project is a core element of the degree program and represents a terminal synthesis of data related to an identified health care practice issue. Review the projects from our recent graduates.

Cohort 6 (Fall 2021-Spring 2023)

Post-MS DNP Cohort 6
  • Utilizing Telehealth to Improve Patient-Centered Postoperative Care for Women Following Female Pelvic Medicine Reconstructive Surgery (DNP student: Alicia Bacchus; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Escape the Room! An Innovative Game to Improve Interprofessional Collaboration (DNP student: Joyce Chen; Chair: Teri Lindgren, PhD)
  • Decreasing Patient Falls With a Patient-Facing Fall Prevention Tool (DNP student: Adam Cooper; Chair:  Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Closing the Referral Loop via After-Visit Summary Standardization (DNP student: Annika Ehrlich; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening in Primary Care Practice (DNP student: Amanda Fox; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)
  • Improving Nurse Telephone Triage in Ambulatory Care (DNP student: Mary Gallagher; Chair:  Annette Carley, PhD)
  • Reducing Turnover Time and Promoting Teamwork in the Operating Room (DNP student: Lionel Hoyte; Chair: Alexandra Duke, DNP)
  • Improving Preceptor Competence and Accuracy In Assessing Nurse Practitioner Resident Performance Using an Entrustable Professional Activity Tool (DNP student: Gabi Jacobs; Chair: Jyu-Lin Chen, PhD)
  • Team Up to Get Moving: A Quality Improvement Project to Support Acute Care Nurses With Mobilizing Older Adults (DNP student: Colette Jappy; Chair: Teri Lindgren, PhD)
  • Improving the Percentage of Discharges Before Noon: Door to Discharge (DNP student: Karen Jennings; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Supporting Effective and Efficient Acute Care Consultations (DNP student: Olinda Mar; Chair:  Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Telemedicine to Increase Postoperative Follow-Up After Endovascular Aortic Surgery (DNP student: Jackie Paige; Chair: KT Waxman, DNP)
  • Improving Health Literacy For Adult Parishioners of a Black Catholic Church Using Ask Me 3 (DNP student: Nancy Pope-Angulo; Chair:  Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Structural Competency Training to Improve Knowledge, Confidence and Strategy Generation for Health Care Providers (DNP student: Molly Shane; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)
  • The Feasibility and Contributions of a Nurse Practitioner-Led Consultation Service for Neuro-Oncology Patients With Brain Metastasis (DNP student: Jennifer Viner, Chair: KT Waxman, DNP)
  • Enhancing the Knowledge and Confidence of Health Care Professionals Who Monitor Esketamine (DNP student: Jessica Yu; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)

Read the abstracts for each of the DNP projects for Cohort 6.

Cohort 5 (Spring 2021-Fall 2022)

DNP cohort 5
  • Medications Matter: Improving Medication Adherence in Older Adults After Hospitalization (DNP Student: Carolyn Bogard; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Improving Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists’ Confidence and Perceived Knowledge Regarding Perioperative Care of Endosurgical Patients Who Use Marijuana: A Quality Improvement Project (DNP Student: Janice Cain; Chair: Teri Lindgren, PhD)
  • Enhancing the Perceived Knowledge and Self-Confidence of Clinicians in Diagnosing Morgellons Disease: A Quality Improvement Project (DNP student: Melissa Fesler; Chair: Alexandra Duke, DNP)
  • Educating Nurse Leaders in an Acute Care Setting About the Value of Evidenced-Based Practice: A Quality Improvement Project (DNP Student: Dupinder Sidhu; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)

Cohort 4 (Fall 2020-Spring 2022)

DNP Program Cohort 4
  • Ripe and Ready: Improvement of the Induction of Labor Process With the Introduction of Outpatient Cervical Ripening (DNP student: Lior Bloom; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Consultation Skills Training to Improve Nurse Practitioner Knowledge and Confidence in Requesting Inpatient Consultations (DNP student: Julia Peck Cereda; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Integrating Nurse Practitioner Students in an Interprofessional Complex Care Coordination (CCC) Model for Frequent Users of the Emergency Department (DNP student: Chris Valdez deBelen-Wilson; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)
  • Assessing the Impact of Introducing Structured Medication Reconciliation to Older Adults in the Emergency Department (DNP student: Mitchel David Erickson; Chair: Jyu-Lin Chen, PhD)
  • Frailty Screening in Homebound Older Adults in a Home-Based Primary Care Program (DNP student: Anna Ignatova; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Implementing A Stress Reduction Toolkit to Promote Wellness in Critical Care Nurses: A Practice Improvement Project (DNP student: Ashley Renee Johnson; Chair: Alexandra Duke, DNP)
  • Trauma-Informed Care Training for Providers Treating Minority Populations With Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (DNP student: Rachel Wangeci Kigano; Chair: Teri Lindgren, PhD)
  • Supporting Efficiency During the Neonatal Golden Hour (DNP student: Laura Susan Popovich; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Enhancing Self-Efficacy With High-Risk Infant Neurological Assessment Using the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (DNP student: Sara Lee Sager; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)

Cohort 3 (Spring 2020-Fall 2021)

DNP Cohort 2020-2021
  • The Effect of Mental Health Training on Law Enforcement Officers (DNP student: Shararah Aziz; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • The Impact of Free Produce Boxes and Education on Nutrition Behaviors in a Black Centering Prenatal Program (DNP student: Roschelle Renee Boyd; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)
  • Improving Advanced Practice Providers’ Knowledge and Confidence in Accelerated Diagnostic Protocols: A Quality Improvement Intervention in the Emergency Department (DNP student: William Allan Bradley; Chair: Teri Lindgren, PhD)
  • A Quality Improvement Project to Improve Knowledge and Beliefs Among Clinical Nursing Program Preceptors Toward Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Client Care (DNP student: Laura Elizabeth Compton; Chair: Jyu-Lin Chen, PhD)
  • Buddying Up to Promote Joy in an Accelerated Nursing Program: A Quality Improvement Intervention (DNP student: Elena Denise Rodriguez Fisher; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Relationship-Based Mentoring: An Educational Intervention to Improve Advanced Practice Providers Mentoring Competency (DNP student: Bethany Geleris; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Implementing Measurement-Based Care in a Veterans Affairs Tobacco Recovery Clinic (DNP student: Jennifer Lynn Jones; Chair: Jyu-Lin Chen, PhD)
  • Improving Discharge Education for Adult Patients With an Ileostomy (DNP student: Sophie Roeung; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Political Engagement of Midwives in Pennsylvania (DNP student: Katherine Schott; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Trauma-Informed Care Training in a Homeless Shelter Organization (DNP student: Douglas Gerald Wagemann; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)

Cohort 2 (Spring 2019-Fall 2020)

UCSF DNP cohort 2
  • Increasing the Knowledge and Confidence of Pediatric Clinicians to Screen and Counsel Adolescents about E-cigarette Use: A Quality Improvement Project (DNP student: Jennifer Nan Wineman; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • A Habit-Tracking App to Promote Healthy Lifestyle Among Low-Income Hispanics with T2DM (DNP student: Kyoko Suzuki; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)
  • Increasing the Knowledge and Confidence of Psychiatric Providers in Prescribing Clozapine for Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia (DNP student: Renae Howard Klee; Chair: Teri Lindgren, PhD)
  • Modified Handoff Checklist for Psychiatric Patients: Improving Handoff Communication in an Inpatient Psychiatric Setting (DNP student: Nana Efua Doma Adabie; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Perceived Provider Knowledge and Self-Efficacy in Screening College Students for Food Insecurity (DNP student: Julie Poepoe; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Enhancing Parenting Practices and Social Support in Cantonese-Speaking Families: A Quality Improvement Project Utilizing Group Video Conferencing (DNP student: Macy Lieu; Chair: Jyu-Lin Chen, PhD)
  • Nurse Leaders’ Perceived Knowledge and Confidence Managing Disasters in the Acute Care Setting (DNP student: John Cariaso-Sugay; Chair: Jyu-Lin Chen, PhD)
  • A Patient-Centered Birth Control Decision-Making Tool at an Adolescent Health Center (DNP student: Debbie E. Bamberger; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)
  • Increasing Knowledge and Self-Efficacy of Emergency Department Nurses in Assessing Patients At-Risk for Violent Behavior (DNP Student: Blossom Nkoyo Inuenwi; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Motivational Interview Education for Correctional Nurses to Improve Psychotropic Medication Adherence by Justice-Involved Juveniles (DNP student: Chia-Chen Lee; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)

Cohort 1 (Spring 2018-Fall 2019)

UCSF DNP Cohort 1
  • The Development of Adolescent and Young Adult Healthcare Transition Workshops to Increase Liver Transplant Providers’ Knowledge and Self-Efficacy (DNP student: Susan Diaz; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Interprofessional Collaboration Within Obstetric Emergency Simulation Education: Team Performance Outcomes in Rural Kenya (DNP student: Morgan Aurelio; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)
  • A Standardized Weekly Assessment Checklist to Assist MEPN Clinical Instructors (DNP student: Angelita Barrios; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • The Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of a Clinical Practice Guideline for Primary Care Providers in the Management of Antidepressant Induced Hyperhidrosis (DNP student: Summer Thompson; Chair: Jyu-Lin Chen, PhD)
  • Behavior Change Through Self-Empowerment After Diabetes Group Education (DNP student: Robin Sanderson; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)
  • Medical Alert Cards: Improving Continuity of Care for Children With Complex Congenital Heart Disease (DNP student: Kun Lu; Chair: Deborah Johnson, DNP)
  • Improving Emergency Severity Index Accuracy by Emergency Department Triage Providers (DNP student: Merry Taheri; Chair: Lisa Lommel, PhD)
  • Revising an Organizational Readiness Tool for DNP Projects Using PDSA Cycles (DNP student: Milan Chavarkar; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • The Impact of Integrating Health Policy Content Into a Non-Health Policy Course (DNP student: Sara Hunt; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Assessing HIV Patient Satisfaction and Perceived Medication Adherence Through Telemedicine in Maui County: A Quality Improvement Project (DNP student: Bryan Chin; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Center for the Undiagnosed Patient: Use of a Checklist to Support Perceived Provider Efficiency (DNP student: Jennifer Elad; Co-Chairs: Annette Carley, DNP and Marianne Hultgren, DNP)
  • Enhancing Role Knowledge to Support Successful Role Transition in Neonatal Advanced Practice Nursing Students (DNP student: Legina Garrett; Chair: Annette Carley, DNP)
  • Improving Adherence to Continuous Cardiac Monitoring Guidelines: An Intervention for Hospitalists (DNP student: Cheryl Catalan; Chair: Marianne Hultgren, DNP)