Student Name
Capella University
NURS-FPX4905 Capstone Project for Nursing
Prof. Name
Date
Define and Analyze Your Healthcare Process Problem or Issue of Concern
Effective patient care relies on clinical expertise and on well-structured healthcare processes, as deficiencies in these processes can compromise safety, outcomes, and quality (Jackson et al., 2022). This paper is based on observations from a 10-hour practicum at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, New York. The primary concern identified is the limited patient and caregiver education regarding seizure recognition, response, and self-management. The paper will describe the practicum setting, assess how gaps in seizure management influence patient safety, confidence, and health outcomes, explore the underlying cause, and propose strategies to improve education, safety protocols and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Practicum Setting
Mount Saint Mary College is a New York-based, private, licensed, and Catholic college in Newburgh. The business has a continuum of nursing and health science programs operating based on the Dominican tradition of study. The college provides undergraduate courses, post-acute clinical education and interdisciplinary healthcare initiatives (Mount Saint Mary College, 2025a). The institution offers advanced courses to upcoming healthcare professionals that focus on patient-centered care. Mount Saint Mary College has a Bachelor of Science Nursing with, practical simulation laboratories and community services. The program focuses on the kind care and preparation to various care environments, with the assistance of the skilled faculty.
The nursing and health science programs within Mount Saint Mary College have a varied population to which the college has a close focus on community health and evidence-based practice. The college offers learning opportunities to the students who deal with the chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and respiratory diseases. The college has an approximate population of about 2,200 students and over 200 faculty and staff including registered nurses, nurse educators, clinical instructor, therapists, and social workers (Mount Saint Mary College, 2025b). In the School of Nursing, students engage in simulation labs, clinical rotations and community based initiatives which build collaboration, leadership. This atmosphere helps to nurture ethical and caring professionals in care, which is one of the missions of the college to develop academic excellence (Mount Saint Mary College, 2024).
Clinical and Operational Decisions
Different academic and clinical choices are taken daily at Mount Saint Mary College in order to provide evidence-based and student-centered nursing and health science education. Clinical decisions aim at shaping the competence of students in the assessment of patients, health promotion, chronic disease management, and evidence-based interventions in various populations. Students are guided by faculty in simulation lab, community health, and clinical experience to encourage critical thinking, professional judgment, and patient-centered care (Mount Saint Mary College, 2025a).
The idea of interdisciplinary collaboration is highlighted by the frequent meetings of the team of faculty, students and healthcare professionals aimed at analyzing the results of learning, improving the teaching methods and assisting with the implementation of population health projects. Operational decisions involve organizing clinical placements, ensuring the best instructor/student ratios, and resources to be spent on simulation and skills laboratories (Mount Saint Mary College, 2025c). Proper academic planning, interdisciplinary interaction and operational decision-making lead to better learning outcomes.
During my practicum experience at Mount Saint Mary College, I had a chance to observe and engage in educational activities and partnerships aimed at the enhancement of clinical competence. I do not make final decisions but I am involved in the process of making decisions, by providing observations, helping to educate patients, and making recommendations to improve communication and teaching methods. The main outcomes that were the priority in this practicum are better patient safety, management of chronic conditions and quality of care. The results are tracked by recording the educational activities, reflecting on journals, and receiving feedback on the participants and the faculty to guarantee the growth and enhancement in providing patient care and professional development (Mount Saint Mary College, 2024).
Process Issue
In Mount Saint Mary College, a healthcare process concern is the unstandardized education and awareness on how to manage seizures among patients, caregivers, and a few healthcare providers. Lack of information regarding seizure awareness, fit-to-resuscitate, and self-management emphasize adds to the safety risk and anxiety levels of patients and their families (Jackson et al., 2022). This problem is of interest to the patients with chronic neurological disorders including epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. These patients experience problems with medication compliance, the security of the environment, and efficient communication in the instance of seizure attacks. The lack of caregivers preparedness and different levels of health literacy aggravates the issue.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that around 1 out of 10 people in the United States has a seizure at one time in their lives. This is because of the poor education and awareness on the identification and treatment of seizures (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024a).
NURS FPX 4905 Assessment 2 Define and Analyze Your Healthcare Process Problem or Issue of Concern
During practicum activities and educational sessions at the Mount Saint Mary College, it was observed that patients and caregivers exhibited a difference in their level of knowledge with respect to the triggers of seizures, first-aid management, and medications management. In addition, the inconsistency in the application of standardized educational resources and safety measures was observed, which impedes the confidence and readiness to handle the incidents of seizures. These results highlight the importance of education interventions to enhance safety, and improve the outcomes.
The implication of this issue on patient safety and quality of care is enormous. Poor seizure management and low levels of education of patients and caregivers predispose patients to injury during seizures, medication errors and emergency room visits. They cause an increase in anxiety, lack of self-management confidence, and lower patient and family quality of life (Pooya et al., 2022). The management of these gaps by educational programs, regular adherence to safety measures, increases readiness of patients and caregivers and health outcomes are better.
Impact of the Current Process
The problem of poor seizure management in the Mount Saint Mary College process affects the organizational quality and patient safety. Quality-wise, the lack of patient and caregiver education, the inconsistency of adherence to safety measures, and the inconsistency of adherence to best practices reduce the efficiency. Uncontrolled seizures may also result in more emergency department visits, patient injuries, medication mistakes, and patient and caregiver anxiety. Continuous lapses in the coordination of care affect the capacity of the college to express the excellence of patient-centered education.
Poor management of seizures is a major health risk in regard to patient safety. These involve fall injuries, status epilepticus and hospitalizations. According to the CDC data, approximately 1 out of 1,000 adults and 1 out of 4,500 children with epilepsy die of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy every year in the U.S. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024c). Uncontrolled seizures are one of the reasons behind thousands of emergency department visits every year, most of which might have been avoided through educational initiatives and safety precautions.
NURS FPX 4905 Assessment 2 Define and Analyze Your Healthcare Process Problem or Issue of Concern
The practicum experience at Mount Saint Mary College also demonstrated that the lack of uniform patient knowledge on how to respond to seizures and how to keep themselves safe in the environment may predispose them to preventable injuries. Financially, poor seizure control may be a huge liability. According to CDC, in 2019, health care expenditures in the U.S. amounted to 24.5 billion on epilepsy and seizures, of which 19 billion were on seizures and 5.4 billion on epilepsy (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024b). The emergency visits, hospitalization as a result of uncontrolled seizures, and treatment as a result of injuries add to higher costs in healthcare and follow-up services (Jackson et al., 2022).
These expenses can be avoided in case evidence-based education and safety measures are applied. The root cause of this problem seems to be unstable compliance with the best practices of seizure management and poor knowledge on how to recognize, respond, and prevent seizures. The studies show that educational interventions and patient, caregiver, and staff training by nurses can help to decrease the number of complications related to seizures (Pooya et al., 2022). Enhancement of standardized seizure management procedures and provision of education are crucial in enhancing patient safety in Mount Saint Mary College.
Conclusion
The practicum at Mount Saint Mary College highlights the critical need for evidence-based education and standardized protocols in seizure management. Gaps in patient and caregiver knowledge, inconsistent use of safety measures, and variable adherence to best practices have implications for patient safety and healthcare costs. Addressing these issues through interdisciplinary collaboration, education, and the execution of standardized seizure management approaches can enhance patient outcomes and promote a culture of safety.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024a). First aid for seizures. https://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy/first-aid-for-seizures/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024b). Epilepsy facts and stats. https://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024c). Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. https://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy/sudep/index.html
NURS FPX 4905 Assessment 2 Define and Analyze Your Healthcare Process Problem or Issue of Concern
Epilepsy Foundation. (2021). Epilepsy foundation of Missouri and Kansas. https://efmk.org/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20323200364&gbraid=0AAAAADHVtN5uKU5B_8MV2JvP6c33cVc5M&gclid=CjwKCAiAt8bIBhBpEiwAzH1w6WyrIm8OwTT3CuP3oxI_xVerGwvo0QOhjO2H9r6aJ38cG6YT4j39eBoCRe0QAvD_BwE
Jackson, M. C., Vasquez, A., Ojo, O., Fialkow, A., Hammond, S., Stredny, C. M., Antonetty, A., & Loddenkemper, T. (2022). Identifying barriers to care in the pediatric acute seizure care pathway. International Journal of Integrated Care, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.5598
Mount Saint Mary College. (2024). Explore Nursing. https://www.msmc.edu/admissions-aid/explore-nursing/
Mount Saint Mary College. (2025a). Health Services. https://www.msmc.edu/life-at-the-mount/student-health-and-wellness-center/health-services/
NURS FPX 4905 Assessment 2 Define and Analyze Your Healthcare Process Problem or Issue of Concern
Mount Saint Mary College. (2025b). History & Mission. https://www.msmc.edu/alumni/mount-nursing-news/nursing-school-history-mission/
Mount Saint Mary College. (2025c). Nursing. https://www.msmc.edu/programs/nursing/
Pooya, A. A., Hosseini, S. A., Haghighi, L., & Pooya, H. (2022). Seizure first aid for people with epilepsy: Opinions and knowledge of caregivers and healthcare professionals. Seizure, 102, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seizure.2022.09.007
