Page 13 - Back-To-School-10-19-2017

For her capstone research, Cindy authored, “The Impact of a Standardized
Rounding Tool on the Hospitalized Patient Experience Score of Nurse
Communication.” “Everything we do today is centered around the patient
experience, so my goal was to understand the HCAHPS survey score
and how the patient experience drives quality,” she says. “I went on to
implement the electronic rounding tool in our hospital that was already
being used by our system. So, doing this was a win-win professionally.” In
February 2017, Cindy completed the DNP, Executive Leadership.

Continuing Her Quest for Learning

With the DNP, Executive Leadership under her belt, Cindy is now on to
her next adventure. “I’m working to extend my capstone so I can publish it
when I’m done, and I’m also looking into mentoring master’s and doctoral
students who are Sentara employees,” she says.
Earning the DNP was a worthwhile endeavor that has fueled her love of
learning. “I work at a teaching hospital where I operationalize and do the
exact job that the DNP curriculum focused on,” she says. “This experience
helped me understand how to appraise the literature and cement
knowledge I understood previously but didn’t know as deeply as I should
have. Most importantly, learning the executive principles through the
Executive Leadership track has provided significant professional growth
and changed me in my role as a nurse executive. Those were some of the
biggest takeaways for me, and it was definitely a great experience.”

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