Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
9-29-2026
First Advisor
Lisa Drake
Second Advisor
Jason Weger
Abstract
Nurse burnout is a persistent, well-documented threat to workforce sustainability and patient safety, with rural nurses at heightened risk due to chronic understaffing, geographic isolation, and limited access to organizational support. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement and evaluate an eight-week Emotional Well-Being Support Program (EWSP), with the aim of reducing burnout and perceived stress among nurses working in a small rural primary care clinic. Guided by Lewin's Change Model and the Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice, the project used a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test single-group design with four participating nurses. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey Medical Personnel, and perceived stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale-10, both administered before and after the intervention. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests compared pre- and post-intervention scores given the small sample size. Although no outcome reached statistical significance (p < .05), likely due to the limited sample size, improvements were observed across all four outcome measures, including a 7.0-point reduction in Emotional Exhaustion and a 4.5-point reduction in perceived stress. These findings suggest the EWSP is a feasible, low-cost, and promising strategy for reducing burnout and stress among rural nurses. This project contributes to nursing practice by offering a replicable, sustainable model for improving workforce well-being in resource-limited rural settings.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Brown Greenfield, Tosheta, "Quality Improvement Project: Evaluating the Impact of an Emotional Support Program for Nurses in a Rural Outpatient Clinic" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 400.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/400
