Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
9-21-2026
First Advisor
Lisa Drake
Second Advisor
Diane Hare
Abstract
Stress among nurses can negatively affect well-being, workforce stability, and the quality of patient care, highlighting the need for nurse leaders to effectively recognize and respond to stress within their teams. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate whether education on the 7 Cs of Stress First Aid (SFA) improved leadership self-efficacy among nurse leaders at an urban acute-care hospital. Watson’s Theory of Human Caring provided the theoretical foundation, while Lewin’s Change Theory guided implementation of the practice change. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used, with the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework supporting project implementation. Participating nurse leaders completed an SFA educational intervention and the 21-item Leadership Self-Efficacy Scale before and after implementation. Ten pre-intervention and ten post-intervention surveys were analyzed. Mean leadership self-efficacy scores increased from 5.91 (SD = 1.03) before the intervention to 6.32 (SD = 0.34) following the intervention. Although the increase demonstrated a moderate effect size (d = 0.54), the difference was not statistically significant, t(18) = 1.21, p = .242, 95% CI [-0.30, 1.13]. Limitations included the small sample size and inability to match individual pretest and posttest responses. Findings suggest that structured SFA education may strengthen nurse leaders’ confidence in supporting staff experiencing stress and provide a practical approach for promoting a supportive organizational culture.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Russell, Bethany, "Quality Improvement Project Stress First Aid: Equipping Nurse Leaders" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 407.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/407
