Date of Award

Fall 12-2017

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Committee Chair

Dr. Patsy Anderson

Committee Chair Department

Nursing

Committee Member 2

Dr. Cathy K. Hughes

Committee Member 2 Department

Nursing

Committee Member 3

Dr. Douglas A. Lovern

Abstract

Health care is a continually growing field. New hospitals are constantly being built, while older facilities are experiencing renovation and expansion. With this growth comes a set of difficulties for patients as they try to navigate through large, multi-building facilities. Most large facilities have multiple parking garages, numerous buildings, and medical towers with an unending number of floors. Patients are forced to rely on directional signage to find their destination that is often insufficient. Attempting to navigate through large facilities is often overwhelming for visitors leading to frustration and stress.

New technology has allowed a convenient solution to this problem using visitors’ personal smart phones. NaviHealth is a wayfinding smart phone application that has been created to safely assist visitors in navigating though healthcare facilities. The application gives step-by-step, real-time navigation through parking areas, buildings, floors, and even to the facility itself.

The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project is to develop a wayfinding smart phone application, NaviHealth, for a large healthcare facility to decrease visitor stress and hospital costs, while improving patient satisfaction. The application was presented to a large healthcare organization in South Mississippi as an investment opportunity. Participants of the project were six employees of the organization’s marketing department. After a presentation discussing NaviHealth, participants completed a Likert-type evaluation tool to assess the organization’s interest in the investment and implementation of the application. Open-ended questions were also competed, and qualitative data was collected.

Results of this project determined that although the application showed many positive benefits for the facility, the willingness to further pursue the application for investment was strong but not overwhelmingly unanimous. Changes to the application were recommended by participants to improve the likelihood of application investment.

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