Scholars@Duke
Benjamin Smallheer

Benjamin Smallheer

Associate Clinical Professor in the School of Nursing
School of Nursing
benjamin.smallheer@duke.edu
307 Trent Drive, Box 3322, Durham, NC 27710
307 Trent Drive, Box 3322, Durham, NC 27710
Office hours In person meetings by appointment
Virtual meetings accepted  

Selected Publications

New Era in Women's Health: Innovations and Insights.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · December 2024 Full text Cite

Implementation of Cultural Awareness and Cognitive Bias Training Within Graduate Nursing Programs.

Journal Article The Journal of nursing education · November 2024 BackgroundCognitive bias negatively affects patient outcomes, resulting in medical errors, sentinel events, and legal claims. The brunt of bias-induced inequities and disparities has fallen on Black and Brown people, women, and the LGBTQ+ communit ... Full text Cite

Revolutionizing Simulation in Nursing Education and Practice.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · September 2024 Full text Cite

History and evolution of nurse practitioners in Taiwan.

Journal Article Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners · July 2024 Full text Cite

Using Agitated Saline and Point-of-Care Ultrasound to Confirm Central Venous Catheter Placement: A Quality Improvement Project by Advanced Practice Providers

Journal Article Journal for Nurse Practitioners · June 1, 2024 Central lines placed in the internal jugular or subclavian vein are common among critically ill patients. A chest x-ray serves as the confirmation method in many institutions. However, ultrasound with agitated saline has been proven an effective, faster, a ... Full text Cite

Navigating the Horizon of Progress in HIV/AIDS Care.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · June 2024 Full text Cite

Bring Discussions on the Culture of Care in Nursing to the Forefront.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · March 2024 Full text Cite

A Comprehensive Approach to Modern Wound Management

Journal Article Nursing Clinics of North America · January 1, 2024 Full text Cite

Men's Health and Men in Health Care.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · December 2023 Full text Cite

The New Edge of Cardiovascular Care.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · September 2023 Full text Cite

Evaluation of a Nurse-Driven Fluid Management Protocol to Improve Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients.

Journal Article Critical care nursing quarterly · July 2023 This article reports results of a nurse-driven fluid management protocol in a medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU). Use of static measures such as central venous pressure monitoring, heart rate, blood pressure, and urine output is poor predictors of ... Full text Cite

The Stigma and Bias Around Those Impacted by Substance Use Disorders.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · June 2023 Full text Cite

Learning from the Past to Grow the Future.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · March 2023 Full text Cite

A Scoping Review of the Priority of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in Health Care Simulation

Journal Article Clinical Simulation in Nursing · October 1, 2022 Background: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in health care are recognized as valuable factors affecting health outcomes for historically underrepresented populations such as racial, ethnic, cultural, and gender minorities. Approaching diverse minori ... Full text Cite

Addressing and Dismantling Inequities of Vulnerable Populations.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · September 2022 Full text Cite

The Art of Nursing Leadership in a Challenging Patient Care Environment.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · June 2022 Full text Cite

Competency-Based Education for Nurse Practitioner Certification Alignment

Journal Article Journal for Nurse Practitioners · April 1, 2022 The nurse practitioner's scope of practice is defined by their educational preparation and board certification. Therefore, nurse practitioner clinical practice must align with the population foci of their certification. As more nurse practitioners are seek ... Full text Cite

Impact of Career Burnout Across Nursing.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · March 2022 Full text Cite

Microlearning Strategies in Nurse Practitioner Education.

Journal Article Nurse educator · January 2022 Full text Cite

A Quality Improvement Initiative to Evaluate the Effectiveness of the ABCDEF Bundle on Sepsis Outcomes.

Journal Article Critical care nursing quarterly · January 2022 Sepsis affects 1.7 million Americans annually and often requires an intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Survivors of ICU can experience long-term negative effects. This quality improvement initiative was designed to increase compliance with ABCDEF bundle eleme ... Full text Cite

Effect of bundle set interventions on physiologic alarms and alarm fatigue in an intensive care unit: A quality improvement project.

Journal Article Intensive & critical care nursing · December 2021 ObjectiveTo determine if the implementation of an evidence-based bundle designed to reduce the number of physiologic monitor alarms reduces alarm fatigue in intensive care nurses.DesignThis quality improvement project retrospectively revi ... Full text Cite

Faculty development workshop on gender-associated incivility in nursing education.

Journal Article Nursing forum · October 2021 BackgroundMen comprise the minority of entry-level baccalaureate nursing students and are at increased risk of experiencing gender-associated incivility.ProblemUncivil peer-to-peer behavior can negatively affect students' mental and physi ... Full text Cite

Early Recognition of Preventable Factors Associated with Delirium Saves Lives and Costs.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · September 2021 Delirium is a complex diagnosis characterized by inattention accompanied by either disorganized thinking or an altered level of consciousness. Delirium affects approximately 15% of older adults in the hospital. Delirium is associated with a 62% greater ris ... Full text Cite

Embracing Disruption: Measuring Effectiveness of Virtual Simulations in Advanced Practice Nurse Curriculum.

Journal Article Clinical simulation in nursing · August 2021 Changes in academia have occurred quickly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person simulation-based education has been adapted into a virtual format to meet course learning objectives. The methods and procedures leveraged to onboard faculty, staff, ... Full text Cite

Student Success Factors in a Nurse Practitioner Program

Journal Article The Journal for Nurse Practitioners · June 2021 Full text Cite

Implementation of a Disease Management Program in Adult Patients With Heart Failure.

Journal Article Professional case management · November 2020 BackgroundApproximately 5.7 million people in the United States are diagnosed and living with heart failure (HF), with projected prevalence rates to increase 46% by 2030. Heart failure leads hospital admissions in the United States for individuals ... Full text Cite

Telehealth: Opportunities in geriatric patient care during COVID-19.

Journal Article Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.) · September 2020 Full text Cite

Personalized Care Plans: Are They Effective in Decreasing ED Visits and Health Care Expenditure Among Adult Super-Utilizers?

Journal Article Journal of emergency nursing · January 2020 ProblemSuper-utilizers comprise 4.5% to 8% of all ED patients, but account for 21% to 28% of all ED visits. Excessive use of the emergency department contributes to increased health care costs, recurrent and unnecessary ED workup, decreased emerge ... Full text Cite

A historical look at men's involvement in nursing and leadership in GAPNA.

Journal Article Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.) · January 2020 The role of men in nursing is not always evident. Men have been care takers in early societies, military health care, and the religious sector. The perception of men in nursing, however, took a shift from one of honor to one of deviance and failure from me ... Full text Cite

Pulmonary Artery Catheters: Impact of e-Learning on Hemodynamic Assessments.

Journal Article Critical care nursing quarterly · July 2019 Pulmonary artery catheters (PACs) are invasive devices placed in critically ill patients to monitor hemodynamic data. They are a high-risk, and in some settings a low-volume, medical device due to the complex insertion procedure and potentially lethal comp ... Full text Cite

Social Support, Self-Efficacy, and Helplessness Following Myocardial Infarctions.

Journal Article Critical care nursing quarterly · July 2019 Numerous factors impact patient recovery following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Negative emotional outcomes, such as learned helplessness, are predictors of mortality following AMI, though little is known about these relationships. The purpose of ... Full text Cite

Triage to Observation: A Quality Improvement Initiative for Chest Pain Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department.

Journal Article Crit Pathw Cardiol · June 2019 OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a rapid admission protocol for chest pain patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) on ED length-of-stay (LOS). In this study, ED LOS was defined as the time from triage check- ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Quality Improvement Project to Increase Adherence to a Pain, Agitation, and Delirium Protocol in the Intensive Care Unit.

Journal Article Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN · May 2019 BackgroundIn recent years, the incidence of delirium has grown to epidemic proportions in the intensive care setting with up to 80% of mechanically ventilated patients being affected. This can lead to adverse patient outcomes such as increased len ... Full text Cite

Those Conditions You May Not Be Expecting.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · September 2018 Full text Cite

Immunosuppressive/Autoimmune Disorders.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · September 2018 Autoimmune disorders are a category of diseases in which the immune system attacks healthy cells as a result of a dysfunction of the acquired immune system. Clinical presentation and diagnosis are disease specific and often correspond with the degree of in ... Full text Cite

Evaluation and Treatment of Restless Legs Syndrome in the Primary Care Environment.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · September 2018 Restless legs syndrome/Willis-Ekbon disease (RLS/WED) is a common sensorimotor disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to move and is associated with an uncomfortable sensation typically in the lower extremities. Dopaminergic neurotransmission abnor ... Full text Cite

Learned Helplessness and Depressive Symptoms Following Myocardial Infarction.

Journal Article Clinical nursing research · June 2018 Psychosocial factors are known to impact depressive symptoms across clinical populations. Learned helplessness has the potential of affecting depressive symptoms following acute myocardial infarction (AMI), though little is known about this relationship. T ... Full text Cite

Using Critical Care Simulations to Prepare Nursing Students for Capstone Clinical Experiences.

Journal Article Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN · March 2018 The purpose of this innovative learning strategy was to decrease students' fear and anxiety within the critical care environment before the initiation of a critical care capstone clinical experience by enhancing their familiarity of the critical care envir ... Full text Cite

Alterations of Musculoskeletal Function

Chapter · January 10, 2018 This edition includes a NEW chapter on obesity and nutritional disorders, along with expanded coverage of rare diseases and epigenetics. It’s the most comprehensive and authoritative pathophysiology text available! ... Cite

Basic skills for teaching and the advanced practice registered nurse

Chapter · October 20, 2017 Meet all the challenges of professional practice--whatever your specialty or environment. ... Cite

Use of a Virtual Learning Platform for Distance-Based Simulation in an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Curriculum.

Journal Article Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN · September 2017 BackgroundAcute care nurse practitioner (ACNP) programs that use high-fidelity simulation as a teaching tool need to consider innovative strategies to provide distance-based students with learning experiences that are comparable to those in a simu ... Full text Cite

Use of Video Recording to Facilitate Peer-to-Peer Learning in a Prelicensure Nursing Program

Journal Article Teaching and Learning in Nursing · April 1, 2017 Peer-to-peer learning in a prelicensure nursing program allows students to critique one another with decreased stress and anxiety. The use of video recording technology affords students the opportunity to engage in reflective practices of physical assessme ... Full text Cite

Meta-Evaluation: Experiences in an Accelerated Graduate Nurse Education Program.

Journal Article Journal of professional nursing : official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing · November 2015 Most schools of nursing are engaged in some form of program evaluation and recognize the potential benefits in using program evaluation outcomes to influence continuous improvement in program quality. A number of factors exist that may negatively influence ... Full text Cite

Technology and monitoring patients at the bedside.

Journal Article The Nursing clinics of North America · June 2015 Hospital technology has aggressively improved over the past 50 years. With the primary intent of making health care more efficient and safer, the bedside nurse has been impacted by all of these changes. The growth and utilization of point-of-care testing, ... Full text Cite

Bee and wasp stings: reactions and anaphylaxis.

Journal Article Critical care nursing clinics of North America · June 2013 This article provides a brief introduction to the history of anaphylaxis and the order Hymenoptera, which is responsible for most reported sting-induced allergic reactions. The anatomic similarities and differences as well as inhabited similarities and dif ... Full text Cite