Abstract

Problem: Iowa has the highest average indoor radon levels in the United States, but awareness, testing, and mitigation rates remain low in rural communities. Many residents are unaware of radon’s health risks, and primary care settings offer an opportunity for environmental health education. This project addressed gaps in radon knowledge and testing behaviors among adults in a rural outpatient clinic.

Intervention: A brief, five-minute radon education session was offered during routine clinic visits using evidence-based educational materials. The intervention focused on radon health risks, Iowa’s radon prevalence, testing procedures, mitigation options, and available community resources. Education was delivered in person by the project investigator to ensure consistency and reliability.

Measures: Participants completed a pre-survey before the educational session and a follow-up survey two weeks later. Surveys assessed radon knowledge, perceived susceptibility and severity, perceived barriers, confidence in completing a radon test, and testing-related behaviors. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize responses.

Results: Thirty-six adults completed the pre-survey, and 32 completed the two-week follow-up survey. Baseline findings demonstrated limited radon knowledge and low confidence in completing home radon testing. Follow-up results demonstrated increased understanding of radon health risks, increased confidence in completing a radon test, and reduced perceived barriers to testing. At the two-week follow-up, nine participants (28.2%) reported having previously tested their homes for radon. Of those participants, five had completed mitigation, while four had not. The remaining 23 participants (71.9%) had not yet used a radon test kit. No participant obtained a radon test kit or completed new testing during the project period due to supply limitations and time restraints. Several participants verbally noted increased confidence about testing once they were able to obtain a kit. Overall, the intervention was easy to deliver within routine clinic operations and required minimal resources.

Conclusions: A brief, structured radon education session delivered in a rural outpatient clinic improved radon knowledge and confidence in testing. The education session fit smoothly into routine clinic visits and required no additional staffing or scheduling adjustments. Expanding this intervention to additional rural clinics and offering free radon test kits may further increase testing rates and improve environmental health outcomes.

Description

NRS 882: Doctoral Scholarly Project IV

Evidence-Based Practice Quality Improvement Project using a Pre-Post Implementation Design

Author Details

Anna L. Gill, BSN, RN, CGRN, DNP-FNP Student; Gina Crudden, DNP, APRN-CNS, ACCNS-AG, CMSRN, FCNS

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quality Improvement

Research Approach

Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice

Keywords:

Radon, Rural Health Services, Clinics, Medical Education, Place-Based Education, Environmental Health, Patient Education, Health Belief Model, Rural Nursing, Iowa

Advisor

Gina Crudden

Second Advisor

Tara Whitmire

Third Advisor

Whitney Robertson

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Nebraska Methodist College

Degree Year

2026

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

Date of Issue

2026-10-14

Full Text of Presentation

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