Transformational Leadership Approach For Encouraging Historically Marginalized Communities To Access Admission To Naturopathic Medicine, Baljit Khamba

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Many healthcare training institutions lack cultural diversity, including naturopathic medicine. One potential reason is a lack of historically marginalized individuals applying to these medical schools. Attracting communities of colour to healthcare professions, like naturopathic medicine is important for improving healthcare access and delivery across all individuals within North America. This OIP explores the lack of diversity in applicants to the naturopathic medical program at a large multi-centre institution. The role that education and mentorship of faculty members can play to improve implicit biases and eventually encourage historically marginalized individuals to apply to the program is explored. Moreover, the OIP presents …

About Dying And Death: Thanatology's Place In Medical Curriculum, Jill Dombroski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explored how healthcare providers engage in advance care planning and end-of-life care conversations. The research explored what shapes their understanding and the extent to which concepts from thanatology they intuitively bring in, explicitly bring in, and maybe fail to recognize. To achieve this, constructivist grounded theory (CGT) methodology guided the design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation of the findings, which allowed for iteration across interviews and analysis with existing theories and data in the literature. The CGT design encouraged further engagement with the literature in an ongoing iterative fashion as well as with the analysis of the data. …

Hidden In Plain Sight: Finding A Balance Between Assessment And Learning In Competency-Based Education In Canadian Health Care, Scott Murray

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Due to its emphasis on skill development and alignment with workforce demands, competency-based education (CBE) has garnered considerable attention in recent years. My organizational improvement plan (OIP) focuses on the potential benefits of incorporating learners’ voices into CBE in Canadian medical education and proposes a corresponding implementation framework. The traditional CBE model often lacks a critical component: the learner’s voice. My OIP reviews the literature and outlines its theoretical underpinnings (e.g., systems theory, adult education theory) within the scope of authentic leadership. The findings suggest incorporating learners’ voices into CBE to boost engagement, motivation, and agency. In response to such …

Systemic, Institutional, And Teaching Factors In The Delivery Of Interprofessional Education Curriculum In Canada, Mohammad B. Azzam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Canadian federal and several provincial governments are currently collaborating to establish ‘team-based’ primary healthcare—or interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP), which can be effectively accomplished when interprofessional education (IPE) is sustainably delivered by health and social care (HASC) professional education programs. Indeed, achieving the intended patient/client-oriented outcomes of IPE and subsequent IPCP requires deliberate and purposeful considerations of several systemic, institutional, and teaching factors. Regrettably, the analyses of the extent to which these factors have influenced effective IPCP is currently under-researched. In this integrated-article dissertation, we took a purposeful and systematic approach to explore the extent to which these multi-tiered factors …

Transforming School-Based Mental Health To Heal The Collective Soul Wound, Andrea L. Holowka

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Pervasive well-being concerns of youth in Alberta are steadily contributing to society’s collective soul wound. In response to this growing need, K-12 systems are faced with increased demands for school-based mental health services. Public Prairie School Division (PPSD) provides student mental health intervention needs through onsite access to school-based teacher counsellors and referrals to centralized psychologists. However, decisions regarding mental health practitioner allocations or practice standards are often left to individuals and generally follow historical practice. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) problematizes PPSD’s lack of system-wide approaches to mental health interventions that can provide assurance of improved efficacy and equity …

From College To University: Nursing Students' Experience Of Transition, Mary Anne Krahn

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Increasingly complex healthcare systems require nurses to have a greater depth of knowledge and theory application to care for patients safely and competently. To prepare nurses for rapidly changing health care systems, the baccalaureate degree was accepted by the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) as the standard for entry to Registered Nurse practice across Canada and became the entry-to-practice requirement starting in 2005 (Wood, 2011).

In Ontario, this entry-to-practice standard required the development of college and university collaborative partnerships to respond to the resulting implementation and capacity challenges in nursing education (MacMillan & Mallette, 2004). Although these partnerships have been in …

(Re) Evaluating Critical Care Nurse Support Program(S) In A Tertiary Care Hospital: Intersecting The Art And Science Of Nursing, C. Patricia Mazzotta

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

There is a growing critical care nurse staffing shortage with increases in nurse vacancy rates. Moral distress has been exacerbated by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and, in particular, impacting critical care nurses. COVID-19 is a significant contributor to staffing shortages and continued nursing crisis. Thus, the impetus for the Problem of Practice (PoP): the lack of support to address the psychological, emotional, and spiritual distress suffered by critical care registered nurses in a tertiary care hospital in Central Ontario. To comprehend the realities of working in the intensive care units, leaders must first understand nurses’ lived experiences, narratives, and what …

Supporting Post-Secondary Implementation Of Recovery-Oriented Practice In A Stepped Care Model, Janis Campbell

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Student mental health has been a growing concern for higher education communities for many years. Campuses have been struggling to keep up with the increasing demand for services which has been complicated further by the COVID-19 pandemic. A Stepped Care model (SCM) developed at a Canadian university has been offering new ways of organizing mental health resources based on open access, student choice, and recovery principles. There are diverse definitions of recovery in the literature and are usually based on values such as empowerment, respect, and self-determination. SCMs have been shown to increase access to resources and reduce or eliminate …

Improving Sexual Violence Reporting In Higher Education Institutions, Karen D. Kennedy Ms

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Abstract

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) addresses the lack of sexual violence (SV) reporting at an undergraduate university (Coastal U; a pseudonym) where values of equity, diversity, and inclusion are espoused. Nonetheless, students from diverse cultures at Coastal U report a lack of visibility, unclear pathways for reporting, poor student and staff education, and numerous reporting fears, culminating in a lack of SV reporting. A critical and intersectional feminist lens frames this issue as one of social injustice, wherein inequity and lack of inclusion are problematic. Institutional context, capacity, and readiness, together with consideration of external factors, led to three …

The Development, Short-Term Efficacy, And Pilot Implementation Of An E-Learning Course In Physical Activity And Sedentary Behaviour For Pre-Service Early Childhood Educators, Brianne Bruijns

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The overarching purpose of this dissertation was to develop an e-Learning course in physical activity and sedentary behaviour and test its short-term efficacy and implementation among pre- and in-service early childhood educators (ECEs). The Delphi approach was adopted for Study 1, wherein a panel of international experts in physical activity and sedentary behaviour suggested topics for the course and, together with a panel of ECE experts, rated their importance. Study 2 employed a pre-post design to explore the changes in pre- and in-service ECEs’ physical activity and sedentary behaviour-related knowledge, self-efficacy, behavioural intention, and perceived behavioural control following course completion. …

A Transformative Journey: The Lived Experience Of Healthcare Learners Participating In Pain Management Education, Zoe A. Leyland

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There is little emphasis on pain management education for healthcare providers. In September 2019, the Master of Clinical Science (MClSc) program in Advanced Healthcare Practice at Western University in London, Ontario introduced a new, “Interprofessional Pain Management” (IPM) field. The program follows a competency-based framework, and the learners are all practicing healthcare providers with a special interest in pain. Part of the purpose of this thesis is to describe the process of development and implementation. The objective is to provide educators and healthcare providers an in-depth look at how the pain education is experienced. This includes exploring the lived experience …

A Curriculum Framework At Glsm, A Canadian Medical School, Jeff Bachiu

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Medical education has seen minor changes over the decades, but a dynamic movement towards competency-based medical education (CBME) has swept across the field in recent years. Organizing medical education curriculum to respond to these changes can be challenging due to many factors, in both content and context. The public rightly expects that graduating medical students be competent physicians, ready to deliver effective health care. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) looks at a relatively new medical school’s lack of an outcomes-based curriculum framework. The Problem of Practice (PoP) is focused on the difficulty of moving the school toward the development of …

Implementing Innovative Mental Health Supports And Services At A Post-Secondary Institution, Adam K. Lawrence

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

In 2020, the Government of Ontario published a report entitled In It Together: Foundations for Promoting Mental Wellness in Campus Communities. This document outlines that the priority of post-secondary institutions should be the health and well-being of students by ensuring that students receive the supports they need to be successful. Most importantly, the document outlines a community approach needed for students to access mental health supports and services on their campuses. Many post-secondary students are becoming increasingly aware of their own mental health needs prior to enrolling at university or college. This has resulted in a culture on post-secondary …

Building A Co-Curricular Wellness Program For Medical Students At A Canadian Medical School, Renea D. Leskie

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The increasing number of medical students who present with mental illness and burnout is becoming a very real challenge among medical schools nationally and globally, prompting a need for medical schools to address this very real problem. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) seeks to help solve this problem by means of a co-curricular wellness program aimed at preventing mental illness and burnout from happening. Rather than being reactive as students self-identify as having a mental illness, this OIP argues for preventative measures that help to prevent mental illness and burnout from occurring at all.

Using a three-pronged leadership approach of …

Development Of An Academic-Service Alliance To Address New Graduate Registered Nurses’ Practice Readiness, M. Dianne Norman

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

New Graduate Registered Nurses’ (NGRN) lack of practice readiness is a Problem of Practice (PoP) impacting hospitals. Stemming from the evolving complexity of today’s healthcare environment and the generalist nature of the baccalaureate nursing program, the lack of NGRN practice readiness increases hospital-based orientation costs, patient safety risks, and NGRN attrition. There is currently no formal structure in which key stakeholders can address the NGRN lack of knowledge, skills and judgment and the associated implications for the safety and quality of patient care. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) examines NGRN practice readiness within the organizational context of the Health Centre …

Evaluation Of The Basic Science Pre-Clerkship Curriculum In Medicine At Western University, Madeleine E. Norris

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Basic sciences are a cornerstone of undergraduate medical education (UME), upon which the clinical sciences are built, however, research indicates that students’ basic science knowledge is not well retained. Additionally, UME curricula vary with respect to which basic science content is delivered, the depth in which it is taught, and the employed instructional methods, which could influence trainees’ knowledge retention. Thus, there is a need for an educational model that ensures students are competent in the fundamentals prior to entering a clinical setting. This investigation provides insights into current strengths and potential areas for improvement with respect to basic science …

Quality Assurance In Competency Training Of Pre-Anesthesia Consultation Skills, Michelle Wong

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The absence of quality assurance in training clinicians to perform pre-anesthesia consultations at a Canadian university is the Problem of Practice addressed in this Organizational Improvement Plan. This competency requires learners to apply their anesthesia knowledge to take medical histories; perform physical examinations; diagnose anesthetic risks; and generate anesthesia plans. Random chart audits of many learners identify deficiencies and suggest inconsistent training of this competency. This Organizational Improvement Plan analyzes the anesthesia program’s organizational context to be a complex adaptive system; organizational structure to be a hierarchy; and organizational state to be static. Through the paradigms of complexity theory, interpretivism, …

Exploring Resiliency During The Nursing Student Clinical Experience, Natalie N. Mcmullin

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

In nursing programs, it is common for students to not complete their degree (Van Hoek et al., 2019). This problem is perpetuated as students who experience high stress and lack resiliency are more likely to be unsuccessful or take longer to complete their nursing degree (Van Hoek et al., 2019). Resiliency is not only important for students during their degree, it is essential to continuously strengthen it throughout their nursing career (Turner & Kaylor, 2015). The aims of this organizational improvement plan will be to empower nursing students to be more resilient in the clinical setting so that they are …

Supporting Indigenous Students: A Critical Analysis Of The Sociocultural Context Of Nursing Education, Kay E. Vallee

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to critically examine the sociocultural context of nursing education as an institution. Using a postcolonial feminist theoretical framework and institutional ethnography, I illuminated the institutional complex of nursing education. This study addressed the following research questions: 1) How do practices, programs, and policies coordinate social relations within the institution of nursing education; and 2) How are Indigenous students’ everyday lives shaped by the institution of nursing education?

Multiple methods were used to collect data, including: interviews, observations, and text analysis. Interviews were conducted with students, educators, and administrators and others involved in nursing education. …

Undergraduate Nurse Educators’ Perceived Structural Empowerment, Self-Efficacy For Teaching, And Perceptions Of Uncivil Classroom Behaviours In Academic Settings, Molly A. Hunter

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: This study examined the relationship among structural empowerment in academia, nurse educators’ self-efficacy for teaching, and their perceptions of the types and frequencies of uncivil classroom behaviours.

Methods: 56 participants, registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), responded to a mail-out survey package containing four tools corresponding to each study variable. The analysis includes study descriptives, ANOVA analyses, correlations of total and subscales, and mediation analyses of the major study variables.

Results: A moderate level of structural empowerment and a high level of self-efficacy for teaching was found within the study. A significant indirect relationship was seen …

Staying Current In Your Field Of Interest: Tips For Aspiring Students As Researchers, Dor D. Abelman

Health Studies Publications

Undergraduate students are becoming increasingly involved in research. They already posses the skills required to make meaningful contributions to their field of interest. Some important components of their success relates to a student's ability to stay up to date in the research of their field, and to learn practical skills pertaining to the publishing process. This article hopes to help with this through presenting easy-to-follow summary tables and short paragraphs on tips for success. Topics include staying up to date in a practical way, getting involved, reaching out for help, and publication. For students, by students, this report is relatable …

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Medical Students’ Reflective Writing: Social Accountability, The Hidden Curriculum, And Critical Reflexivity, Stacey Ritz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In recent years, many medical schools have adopted a ‘social accountability’ approach, implementing a variety of activities and curricula aimed at developing a sense of social responsibility in medical students. The research of this thesis uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to scrutinize the writing of senior medical students, with a view to uncovering how identity, ideology, and social position are expressed by students who have undertaken a curriculum designed with social accountability in mind. The analysis examines the conditions of discourse practice, student orientations to a professional medical identity, and ideologies of community, rurality, indigeneity, and gender. I discuss these …

Interprofessional Socialization And Dual Identity Development Amongst Cross-Disciplinary Students, Hossein Khalili

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to develop and test an interprofessional socialization (IPS) framework through assessing the impact of an IPS-based interprofessional education program on interprofessional socialization and dual identity development among health professional students. Although health professional educational programs have been successful in equipping graduates with skills, knowledge and professionalism, the emphasis on specialization and profession-specific education has enhanced the development of a uniprofessional identity, which has been found to be a major barrier towards Interprofessional Person-Centered Collaborative Practice (IPCPCP). Despite the growing acknowledgment of IPS in the current IPE and collaborative practice literature, there is a lack …