Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Exploring The Relationship Between Staffing And Long-Term Care Worker Mental Health, Matthew R. Trombley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research delves into the relationship between staffing levels during a crisis in the healthcare workforce and the mental well-being of long-term care workers, with a specific focus on variables such as burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction. With increasing workforce shortages, the attention to providing quality care during this tumultuous period has become increasingly urgent. There has been scarce empirical research that has explicitly sought to comprehend the connection between staffing levels and the mental health of long-term care professionals. This study was designed as a non-experimental, quantitative correlational investigation, aiming to understand the intricate dynamics between patient-to-staff ratios …

Engaging In Research: Reflections From Summer Undergraduate Research Assistants, Elyse Sumarsono, Julia Raugh

Wisdom & Compassion: The LUSON Journal

The aim of the journal was to organize the reflections of two undergraduate nursing students regarding the journey of navigating through summer research along with faculty. Through this reflective experience, research assistants were able to identify many benefits that come with participating in the research conduction process that should encourage other undergraduate students to involve themselves in future research. Research assistants were challenged to take on new and unknown tasks in a high-level research study, which ultimately enhanced skills for future academic success and professional careers as nurses.

Child Abuse From A Nursing Perspective: Assessment And Implications, Ashtyn Spring

Senior Honors Theses

Nurses experience the relationship dynamics between pediatric patients and their families firsthand. Being informed by the goals of holistic care, nurses should be assessing for unhealthy dynamics among pediatric patients and their caregivers so they can respond appropriately when a potential for abuse is present. Healthcare workers have the duty to provide safety and healing to their patients. Through the unique contact nurses have with patients, their training for accurate assessment skills, and their responsibility as healthcare workers, nurses are placed with the opportunity to help children out of abusive situations. Prompt identification of the potential for abuse can prevent …

Virtue Ethics In Nursing: A Review Of The Literature, Abigail Chu

Senior Honors Theses

Background

Human flourishing is at the heart of healthcare. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle proposes virtue ethics, the idea that humans find and fulfill their purpose through flourishing. Virtue ethics posits that an individual flourishes by forming habits that promote excellence (both moral excellence and excellence in skill) while modeling people who possess the ideal traits. Virtue ethics emphasizes eudaimonia or human flourishing as embodying the highest good and an overall state of wellbeing.

Purpose

The purpose of this integrative literature review is to examine how virtue ethics in nursing can promote human flourishing.

Methods

Twenty-nine articles were reviewed for …

Exploring Therapeutic Nurse-Patient Communication: Techniques And Barriers, Pierina Rossini

Senior Honors Theses

Effective nurse-patient communication, also described as therapeutic communication, is essential for providing high quality nursing care. It increases patient satisfaction and health, decreases patient anxiety and disease symptoms, and increases patient cooperation and compliance to treatment. Some therapeutic communication techniques include attentive listening, empathy, silence, focusing, open-ended questions, clarification, exploring, clarifying, and summarizing. Unfortunately, there are barriers to therapeutic communication that have been identified. Research regarding nurse-patient therapeutic communication, consisting of secondary, qualitative, descriptive data, points to several barriers to therapeutic communication. Some of the barriers to therapeutic communication include nurse-patient gender difference; patient physical discomfort; nurse-patient language, culture, and …

Organizational Strategies To Promote Nurse Resilience In The Acute Care Hospital Inpatient Setting: An Integrative Review, Marcia A. Depolo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Nurses practicing in acute care hospital environments are exposed to constant stressors from a variety of sources. Workplace stress can lead to unhealthy coping behaviors, illness, and burnout, with intent to leave the organization or the nursing profession altogether. Resilience-building strategies can be employed to foster coping, improve nurse wellbeing, increase job satisfaction, promote retention, and enhance quality patient outcomes. This integrative review provides a synthesis of scholarly publications on nursing resilience from January 2014 through October 2020. Themes to promote nursing resilience occurred at three levels: personal or individual, unit or group, and organizational. This paper will provide a …

Improving Newborn Outcomes Through Implementation Of Delayed Bathing: An Integrative Review, Tennille Ideen O'Connor

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Evidence-based practice is foundational to ensuring patient safety and quality of care. Implementing evidence-based practice is the responsibility of all care providers. The completion of an in-depth integrative review provides a project leader the opportunity to explore the benefits of delayed bathing of the newborn and impact of the practice on newborn outcomes. The goal of this integrative review is to identify the benefits of delayed bathing and ways to implement this practice in the clinical setting. This integrative review seeks to present care providers with the most recent research and guidelines as it relates to the practice of delayed …

Nursing With The Heart Of Christ, Gwen E. Boda

Senior Honors Theses

Within the nursing profession it is necessary for the nurse to learn to have love, compassion, joy, peace, patience, humility, and integrity within his/her character. After reviewing numerous peer reviewed journals and personal examples, the following paper reveals how these traits – love, compassion, joy, peace, patience, humility, and integrity – are beneficial within the nursing profession. The paper defines the mentioned characteristics, shows how they can be used and implemented within the nursing practice, demonstrates how their implementation leads to greater patient care, and then compares these traits and actions to the character and person of Christ.

Deaf Access To Healthcare, Jennifer L. Yates

Senior Honors Theses

Modern medical professionals strive to provide culturally competent care; however, Deaf[1] culture remains overlooked. Common language and experience draw deaf individuals together as a cultural group. Ignorance about Deaf culture perpetuates barriers to holistic care in the medical setting. Deaf patients receive misdiagnoses, delayed treatment, and privacy breaches. Deaf culture understandably avoids healthcare and is characterized by numerous health disparities as a result. Obstacles hindering Deaf access to healthcare are directly opposed to the intended therapeutic relationship and holistic care. Increased awareness of Deaf culture is required to improve the Deaf’s access to healthcare.

[1] The word deaf should …

From The Top Down: Assisting Critical Care Nurses In Coping With Job Stresses, Cynthia R. Bryant

Senior Honors Theses

Critical Care nurses are faced with traumatic scenarios on a daily basis at work and are expected to remain professional in the face of chaos. In the midst of caring for their patients and catering to each family’s emotional needs, their own mental health tends to get pushed aside. Nurses are expected to remain supportive to sick patients and their families while enduring psychologically disturbing images and sounds, witnessing phases of the dying process, and hearing end-of-life care decisions being made. Because these nurses are only human, their energy reserves are rapidly depleted and they are left emotionally exhausted. Nurses …

Goals Of Exclusive Breastfeeding And The Effectiveness Of Programs And Initiatives In Attaining Them, Natalie Scott

Senior Honors Theses

Over recent years, breastfeeding has gained renewed significance in research and practice. Both in the United States and around the world, especially in poor countries that do not have easy access to quality healthcare, breastfeeding has been shown to dramatically and positively affect the health and lifespan of infants. However, there is still a low prevalence of effective breastfeeding practices universally. Even with the presence of global programs and goals that are geared toward exclusive breastfeeding habits, global rates are lower than what is desired. There are various determinants of breastfeeding that factor into a woman’s decision and practice of …

Faith Community Nursing: Bridging The Gap Between Effective Healthcare And Biblical Ministry, Moriah Kenna

Senior Honors Theses

The United States’ traditional health care system is unprepared to combat the growing rates of chronic illness in its population. With over 90% of those aged 66 years and older living with a chronic illness, an emphasis on preventative care must be enacted. Faith community nursing is a viable and effective option for long-term preventative management of chronic illnesses in the community. Faith community nursing fits both the mission of the Christian church and the needs of the healthcare community and greater awareness of this must be achieved in both the faith and healthcare sectors to bring about maximum results.

Horizontal Violence Effect On Nurse Retention, Victoria M. Cox

Doctoral Dissertations and Scholarly Projects

Horizontal violence is known by a variety of terms such as lateral violence, bullying, and incivility. Christie and Jones (2014) describe lateral violence as a problem in nursing where a behavior is demonstrated through harmful actions that occur between nurses. Studies have revealed how horizontal violence affects nurse retention. Horizontal violence is a relevant issue in the healthcare community, yet often goes undiscussed. Walrafen (2012) explains that an outcome of horizontal violence in nursing is directly proportional to a decrease in retention of nurses. Sherman (2012) proclaimed that nurses who are subjected to horizontal violence have low self-esteem, depression, excessive …

Thermal Burns And Smoke Inhalation Injuries, Anna Cox

The Kabod

In this pathophysiology paper, the reader is presented with a profile of an elderly patient who recently suffered thermal burns and smoke inhalation injuries as a result of a nursing home fire. This patient’s severe burns were classified as deep partial-thickness and full-thickness and her total body surface area (TBSA) of burns was over 15%. This paper details the different types of burns, the varying clinical manifestations of thermal burns, smoke inhalation injuries, laboratory values associated with burns, and the multitude of treatment necessary for each stage of burn management. Wound healing is described as well as potential risks and …

The Effects Of Nursing Care On The Patient Experiencing A Stillborn Birth, Katherine Totten

Senior Honors Theses

Childbirth has the potential of being one of the most joyous and fulfilling experiences a woman goes through in her entire life. Being a mom, driving the kids to soccer practice, and sitting around the Christmas tree with the family can easily be seen as an ideal life. Conversely, the negative experiences with childbirth are rarely discussed. There is an overlooked category: moms who conceive but lose the baby in the womb. Not only are these women overlooked, but also the hospital care they receive proves inconsistent with the latest research. Nurses and doctors should be aware of the latest …

Malnutrition And Diseases Affecting The Children Of Uganda, Crystal Brooke Baldwin

Senior Honors Theses

Every day there are children in underdeveloped countries, such as Uganda, who are struggling to survive on minimal food, money, and other resources. These children do not have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a normal childhood because their main focus is on survival. Many of these children will die because of preventable disease and starvation that have resulted from the endless cycle of poverty and lack of education. Those who are lucky enough to survive must fight a daily battle to find the nutrients they need and to combat the diseases they may acquire. It is heartbreaking to …

Providing Holistic And Spiritual Nursing Care, Jessika D. Gore

Senior Honors Theses

Holistic nursing is care of the whole person, which addresses physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational aspects of health. Historically, nursing has always integrated these aspects into providing care. Nursing developed out of religious orders and was predominantly a way to serve God by serving the poor and the sick. Florence Nightingale believed that nursing was her calling from God and her faith and spirituality influenced every aspect of her care. Nurses today are often fearful of addressing the spiritual needs of their patients, despite research that demonstrates the importance of providing care in these areas. Nurses can use interventions …

The Challenges And Blessings Of Missionary Nursing In Africa, Jordan E. Woosley

Senior Honors Theses

Nursing is a popular career choice in the twenty-first century, and there are many opportunities within the profession to serve. An American nurse has the ability to utilize nursing skills in Africa and share knowledge with the locals. The American nurse may face challenges when adapting to the African culture and healthcare but also may be blessed by the work and ministering to the people. The American nurse faces specific challenges such as educational differences, lack of facilities and equipment, unique diseases, and poor sanitation. In spite of these challenges, the American missionary nurse is able to grow through this …

Barriers To Diabetes Care In Appalachia: Challenges Faced By Healthcare Providers, Megan Cullinan

Senior Honors Theses

Appalachia is a region of the United States that is characterized by high rates of poverty, low levels of education, elevated incidence of chronic disease, and inadequate healthcare. Compared to the national average, the area has an elevated incidence of Type 2 diabetes. Though this disease process is an issue that must be addressed by healthcare providers, these providers face many challenges and barriers to providing adequate care for this disease in the Appalachian population. Barriers to care include geography with limited transportation, an inadequate number of healthcare personnel, patient inability to afford healthcare, patient attitudes toward diabetes care, and …

A Study Of Expressed Emotion In Psychiatric Nurses And Its Relation To The General Role And Effects Of Emotions In Nursing, Lauren A. Buck

Senior Honors Theses

Nurses play a vital role in the health and care of a patient. Through that care, the nurse has the ability to improve the patient’s experience or ruin it. A vital component influencing the care provided are the emotions the nurse displays toward her coworkers, patients, and patients’ family members. The emotions of a nurse may positively or negatively impact a patient. The studies that examine the impact of the nurse’s emotions on patient’s outcomes are varied and few. The communication and emotion of nurses are likely to impact their care and, from that, the patient’s outcome; however, there is …

Anencephaly: Concepts Of Personhood, Ethical Questions, And Nursing Care, Jessica L. Ryskamp

Senior Honors Theses

Anencephaly is a neural tube defect that severely limits the lifespan of affected infants. While these infants have no higher brain function, they are still persons, and should be given the same moral and ethical considerations as healthy infants. With this in mind, organ donation procedures should follow the same guidelines that apply to other donors. Because a large part of nursing care for anencephalic infants is palliative care, nurses need appropriate training to care effectively for both the infant and the family, providing for physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs.