Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Perceptions Of A Dedicated Education Unit In The Mississippi Delta, Jacquelyn Felecia Brownlow

Doctoral Projects

The highest health care disparities in the country plague the Mississippi Delta. A weakened economy, minimal access to healthcare and an outdated traditional clinical learning environment place enormous strains on nursing education in this area to provide more nurses. The office of Nursing Workforce reported a 14% to 16% nursing turnover in the Delta compared to the national average of 13.5%. As a result, the health care organization has encountered high nurse turnover, increased staffing shortages, and a decrease in nursing quality indicators. As an effort to improve clinical education and bridge gaps between education and practice, several schools in …

The Development Of A Comprehensive Adhd Program For Elementary School Educators, Angie Lee Echoles

Doctoral Projects

On average, teachers will teach at least one student with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in any given school year without receiving any instructions at all on ADHD. ADHD affects 3% to 7% of school-age students and one in every twenty children (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2010). It is classified as one of the most common mental health disorders affecting school-age students. The American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013) defines ADHD as a hereditary, non-curable, common childhood disorder. A triad of symptoms is associated with this disorder: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, which all have a major impact on …

Narratives By Six Year Old And Nine Year Old Boys: Brute: Institutional, And Non-Institutional Mental Facts, Adam Craig Whipple

Master's Theses

Brute facts, institutional facts, and non-institutional mental facts were studied. The philosophy of constructionism and the theory of intent provided a framework for this research. Intentionality provided the basis for social facts. Brute, institutional, and noninstitutional mental facts were operationally defined. This study analyzed the use of these facts in the narratives of 6-year-old boys and 9-year-old boys. There were a total of 19 participants in this research. This research established brute, institutional, and non-institutional mental facts as appropriate operational categories for studying children's narratives. The 6-year-old boys produced more brute facts than the 9-year-old boys. The 9-year-old boys produced …

A Comparison Of Prostatic Acid Phosphatase With Testosterone And Prostate Specific Antigen For The Serodiagnosis Of Prostate Cancer In Adult Males, Hannah R. Rice

Honors Theses

Cancer is a hyperplastic cellular malignancy that affected 1,436,000 people (newly diagnosed cases) in the United States last year. The top three most frequent forms of cancer were lung, prostate, and breast. Oncogenesis is associated with both genetic predisposition and environmental onslaught, with a mixture of the two being required for the malignancy to progress. Tumor markers, circulating serum factors, are used in the diagnosis of cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of this malignancy, affecting 230,110 men in 2004 alone. Diagnosis of prostate cancer is currently performed using results of an assay for prostate specific …

The Journey To Becoming-Authentic From The Voices Of Nursing Students Living With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Sheryl Lynn Allen

Dissertations

Research and literature on nursing students living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in higher education is deficient in supporting the needs of a growing population. The aim of this study sought to uncover the essence of nursing students’ experiences through a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and promote deeper understanding of the meaning of lifeworld experiences through the lens of critical social theory (CST). CST sustains freedom from ideological restraints to allow exploration into individual experiences. The voices of student participants provide the medium for articulating meaning. An integrative approach using van Manen’s (1990) and Munhall’s (2012) methods guided this study. …

Group Empowerment Capacity And Capability In Schools Of Nursing, Mary Louanne Friend

Dissertations

Nursing education is experiencing rapid changes as nurses are expected to transform and lead health care delivery within the United States. The ability to produce graduates who can promote a culture of safety, and provide patient centered care in collaboration with others will require nursing administrators and faculty who are empowered and able to achieve goals. The Sieloff Theory of Group Empowerment within Organizations (Sieloff & Bularzik, 2011) provided the theoretical basis for this exploratory correlational study examining group empowerment capacity and empowerment in administrators and faculty within the United States. Empowerment was conceptualized as the ability of the group …

Emotional Intelligence And Community Healthcare Productivity, Christopher Jacob Fox

Dissertations

Economic crisis is threatening state budgets. The strain on state budgets effects pensions and the healthcare benefits to communities. Rising healthcare costs and lagging insurance reimbursement rates are forcing healthcare organizations to sustain programs with fewer financial resources. Research studies indicate that payment increases from Medicare and Medicaid will not keep pace with the historical trend in hospital cost inflation (Kaufman, 2011). Of the healthcare facilities affected by federal budget constraints are community mental healthcare centers. The strain on state budgets has taken its toll on community mental healthcare facilities in particular struggling under the healthcare reform initiatives (Simpson, 1995). …

A New Health Informatics Course: A Funded Collaboration, Xinyu Yu

SLIS Connecting

Information access is considered critical to the public health workforce, which involves informatics, communication, analytic assessment, and health education (NN/LM Public Health Training Workgroup, 2004). Information-oriented outreach to the public health workforce is challenging to libraries because the public health workforce is made up of diverse health professions and public health personnel are not aware if key information resources are available to them (Cogdill, 2007). The National Library of Medicine (NLM) funded information outreach to the public health workforce projects in different periods of time, which altogether reflect challenges of providing public health professionals with access to electronic health information …

An Insight Into The Microbial Diversity And Expression Of Cysteine Protease Inhibitors (Cystatin) In Rickettsia Parkeri Infected Amblyomma Maculatum, Khemraj Budachetri

Master's Theses

Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf Coast tick) is an emerging tick species of public health significance in United States. It is a competent vector of Rickettsia parkeri, an etiological agent of a human rickettsiosis. In this study, we investigated the spotted fever group of rickettsial diversity in A. maculatum based on rickettsial ompA gene PCR. Our results showed A. maculatum harbors R. parkeri, R. amblyommii, and R. endosymbiont of A. maculatum. While only R. parkeri was detected in female salivary glands which suggest its ability to traffic from midgut to salivary glands via hemocoel. The presence of R. parkeri was further …

Role Of Msa In Immune Evasion, Persistence, And Protease Regulation In The Human Pathogenic Strains Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Maria Deepa Basco

Dissertations

Opportunistic pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus on entering the host can stay colonized at the foci of infection or evade the immune system to disseminate to other sites. In this study we investigated the regulatory influence of the modulator of sarA (msa) on immune evasion and host persistence, employing the hospital-acquired strain S. aureus UAMS-1 and community-acquired strain S. aureus USA300 LAC. In the murine sepsis model, mutation of the msa gene in LAC showed no change in dissemination of infection; however, in UAMS-1 a decrease in microbial load was observed in the lungs. Differential regulation by the msa gene was …

Biophysical Understanding Of Novel Synthetic Amyloid-Β (Aβ) Prions In Alzheimer's Disease, Amit Kumar

Dissertations

Oligomers of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide are the primary toxic agents that play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Oligomers are the intermediates formed during the Aβ aggregation process leading up to insoluble fibrils. It is important to know that oligomers can also be formed via pathways that do not lead to fibril formation. Such ‘off-pathway’ oligomers would have significantly longer half-lives than the ‘on-pathway’ ones, which may result in prolonged toxicity to neuronal cells. Furthermore, neither the mechanism of neurotoxicity nor the potential mechanisms of propagation and proliferation to neighboring cells are well understood. Moreover, recent …

Examination Of The Pediatric Diabetes Routines Questionnaire In Adolescents: Development Of An Adolescent Self-Report Version And Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Jessica Sima Pierce

Dissertations

Previous literature suggests a positive relationship between general child routines and diabetes treatment adherence. However, research examining routines specific to the diabetes regimen is lacking. Recently, the Pediatric Diabetes Routines Questionnaire (PDRQ) was developed as a parent-report measure of diabetes-specific routines for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Though the PDRQ has provided a means to measure routines specific to the diabetes regimen, limitations exist in regard to its use with adolescents. Thus, the goals of this study were to develop and evaluate a parallel adolescent self-report version (PDRQ: Adolescent; PDRQ:A) of the PDRQ and to examine the psychometric …

Performance Differences Between Novice And Experienced Critical Care Nurses: A Replication Study, Josefina Inoturan Alejandro

Doctoral Projects

No abstract provided.

Attitudes Of Clinically Practicing Registered Nurses In Southern Mississippi Toward Physician-Assisted Death, Robin E. Smith

Honors Theses

Problem

The purpose of this study is to discover unique themes related to the attitudes of nurses in Southern Mississippi toward physician-assisted death (PAD).

Methods

This study is a qualitative, inductive content analysis. The sample comprised three registered nurses currently practicing in Southern Mississippi. The researcher guided each participant’s one-hour interview with questions, then recorded and transcribed the texts for data analysis; and coded and analyzed data. Themes were selected if there was inter-rater agreement of 100% between the researcher and thesis adviser.

Results

The interview questions focused on (a) the presence or absence of support for legalization of PAD, …

The Effect Of Patient Behavior And Race/Ethnicity On The Titration Of Opioid Analgesia, Kirstin N. Kellar

Honors Theses

The undertreatment of pain following surgery is an international problem that the majority of postoperative patients experience. Despite immense technological advances in pain management, the literature remains replete with examples of patients who experience postoperative oligoanalgesia. Because registered nurses play a vital role in the management of patient pain, their practices must be studied. This study examines the correlation between patient race/ethnicity and the titration of opioids in the postoperative setting. The study also explores the knowledge and attitudes that registered nurses possess regarding opioid administration. A convenience sample of 21 perioperative registered nurses was obtained from a hospital in …

Dive Into The Pit: Moshing And Its Effects On Perceived Stress, Sense Of Belonging, & Self-Esteem In College Undergraduates, William Tyler Edwards

Honors Theses

Moshing has been underrepresented in the research field. This is especially true in the area of Therapeutic Recreation. Moshing has been seen as a dangerous and violent form of dance. However, in a controlled environment moshing has the potential to be used as a therapeutic modality.

This study examined the effects of moshing on perceived stress, sense of belonging, and self esteem in undergraduate college students at the University of Southern Mississippi. Data was collected during a five-week moshing dance session through the use of three assessments/surveys, which included the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the …

Effectiveness Of Individualizing Interventions Informed By The Hierarchic Dementia Scale (Hds), Used By Nursing Staff, To Reduce Aggressive Behaviors In An Individual With Alzheimer’S Disease, Nicki E. Relan

Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, representing 60 percent of all cases, and is described as a chronic, progressive, degenerative cognitive disorder. With loss of independence due to cognitive impairment, AD patients become more confused and anxious, which leads to a higher incidence of aggression towards nursing staff. It is paramount that the nursing community seeks new evidence-based healthcare innovations to reduce aggression and to protect caregivers. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of individualizing interventions informed by the Hierarchic Dementia Scale (HDS) to reduce aggressive behaviors in people with Alzheimer’s disease. …

The Impact Of Technology Attitudes And Skills Of Rural Health Clinic Nurses On The Level Of Adoption Of Electronic Health Records In Mississippi, Jennifer Lynn Styron

Dissertations

The evolution of health information technology continues to reform the delivery of efficient, safe, and equitable healthcare in the United States. One such example is the emergence of electronic health records (EHRs) and the discerning emphasis placed on using this technology in meaningful ways. While the integration of EHRs into daily practice impacts all healthcare professionals, nurses remain a prominent driver in the successful adoption and usage of these systems. It is therefore imperative to understand the impact of nurses’ technology attitudes and skills on the level of EHR adoption in Mississippi.

This quantitative study examined the technology attitudes and …

Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Science In The Nursing Curricula, Jill Deanne Maroo

Dissertations

The nursing profession combines the art of caregiving with scientific concepts. Nursing students need to learn science in order to start in a nursing program. However, previous research showed that students left the nursing program, stating it included too much science (Andrew et al., 2008). Research has shown a correlation between students’ attitudes and their performance in a subject (Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003). However, little research exists on the overall attitude of nursing students toward science. At the time of my study there existed no large scale quantitative study on my topic. The purpose of my study was to …

Perceptions Of Workplace Bullying Among Practicing Registered Nurses, Crystal Regina Threadgill

Dissertations

Workplace bullying (WPB) is a social and organizational problem. Within the health care arena, employees, particularly registered nurses, are at risk. WPB has several adverse effects and has been cited in the literature as closely associated with burnout and nurses leaving their positions. This quantitative study examined workplace bullying among practicing registered and its relationship with burnout and nurses’ intent to leave their current position.

The surveys utilized were the Negative Acts Questionnaires-Revised (NAQ-R), Maslach Burnout Inventory Survey, Intention to Turnover Scale and a demographic survey. Of the surveys distributed, a total of 185 were returned from one selected hospital …

Toward A Model For Predicting Depression Among Veterans, Nita Aurora Magee-Cornelius

Dissertations

Major depression, identified as a leading cause of disability in the United States, is often first diagnosed by primary care providers. This disability is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and a lower quality of life. With approximately one in every three veteran diagnosed with depression and the rate of suicide increasing in the United States military (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2009), the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 items (PHQ-2) can be instrumental in identification and monitoring of depressive symptoms. The purposes of this retrospective study were to determine the prevalence of depression, as measured by the federally mandated PHQ-2 in the VA, …

The Relationship Of Moral Distress, Ethical Environment And Nurse Job Satisfaction, Francine M. Parker Edd, Msn, Rn, Ramona B. Lazenby Msn, Rn, Crnp, Jennifer L. Brown B.S.Ed., M.Ed., Ed.S, Ph.D.

Journal of Health Ethics

Nurses are fundamental to the delivery of quality, safe and competent health care in multilevel complex systems. Faced with challenging, dynamic, and evolving patient care and workforce issues, nurses must create ethical environments, which foster a respectful climate in which decisions are made and supported. The current study examined the relationship between ethical climate, frequency of moral distress, intensity of moral distress, and overall job satisfaction among registered nurses at two hospitals located in the Southeastern United States as measured by the Moral Distress Scale and the Hospital Ethical Climate Survey. The results of the correlational study suggest a …

A Mixed Methods Study Of Maternal Competence And Self-Efficacy Theory In First-Time, Low-Income Mothers., Debra Copeland, Bonnie Lee Harbaugh

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.