Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Being Whole: Aligning Personhoods To Achieve Successful Childbirth With A History Of Childhood Sexual Abuse During Perinatal Services, Karla Kendall Richmond Phd, Msn, Rnc, Cns

Dissertations

Being a pregnant female is a temporary condition. A woman with a history of childhood sexual abuse aligns the personhoods of child victim, adult survivor and pregnant female to achieve a successful pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum experience. Female survivors desire to be recognized and function as whole being during the perinatal experience. It is estimated that 15 to 32 percent of females prior to the age of eighteen have unwanted sexual contact. Female survivors carry this history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) with them throughout their lives which may involve childbirth. There are many long-term psychological consequences that can …

Chronically Ill Adolescents' Involvement In Health Treatment Decision Making, Edna B. Domingo Phd

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to explore preferences for involvement of chronically ill adolescents in health treatment decision-making; describe, explain and predict relationships and differences in self-confidence in decision-making between older and younger chronically ill adolescents; and explore relationships between severity of symptoms and self-confidence in health treatment decision-making among chronically ill adolescents. Ten to twenty million American children have some type of chronic illnesses with 90% survival to adulthood. There is lack of current literature on adolescent preferences for involvement in health care decisions. Courts and legislators assume that minors lack the requisite capacity for information, and lack …

Psychosocial Responses By Adolescent Male Victims To Peer Bullying, Karin Eve Reuter-Rice Phd

Dissertations

Bullying remains a pervasive problem in most schools throughout the nation. Peer-bullied victims report higher levels of depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and concerns regarding their safety in school. Reactions of victims to peer bullying have been extreme, as in the cases of the rampage school shooters. Primarily, current research has not focused on the high school adolescent, although most school shooters arise from that age group. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the psychosocial responses by adolescent male victims to peer bullying. Research questions addressed the frequency and severity of peer-victimization, distress, anxiety, and their perception of …

Nursing Students' Knowledge And Attitudes Regarding Pain And Pain Management, Ruth L. Schaffler Phd

Dissertations

Pain is a universal human experience and is a primary reason people seek health care; however, undertreatment of pain has been reported in the literature as a significant clinical problem for more than three decades. Researchers have concluded that nurses have inadequate knowledge of pain assessment, are misinformed about opioids, and have inappropriate attitudes about pain and pain management that lead to the undertreatment of pain. One question is whether those misconceptions are acquired in nursing school or whether they are present when students enroll in nursing programs. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the attitudes regarding …

Incidence And Clinical Predictors Of Risk Factors For Inappropriate Shock In Patients With Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators, Shu-Ling Lo Phd

Dissertations

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a major unresolved medical problem worldwide. Although Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators (ICD) are highly effective in diagnosing and treating life threatening arrhythmias, inappropriate shock therapy (IST) occurs in approximately 5-20% of ICD recipients. IST results in pain, anxiety, induction of ventricular arrhythmias, decreased battery longevity, and even death. Researchers studying clinical predictors of IST have drawn findings based on single case studies with small samples or with outdated data. This study filled this gap by describing the incidence and co-existing clinical predictors of IST. Methodology This descriptive, retrospective study analyzed the incidence and clinical predictors of IST …

An Exploratory Study Of Functional Status In Post Cardiac Arrest Survivors Discharged To Home, John J. Whitcomb Phd

Dissertations

Cardiopulmonary arrest is a major health problem, claiming 350,000 to 450,000 lives per year in the United States, but survival has increased to 49% from the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) by lay personnel. Leidy's work on functional status is a comprehensive framework to describe functional status and has not been used in this population. The specific aims of the project were to describe perceived functional capacity, physical functional performance, mental health, symptom distress, and demographic factors in survivors of cardiopulmonary arrest after discharge to home and to examine the relationship among perceived functional capacity, mental health and physical …

Managing Susceptibility To Hereditary Breast And Ovarian Cancer, Cynthia E. Perry Phd, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

The recent identification of Breast Cancer 1 (BRCA1) and BRCA2 genes offers an opportunity for high-risk individuals to learn whether they may be genetically predisposed to develop breast and/or ovarian cancer. The purpose of this study was to examine how unaffected women, identified as BRCA positive and variant of uncertain significance (VUS) mutation carriers, managed their susceptibility to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC). Thirty North American women ranging in age from 22 to 60 years responded to open-ended interviews. These interviews were analyzed using constant comparative method to generate a grounded theory. Managing Susceptibility was identified as the basic …

The Effects Of Dextromethorphan On Response Acquisition With Delayed Reinforcement, Thomas B. Morgan

Dissertations

The current study examined in 2-h sessions the effects of intraperitoneal injections of dextromethorphan (DM) (0.0, 40.0, 60.0, and 80.0 mg/kg) on the acquisition of lever-press responding in rats that were exposed to a two-lever procedure in which responses on the reinforcement lever (RL) were reinforced with food after a 15-s resetting delay and responses on the cancellation lever cancelled a scheduled reinforcer. Response acquisition was observed at all drug doses. A decrease in RL responses, food deliveries, and the number of subjects that acquired responding was observed at the highest dose of DM. All doses of DM increased latency …

Unintended Pregnancy Prevention And Active Duty Women, Min S. Chung-Park Phd, Msn, Whnp

Dissertations

Studies have shown that a structured education program for women decreases risky sexual behavior identified as vulnerable for AIDS. However, the outcomes from a structured, repeated, educational intervention in reducing the rates of unintended pregnancies have not been studied in military females who are considered as a high risk. The purpose of this quasi-experimental longitudinal study was to implement and evaluate the effects of a reproductive health educational program regarding knowledge, attitudes, decisional balance, self-efficacy, stages of change, and contraceptive use, and to identify independent variables most likely to predict behavior change in the use of contraceptives among single, active …

From Presence To “E-Presence” In Online Nursing Education, Lisa M. Kaiser Phd, Msn, Bsn, Rn

Dissertations

Online web-based course offerings are now common in many institutions of higher education In response to the current and severe nursing shortage, estimated to represent a 20% vacancy rate by the year 2015, (Tarkin, 2003) many more universities have created online nursing courses for registered nurses wishing to continue their education in nursing. The National League for Nursing (NLN) set research priorities that urged exploration of the impact that technology has on the content and nature of teaching and learning in nursing education (1999). Using a series of separate synchronous, online focus groups and 1:1 interviews with nurse educator experts …

Navigating The Change Of Life: The Menopausal Transition Of Thai Immigrant Women, Bulaporn Natipagon-Shah Phd, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

Given that women continue to live more than three decades after menopause and their health and well-being in later life are determined by quality of health during the menopausal transition, menopause has become an important issue in the healthcare arena. The growing number of immigrant women in the United States signifies a need for healthcare providers to develop cultural knowledge and sensitivity toward each immigrant group regarding the issue of menopause. The purpose of this qualitative study was to build a substantive grounded theory of the experiences of menopausal transition among Thai immigrant women in the United States. Data collection …

Reconciling Temporalities: A Substantive Explanation Of The Origins Of Difficulty In The Nurse Patient Encounter, Marilyn Theresa Macdonald Phd

Dissertations

Nurses describe patients as difficult on a regular basis. Nursing research to date has assumed the existence of this phenomenon. Most studies have listed descriptors of the difficult patient and offered interventions for nurses to use to alter patient behavior. Locating of difficulty within the individual and failure to consider the context of the nurse patient encounter is problematic. The practice of locating difficulty in the individual absolves organizations and society of responsibility to work to change factors that contribute to the construction of difficulty. The purpose of this research was to move beyond a focus on the patient as …

Think First For Kids (Tffk): A Longitudinal Analysis Of A School-Based Injury Prevention Curriculum, Dorothy L. Zirkle Phd

Dissertations

Despite years of legislative and public health efforts, unintentional injury continues to be a serious public health problem and is identified as a major priority on the national health care agenda. The high incidence of unintentional injury in the middle childhood age group is of particular interest due to immaturity of the cognitive, psychosocial, and neurophysical dimensions of the child. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a school-based curriculum on improving knowledge and self-reported safety behaviors over time among ethnically and socioeconomically diverse elementary school aged children. The social, cultural, cognitive, and behavioral learning theory …

Narratives Of Adolescent Students: The Integration Of Health And Learning Through Application Of Nursing Theory, Marjean Huber

Dissertations

Problem. There are few resources to show educators how to help students improve learning by improving health and mental well-being. There is a lack of integration in the literature in terms of how practitioners can reach these students in order to help them learn effectively and develop into successful, productive adults with meaningful lives. This study has three major sections. First, I examine my experiences within education to determine what values, truths, and principles mold my practice. Second, I identify my teaching practice in relationship to nursing theory integrating it with learning theory, thus highlighting the relationship between the health …

Seeking Life Balance: The Perceptions Of Health Of Cambodian Women In Resettlement, Olivia Catolico Phd, Msn

Dissertations

This grounded theory study was an inquiry into the perceptions of health of Cambodian women in resettlement and the conditions that influenced their perceptions. Few studies of Cambodian women who escaped political conflict exist. Cambodian women were among the waves of Southeast Asian refugees who have resettled in the United States. The sequelae of significant life trauma upon the health of Cambodian women in resettlement have received little attention in the nursing literature. There is less information about their perceptions of health in resettlement as their beliefs about health and illness causation contrast with those of Western health care providers. …

Demographic Characteristics And Academic Measures As Predictors Of Success On The American Society For Clinical Pathology (Ascp) Medical Technologist Certification Examination, Marcia Ann Kilsby

Dissertations

Purpose. This study was undertaken to address the utility of demographic characteristics and academic measures as predictors of success for the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Registry Medical Technologist Certification Examination (Certification Examination) Total Score and six Subscores and to find predictive models with relevance to an ethnically and racially-diverse student population.

Method. The research population was the graduates of the Andrews University Program for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. The 233 subjects were from 53 different birth countries. The relationships between Certification Examination scores and both demographic characteristics and academic measures were analyzed by chi square, analysis o f …

Intuitive Decision Making And Leadership Style Among Healthcare Executives In The United States, Cherie Whiting

Dissertations

The purpose of this two-phased, sequential, exploratory, mixed-methods study was to survey a sample of Fellows in the American College of Healthcare Executives in the United States and then interview selected individuals who scored in the highly intuitive category on the intuition survey to explore how they made intuitive decisions. In the first phase, quantitative research questions addressed the relationship between leadership style and the potential to make intuitive decisions, as well as the relationship and interaction between the potential to make intuitive decisions and age, gender, and size of company. In the second phase, qualitative interviews were used to …

Perceptions Of Physical Therapy Faculty On The Inclusion Of Spirituality In Physical Therapy Education, Janice C. Pitts

Dissertations

Problem

The physical therapy profession currently does not require the integration of spirituality in patient care in the physical therapy curriculum, and it is unclear how physical therapy faculty and practitioners view its inclusion. There is limited research literature on the integration of spirituality in the field of physical therapy or within its academic environment.

Method

The study utilized standard survey research methodology to gather data relating to spirituality and its inclusion in a physical therapy curriculum. Five participants from each of 101 sampled programs received a survey instrument along with instructions and consent form disseminated through electronic mailing. Data …

Spiritual Well-Being And Quality Of Life As Correlates Of Job Stress Among Academic Chairpersons In Selected Seventh-Day Adventist Tertiary Institutions, Russell Mark Aldridge

Dissertations

Problem . Stress, like pain, begins at birth and remains common to the human condition throughout life, and it is a factor in the experience of every human being who ever lived. It is not merely universal but it is also endemic and omnipresent. Chairpersons, due to the bi-directional demands of administration and students are in a stressful environment. This study was undertaken to identify whether quality of life and spiritual well-being play an important role in occupational stress levels in chairpersons of Seventh-day Adventist Tertiary Institutions.

Method. Three questionnaires were used to get responses from 137 chairpersons in …