Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Perceptions Of Home Health Nurses' Caring Behaviors By Home Health Patients And Nurses, Carol L. Schwanebeck

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify how home health patients and nurses in the rural home health setting in a southeastern state perceived different nurse behaviors related to caring.

The Experience Of Caregiving And The Expressed Needs Of Children Of Elders, Mandi B. Lewis

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this qualitative ethnography was to describe the experience of caregivers who resided with their elder dependent parents and to discover caregiver needs.

Determinants Of Early Subsequent Pregnancy Among Teenage Mothers, Susan Curl Brame

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to ascertain characteristics that influence the incidence of an early repeat teen pregnancy.

Motivations For Initiation Of Early Prenatal Care For Women Of Poverty Level Residing In Mississippi, Bruce Giamalva

MSN Research Projects

This study was designed to determine what factors motivate women of poverty level residing in Mississippi to initiate early prenatal care.

Factors Influencing The Attitudes Of Nurses Regarding Victims Of Spouse Abuse, Christina Montague

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of elevated lead levels in children ages 1 to 6 years who received health care in a military facility.

Correlation Of Attitudes And Values Of Nurse Practitioners And Levels Of Confidence, Janell Carter

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to correlate attitudes and values of nurse practitioners and levels of confidence in the role.

The Effect Of Empowerment Interventions Of An Interdisciplinary Team On The Self-Esteem Of Homeless Adolescent Girls, Patricia Gootee

MSN Research Projects

This quasi-experimental study examined the interventions intended to improve self-esteem in homeless adolescent girls.

The Correlation Between Health Behaviors And Compliance With Hypertension Treatment Regimens In Middle-Aged Adults, Marilyn Williams

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to determine the correlation between health behaviors and compliance with hypertension treatment regimens in middle-aged adults.

Perceptions Of Home Health Nurses' Caring Behaviors By Home Health Patients And Nurses, Carol L. Schwanebeck

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify how home health patients and nurses in the rural home health setting in a southeastern state perceived different nurse behaviors related to caring.

The Incidence Of Elevated Blood Lead Levels In Children Ages 1 To 6 Years Who Receive Care In A Military Health Care Facility, Christina Montague

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of elevated lead levels in children ages 1 to 6 years who received health care in a military facility.

External Locus Of Control And Negative Life Experiences In Persons With Chronic Fatigue And Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, Pamela Thomas Priebe

Student Dissertations & Theses

A review of related literature indicated a person's perception of negative life experiences may be unusually high prior to the onset of an illness. An external locus of control belief system may also be present prior to the onset of an illness. The present study used the Life Experiences Survey measure to compare the perception of life experiences of a group of people with CFIDS and a group of people without CFIDS. The present study also used the Locus of Control Scale to measure the locus of control belief system for the same two groups of people. The results of …

The Effect Of Cardiac Rehabilitation On Quality Of Life, Anxiety, And Self-Care In Coronary Artery Disease Patients, Susan Susskind Wilkinson

Theses & Dissertations

This study was designed to explore the effect of cardiac rehabilitation program participation on anxiety, quality of life, and self-care among coronary artery disease patients.

Major lifestyle changes are required after a person experiences an acute coronary event. Rehabilitation programs for coronary artery disease patients are designed to assist the patient with these lifestyle changes by altering the survivor's self-care patterns and improve long-term physical and psychological outcomes. By coordinating education, counseling, and exercise programs, the nurse can help individuals move toward a maximal physiological, psychological, social and vocational recovery. This study was designed to explore the effect of cardiac …

Effective Changes In Hospital Patient Accounting Since The Prospective Payment System (Pps), Carol L. Francke

Dissertations

This is a multiple case study that examined three hospital patient accounting departments since the adoption of the prospective payment system (PPS). The cases were chosen based on similarities such as their size and dependence on government programs for reimbursement, interviews were conducted and documents were reviewed from 1985 and 1990. Measures of gross revenue days in accounts receivable and the ratio of the number of full time equivalents (FTEs) to patient encounters were used to determine whether these patient accounting departments were more efficient in 1990 than in 1985.

Despite their selection of different forms of adaptation, all three …

The Environment: Alive, Whole, Interconnected And Interacting, Dorothy Kleffel Dnsc, Mph, Bsn, Rn

Dissertations

Nurses frequently care for individuals whose conditions are related to destructive environmental influences. Although the environment is a central construct in the nursing paradigm, its definition is client oriented, circumscribed, and does not adequately explain situations emanating from the larger physical, social, cultural, political, or economic spheres of the environment. This research described an expanded, ideal, environmental nursing domain derived from selected upstream scholars whose work has addressed broad environmental dimensions. Using the concept of future search, once this idealized environmental domain is envisioned, the nursing profession can begin to discover the knowledge base that is needed in order to …

Stab Wounds To Rat Brains : Demyelination, Remyelination And The Cellular Response, Particularly Of Oligodendrocytes, Xie Dangci

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The present body of knowledge concerning the results of central nervous system injury is incomplete and controversial. The role of oligodendrocytes, the cells involved in phagocytosis, the stages of demyelination, and the evidence for remyelination are of interest. Following stab wounds to rat brain cortex, corpus callosum and hippocampus, the animals were examined at 4,7,11,18,23,29,45,60 and 70 days postoperation (dpo). To help in the identification of cells immunocytochemical markers for astrocytes and immature oligodendrocytes were used. These were labels for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and myelin/oligodendrocyte specific protein (MOSP) respectively. Light and electron microscopy were correlated using conventionally prepared …

The Relationship Of Dietary And Lifestyle Factors To Bone Mineral Density Of Healthy Singaporean Chinese Women, Ampai Dana Aimsiri

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Few studies have examined the risk factors associated with reduced bone mass in Asians, but none specifically investigated Singaporean Chinese women. The subjects in this study were 16 premenopausal, 8 perimenopausal and 13 postmenopausal women who participated in a larger study which began in 1986. Bone density was measured in 1986 and 1992. Dietary and lifestyle data were collected for this study by personal interview. Association between dietary and lifestyle factors and bone density variables and change in bone density at the end of the 6 year period were assessed by univariate regression analyses.

Postmenopausal women had significantly lower baseline …

Effects Of Furosemide And Oleic Acid On Thyroxine Binding To Isolated Pairs Of Thyroxine Binding Serum Proteins, Deborah Hustead

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Dosage dependent binding inhibition and redistribution of thyroxine (T₄) between three pairs of thyroxine binding serum proteins, TBG-TTR, TBG-albumin and TTR-albumin, by furosemide (0.0 to 1.0 mol/L) and oleic acid (0.0 to 0.10 mol/L) were studied using equilibrium dialysis with purified binding proteins at concentrations 1/200 of levels in normal human sera, separated across the dialysis membrane and competing for T₄.

Furosemide (1.0 mol/L) reduced TBG bound T₄ in both the TBG-TTR system and TBG-albumin system (>90% decrease) and inhibited T₄ binding to TTR in the TTR-albumin system (68% decrease) and to albumin …

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Sexually Abused Children And Implications For Therapy, Robbie Jones

Student Dissertations & Theses

This study examined the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in sexually abused children. Sixty-seven children volunteered to participate in this study. Of the 67 children, 33 (26 female and 7 male) were sexually abused and 34 (22 female and 12 male) were non-sexually abused. Several instruments were employed to assess the severity of the symptoms of PTSD including the Children's PTSD Inventory, the Child Behavior Checklist, and the Children's Depression Inventory, as well as others. The results of this study showed that sexually abused children have more symptoms of PTSD than non-sexually abused children. Early diagnosis and treatment of …

Integrating Chronic Illness Into One's Life: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Susan Rush Michael Dnsc, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

Chronic illness is currently the number one health problem facing the United States; however, little is known about the experience of making chronic illness a part of one's life, particularly from the perspective of the chronically ill person. If nurses are to assist people in living with chronic illness, then an understanding of this experience is essential. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to explore how chronically ill adults integrate chronic illness into their lives. Seventeen chronically ill adults were interviewed by the researcher, and asked to describe how they integrated chronic illness into their lives. Each interview …

The Production And Characterization Of A Monoclonal Antibody To A Naturally Occurring Aminomalonic Acid Epitope And A Comparison With An Antibody To A Synthetically Derived Aminomalonic Acid Epitope, James L. Gulley

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The goal for this project is to undertake the first step in the study of blocking metastasis by a monoclonal antibody. The long range goal of this line of research is to study a novel mechanism for the blocking of tumor metastasis in general and prostatic cancer metastasis in particular. The problem that this addresses is the growing number of cases of prostatic cancer in the increasingly aging male population. This cancer is not lethal unless it metastasizes, yet there is no cure for the metastatic disease. The inherent specificity of a monoclonal antibody combined with the uniqueness of the …

Short And Long Term Effects Of Proton Microbeam Irradiation : In The Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Of Felis Domesticus, Chad Sherwood Reder

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Little is known of the effects of proton irradiation on neural tissue. A 1.0 mm microbeam was used on the cat lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) to quantify the short term (< 3 months) and long term (< 9 months) effects of radiation damage. The LGN is a large structure with well defined afferent, efferent, and receptive field properties.

Electrophysiological and histological techniques were used to examine the effects of the microbeam at 60, 40, and 16 Gy, administered as a single bolus. Recordings of light evoked responses in the LGN were obtained using microelectrodes in nine animals within 12 weeks of irradiation, and 6 animals within 36 weeks of irradiation. Receptive fields were mapped onto a tangent screen using standard receptive field techniques. Histological measures included afferent …

A Comparative Analysis Of Prospective Nursing Patient Classification And Retrospective Nursing Patient Classification, Dana Larmore Hlusko

Nursing Theses & Dissertations

Nursing patient classification systems have been in use in some form since Florence Nightingale first arranged her patients in wards (Giovanetti, 1978). Prospective classification systems which have been implemented in hospitals now generate billing information, staff budgets and long-range financial forecasts (Giovanetti, 1978; Alward, 1983; Edwardson and Giovanetti, 1987). Quantitative analysis using at-test indicated a significant difference in mean acuity scores in the prospective and retrospective data which pointed to a retrospective system as being more appropriate for billing, budgeting and finance decisions. Spearman's correlation analysis did not demonstrate a strong correlation between any indicators or with total acuity. Several …

The Impact Of Shift Length On Absentee Rates, Margo A. Karsten

Nursing ETDs

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the difference in absenteeism rates between medical/surgical Registered Nurses (RN's), who work either eight-hour or 12-hour shifts. The study sought to examine the impact length of shift may have had on absenteeism.

Data were collected and analyzed from 80 automated personnel records in one acute-care hospital. Eight medical/surgical units were used in this study. The findings of this study demonstrate that medical/surgical RNs, who work either eight- or 12-hour shifts, do not have significantly different absentee rates.

A Comparison Of Multidimensional Health Locus Of Control In Young Women With And Without A Sexually Transmitted Disease, Susan Elizabeth Turnage

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this descriptive study was to measure and compare differences in young women with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and young women without a sexually transmitted disease on the internal, chance and powerful others scales of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC). Three directional hypotheses guided this study: (1.) Young women with an STD have a higher Powerful Other Health Locus of Control (PHLC) than women without an STD. (2.) Young women with an STD have a higher Chance Health Locus of Control (CHLC) than women without an STD. (3.) Young women without an STD have a …

Relationship Between Perception Of Risk For Hiv Infection And Participation In Risk Behaviors For Hiv Infection By Women, Sister Eileen Breen

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to assess the magnitude of the relationship between perceiving oneself at risk for HIV infection and participating in behaviors associated with an increased risk for HIV among women. The Health Belief Model provided the theoretical framework for this study's examination of women's perception of risk and participation in risk behavior. The research questions addressed in this study were: What is the perception of risk for HIV infection in women age 18-45? What are the risk behaviors for HIV infection in women age 18-45? The research hypothesis of this study was: There is …

A Comparison Of Multidimensional Health Locus Of Control In Young Women With And Without A Sexually Transmitted Disease, Susan Elizabeth Turnage

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this descriptive study was to measure and compare differences in young women with a sexually transmitted disease and young women without a sexually transmitted disease on the internal, chance and powerful others scales of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control.

An Assessment Of Personal Characteristics, Job Satisfaction And Semantic Descriptors Of Virginia Acute And Tertiary Care Hospitals' Chief Executive Officers, Justin C. Matus

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify the determinants of job satisfaction of Virginia Hospital CEO's and to identify those descriptors that best characterize the role of the hospital CEO as defined by the CEO's themselves. The study sample consisted of all hospital CEO's in Virginia as listed by the Virginia Hospital Association. The study employed a four part survey instrument that investigated four major areas: (1) personal and hospital demographics; (2) self rated performance; (3) a semantic scale measuring the concept of Hospital CEO; and (4) The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. A survey was mailed to 119 CEO's. The …

An Assessment Of Management Practices Among Virginia Acute Care Hospitals, Ogbonnia Godfrey Ochonma

Health Services Research Dissertations

The 1990's will see dramatic changes for the health care industry. At no previous time have both public and private health care institutions faced a more turbulent, confusing and threatening environment. Changes in health care arena will come from Federal, State and local governments; international as well as domestic economic and market forces; demographic shifts and life style changes; and structural evolution of the health care industry including mergers, integrations and competition.

The health care industry faces increasing financial pressures due to fundamentally new forces that affect the very viability of many health care organizations. Such pressures include prospective payment, …

Determination Of Pancreatic And Salivary Amylase By Enzyme Immunoassay And Their Prevalence In Hyperamylasemic Patients, Sabdra Borgens Ward

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Currently, amylase determinations are nonspecific for the organ source and are based entirely on the enzymatic properties of amylase to produce a measurable product or byproduct. The determination of pancreatic amylase is important in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. Most commercially available tests for amylase employ the measurement of the change in NADH absorbance at 280 nm or of the p-nitrophenol released from a maltotetrose substrate. These are nonspecific measurements of pancreatic amylase and often necessitate other tests to be run such as a serum lipase.

The two predominant isoenzymes of amylase are pancreatic (p-amylase) and salivary (s-amylase); the most …

Regulation Of Dental Hygienists: Its Effect On Disciplinary Action And Opinions Of Regulatory Board Members In The United States And Canada, Jodie A. Mueller

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first was to examine the effect of regulatory status (dentist versus dental hygienist control) on disciplinary sanctions for dental hygiene practitioners. The second was to assess the opinions of board members concerning the regulation of the practice of dental hygiene. Regulatory bodies from jurisdictions with and without dental hygiene self-regulation in both Canada and the United States respectively were examined to determine if differences exist in opinions and sanctions exercised by the two. A self-designed questionnaire titled the Mueller-Dental Hygiene Regulatory Questionnaire was used to obtain descriptive data on a sample of …