Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Acts Of Resistance: Nurses' Personal Narratives, Maryanne Garon Dnsc

Dissertations

Acts of resistance can be expressions of creativity, protest or non-cooperation by oppressed groups. Resistance is seen as always present in the face of domination. Acts of resistance can help us to understand how the powerless mediate power relations, and they can actually give hope to the powerless. This study looked at the issues of power and resistance through critical and feminist perspective. A central concept of feminist theory is that women, and thus nurses as a women's profession, are oppressed. This study looked at female nurses' acts of resistance, which were defined as speaking up or taking action about …

Conceptual Metaphor In The Health Care Culture, Cheryl D. Glennon Dnsc, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

The conceptual metaphor has meaning only when understood within the cultural framework which gives rise to the conceptualization. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction of cognition (conceptual metaphor) and culture as manifest during intercultural communication in teaching-learning sessions between health care providers and patients. An ethnography of communication (Hymes, 1974; Saville-Troike, 1989) was the method employed to investigate the use of metaphor by patients, nurses and other health care professionals. Patients were viewed as a sojourner group in the health care culture; nurses and their health care partners were seen as a host group. Data were …

Influence Of Psychiatric Diagnostic Training On Counseling Students’ Development Of A Model-For-Helping And Professional Identity, Jerry E. Mclaughlin

Dissertations

Over the years, numerous proposals have been made in the counselor education (CE) literature about what counseling philosophy can best lead the profession to a distinctive professional identity (Bauman & Waldo, 1998; Fong & Lease, 1994; Guterman, 1994). An issue in this debate is whether psychiatric diagnostic training forms a part of a counseling philosophy (i.e., model-for-helping) and professional identity that is more focused on client psychopathology than on normal developmental issues. This study explored how training and experience in psychiatric diagnostic categories (PDCs) influenced counselors’ development of their counseling philosophy and professional identity.

Focus-group interviews were held at four …

The Relationship Of Self-Esteem, Learned Resourcefulness And Social Support To Health-Related Quality Of Life In Long-Term Cancer Survivors, Leli W. Pedro Dnsc, Ms, Rnc, Ocn

Dissertations

Increased survival and advances in oncology research demand that health professionals attend to the gap in knowledge regarding health-related quality of life (HRQL) variables associated with the unique sequelae of cancer in the long-term (LT) cancer survivor. Research in this area may direct the development of effective interventions to increase the HRQL of LT cancer survivors. The study's purpose was to describe the relationships between self-esteem, learned resourcefulness, and social support to HRQL as well as their predictive value to HRQL for LT cancer survivors. A quantitative, descriptive, correlational, and noninterventional design was used to describe the relationship of self-esteem, …

Disruption Of The Discriminative Stimulus Effects Of (+)-3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Mdma) By (± )-Mdma Neurotoxicity: Protection By Fluoxetine, Thomas B. Virden Iii

Dissertations

It is well established that repeated, high doses of 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) result in the long-term depletion of serotonin levels and destruction of serotonergic terminals in various locations in the brains of a variety of species. Further, it is also well known that concomitant injections of the serotonin reuptake inhibitor, fluoxetine, prevents this deterioration. It has recently been noted that such MDMA neurotoxicity disrupts stimulus control in rats trained to discriminate MDMA from saline in a drug discrimination procedure (Schechter, 1991a).

In order to extend Schechter's findings to the optical isomers of MDMA and to explore the potential of fluoxetine …

Relationships Between Posttraumatic Stress, Acculturation, And Maternal Sensitivity In Vietnamese And Hmong Mothers, Gwendolyn F. Foss Dnsc

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to determine if posttraumatic stress (PTS), depression, and anxiety occurred in a community sample of Vietnamese and Hmong mothers and to describe relationships between PTS, depression, anxiety, acculturation and maternal sensitivity. Transition theory (Bridges, 1980), and a conceptual model of parenting in immigrant populations building on Belsky's (1984) work, provided the theoretical framework (Foss, 1996). The sample was divided evenly between Vietnamese and Hmong participants. Ages ranged from 17–43 years, time lived in the United States ranged from 3–21 years, and education ranged from no formal education to completion of college. Maternal sensitivity was …

The Journey Through Perspective Transformation: Learning Nursing Theory, Judith R. Heggie Dnsc, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

Through the use of grounded theory, educational methods most useful for nurses to achieve a perspective transformation, as exemplified by learning nursing theory were examined. Perspective transformation is a theory originally developed by Mezirow (1978) in a study of older women returning to college for additional education. Mezirow defined perspective transformation as the alteration or change of meaning perspectives. Perspective transformation in an individual can be compared to a paradigm change within a scientific community. Within the nursing literature on perspective transformation, most articles related to the perspective transformation needed for nurses to learn to use nursing theory as the …

Major Trauma Outcomes: At What Cost? And For Whom? A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, A. Elaine Bond Dnsc, Msn, Aprn, Ccrn

Dissertations

The purpose of this triangulated descriptive study was threefold: (a) to identify the financial costs for acute trauma care, including costs for those who die early in treatment, and who pays those costs; (b) to identify the relationship between costs and severity of injury; and (c) to identify survivor functional and psychosocial costs, or quality of life, not only by current health care outcome criteria, but also from patients' and families' perspectives. Retrospective review determined the financial differences (total charges of $9,945,973 and institutional costs of $7,089,962) for 370 patients' severity of injury and functional outcomes at discharge, using the …

Testing A Theoretical Model Of Critical Thinking And Cognitive Development, Jane Rapps Dnsc, Ms, Msed, Rn

Dissertations

The goal of nursing education is to educate individuals in such a way that they become self-determining, independent thinkers who are prepared to keep pace with the rapidly changing demands of today's health care system. Nurses must utilize critical thought and reasoned action in clinical practice in order to render state of the art health care for individuals, families, groups, and communities. The purpose of this study was to test a proposed theoretical model of critical thinking and cognitive development. Perry's theory of adult cognitive development and Kataoka-Yahiro and Saylor's Critical Thinking Model for Nursing Judgment guided this research. Data …

Being Alone: The Experience Of Elderly Homebound Females, Sharon Davis Burt Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

Elderly women comprise one of the fastest growing segments of the population in the United States. This growth is due in large part to increasing longevity, and a woman's life expectancy has now reached 79 years. However, along with those added years comes an increase in morbidity and a greater likelihood of living alone. This study describes the life experience of a specific group of elderly women, those who are homebound and living alone. When elderly women are included in research, the same combination of descriptors used for the participants in this study has not been incorporated. Consequently, while much …

The Experience Of Decision-Making Among Telephone Advice/Triage Nurses, Ann Mayo Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

The role of the telephone advice/triage nurse is both complex and demanding. All decisions are made while assessing patients without seeing or touching patients. In addition, the role is often developed to decrease health care costs which can be perceived by nurses as being in conflict with their nursing beliefs. The ambiguous nature of the role makes these nurses' daily experiences with decision-making a challenge. Using a phenomenological method, the lived experience of decision-making among telephone advice/triage nurses was explored by conducting multiple interviews with ten nurses. The internal structure of the lived experience was identified through the philosophical perspective …

Direct Service Staff's Perceptions Of Psychotropic Medication In Noninstitutional Settings For Individuals With Developmental Disabilities, Leeann Christian

Dissertations

Approximately 35-55% of individuals with mental retardation who live in the community are prescribed psychotropic and/or antiepileptic medication (Aman, Saphare, & Burrows, 1995; Singh, Guernsey, & Ellis, 1992). As more individuals with severe behavior challenges are transitioned from institutions into the community, these rates are likely to increase. Given these prevalence rates, it is important to determine whether staff who serve people with mental retardation are adequately educated about psychotropic medications. Previous studies (Aman, Singh, & White, 1987; Gadow, 1983; Singh, Epstein, Stout, Luebke, & Ellis, 1994; Singh et al., 1996) surveyed a variety of service providers in school and …

The Relationship Between Leadership/Followership In Staff Nurses And Employment Setting, Elaine S. Vandoren

Dissertations

This study tested the hypothesis that staff nurses in hospitals used different leadership and followership behaviors than staff nurses in home care settings. Leadership behaviors were measured using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass, 1995); followership was measured using Kelley’s Followership Style Questionnaire (1992). Three hospital and home care agencies belonging to a private nonprofit corporation in the Midwest provided data. A total of 136 surveys were used in data analysis; 57% of distributed surveys were returned.

Differences between the hospital and home care staff nurses were not found. Self-perception, difficulty in applying clinical behaviors to the MLQ, unknown aspects of …

History Of The United States Air Force Nurse Corps, 1949-1954, Sharon A. Vairo Dnsc

Dissertations

The Air Force Nurse Corps (AFNC) was established effective July 1, 1949, however, no history of the AFNC has been written. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the first five years of the AFNC when its initial framework, policies, and practices were established. Included in this period was the story of the AFNC response to its first great challenge of the Korean War beginning just before the corps first anniversary. The study framework consists of the four themes of (1) dedication to serve, protect, and care for soldier patients; (2) slow advance in status; (3) need for adequate …

Ethnographic Inquiry Of Social Support Throughout Women's Labor And Childbirth Experiences, Nancy Jane Pinder Saks Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the phenomenon of social support throughout labor and childbirth in order to develop descriptive theory based on the behaviors of the labor and childbirth convoy. Utilizing ethnographic methodology, five women and their support convoys were observed throughout the women's labor and childbirth experience. Word processing and the ETHNOGRAPH software were used for data management, and constant comparative coding methodology was employed for data analysis. Affirmative, affective and aid-giving behaviors were enacted by all convoy members. Consistently, social support was found to be communicated to the laboring woman by her lay supporters by …

Belief-Desire Reasoning In Zimbabwean Children: A Search For Evidence Of The Universality Of A Child's Theory Of Mind, Chipo Dyanda

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Characteristics And Perceptions Of Trauma Recidivists And Non-Recidivists, Vicki A. Keough

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Health Ministry In The Life Of A Congregation With A Parish Nurse: Caring And Connecting Through Christ, Mary Ann Chase-Ziolek

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Rupture In The Ordinary, Geraldine Abbatiello

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Caregiver's Experience Of Deliberative Mutual Patterning With Pain-Ridden Substance Users, Gaile Hausaman Nellett

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Intentional Classroom Humor In Nursing : A Multiple Case Study, Joan Kay Ulloth

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived connections between the intentional use of humor in the nursing classroom and student learning in the cognitive and affective domains while seeking to understand student and teacher perceptions and responses to humor.

Method. This study used a case study approach and the end result is a multiple case study of three associate degree nursing instructors in the Midwest. The data collection methods included observations, interviews, and surveys. Data from the different sources were examined within and across cases for commonality or difference of experience. Connections were made between …

Eating-Disorder Patterns In The Minnesota Multiphasic Personaity Inventory, Karen Baer-Barkley

Dissertations

Problem. Early intervention is crucial for effective treatment of eating disorders. While there have recently been many assessment tools developed specifically for eating disorders, a screening tool is still needed. This study sought to identify, in an eating-disordered sample, the existence of a v-shaped pattern on scales 4-5-6 of the MMPI, a commonly used general measure of psychopathology.

Method. The sample consisted of 356 females who were being treated for eating disorders through the HOPE program between 1989 and 1996. Past research on the MMPI has produced equivocal results on identifying significant patterns on the clinical scales. Since prior research …