Digital Commons Network^™

Children's Health Perceptions, Amy Forrest

MSN Research Projects

Little empirical knowledge exists regarding children's perceptions of health. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to determine the health perceptions of children with a convenience sample of fourth-grade students at a small elementary school in Northeast Mississippi. The theoretical framework utilized was Bandura's Social Learning Theory. The directional hypothesis in the proposed study was school-age children have a positive perception of health. The Children's Health Rating Scale was utilized as a measurement tool that ranked 17 health-related questions on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = most negative, 5 = most positive). A high cumulative score indicated …

Knowledge Level And Teaching Practices Of Hospice Nurses Regarding Terminal Dehydration, Kristi Adams Acker

MSN Research Projects

A current controversy exists whether or not to continue aggressive hydration in the terminally ill patient. Emerging research has suggested that terminal dehydration can be a palliative treatment option in end-of-life care. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the teaching practices and knowledge level of hospice nurses regarding terminal dehydration. The Integrated Clinical Judgment Model (Gordon, Murphy, Candee, & Hiltunen, 1994) guided this study. A researcher-developed questionnaire. Teaching Practices of Hospice Nurses Regarding Terminal Dehydration, consisting of six questions asking to identify personal teaching practices regarding terminal dehydration, and a second researcher-developed questionnaire. Terminal Dehydration Knowledge Level …

Nurse Pracitioners' Assessment Of Sexuality Among Elders, Michelle Banks

MSN Research Projects

As older adults age, they are presented with a perplexity of lifestyle adaptations. Primary care providers often view physiologic losses elders have as inevitable. Sexuality accounts for one example of these losses that elders feel are important, but have difficulty discussing with health care providers. Thus, the purpose of this descriptive/exploratory research study was to explore the nurse practitioner's assessment of sexuality among elders. The theoretical framework used in this study is Shippee-Rice’s Conceptual Model of Sexuality. The model focuses on four elements: the self, the components of sexuality, significant others, and environmental variables. The research questions were: 1) How …

The Use And Effectiveness Of Coping Mechanisms In Parents Of Children With Type 1 Diabetes, J. Shelley Dornan

MSN Research Projects

Coping with the responsibility of raising a child with diabetes is a serious challenge for parents. The methods parents use to cope can influence the child's future outcome. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive study was to identify the use and effectiveness of coping mechanisms among parents of children with Type 1 diabetes. A convenience sample of 4 0 parents with a diabetic child was obtained from a diabetic support group and a pediatric endocrinology clinic in the Southeastern United States. Data were collected using the Jalowiec Coping Scale and the researcher-designed Demographic Survey. Analysis of data was conducted using …

Outcomes Of A Teaching Intervention On College Cigarette Smokers, Jeanne Benson

MSN Research Projects

Even though there has been a significant decrease in the number of adults who smoke in recent years, adolescents are initiating the habit at an alarming rate. Cigarette smoking is the number one preventable cause of death and illness in the United States. The purpose of this quasi­ experiment al pretest/posttest study was to explore the knowledge levels and attitudes of college students in Northeast Mississippi regarding cigarette smoking. The study was guided by two null hypotheses. The convenience sample consisted of 53 college students enrolled in a public community college in Northeast Mississippi. The Cigarette Smoking Questionnaire was utilized …

Demographics At Diagnosis Of Children With Type 2 Diabetes, Marcia Fleming Hammett

MSN Research Projects

Since 1991 the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes in children has increased at an alarming rate. Researchers have identified some common descriptors which may be predictive of early assessment and intervention for this population. Further validation of established descriptors and identification of other descriptors are needed. In this retrospective descriptive study, one research question guided the study: What are the demographic characteristics of children with Type 2 diabetes at the time of diagnosis? The Neuman Systems Model (198 9) provided the theoretical framework. Data were collected using the Hammett Chart Survey with 3 9 review variables. Charts from three endocrinology …

Effects Of Exercise On Lipid Levels And Muscle Strength In Elderly Women, Lisa Foley

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this comparative, descriptive study was to ascertain the effects of exercise on serum lipid levels and muscle strength in elderly women. The theoretical framework utilized was Pender's Health Promotion Model. The null hypotheses were there will be no difference in lipid levels among elderly women who participate in a structured exercise program, those who participate in an unstructured exercise program, and those who have no exercise program; and there will be no difference in muscle strength among elderly women who participate in a structured exercise program, those who participate in an unstructured exercise program, and those who …

The Effect Of Chelation Therapy Upon The Perceptual Quality Of Life And The Perception Of Pain In Clients Receiving Infusions, Francine Glenn

MSN Research Projects

The use of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) for chelation in patients with diseases of the circulatory system has been a controversial issue for several decades. However, there was a lack of studies substantiating the perceived benefits of patients receiving chelation therapy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect on pain and perceived benefits related to the quality of life for patients receiving chelation infusions. The theoretical framework that guided this study was the Health Promotion Model developed by Nola J. Pender. The research questions were what are the effects of chelation therapy on the perceptual quality of life …

Can A Multidisciplinary Team Decrease Hospital Length Of Stay For Elderly Trauma Patients?, Beth A. Ramsey

Masters Theses

Elderly trauma patients often experience prolonged hospital stays. This study was done to determine if a multidisciplinary team approach to patient care would decrease hospital length of stay (LOS) for elderly trauma patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Using a descriptive, correlational design, a convenience sample of 74 elderly patients aged 65 to 99 years was obtained from a trauma registry. The hypothesis that hospital LOS decreases for elderly trauma patients in the ICU who have a team approach to care was not supported using the t-test for independent means (t=1.6, df=72, p=.114). A second hypothesis proposed that the …

A Comparative Study Of Women's Perceptions Of Vaginal And Cesarean Births, Karen Blamer

Masters Theses

Perception of birth is an important consideration for all health care providers. A positive perception of birth can promote effective adaptation to the maternal role. The Roy Adaptation Model guided this research study comparing the perception of birth among women who delivered vaginally, by planned cesarean birth, and by unplanned cesarean birth.

Perception of birth was measured by the use of a 29 item questionnaire developed by Marut and Mercer and completed by 78 subjects two to four weeks postpartum. The ANOVA and post hoc Scheffe tests were used to measure the differences between groups.

The findings supported the hypothesis …

Caring For The Dying: The Importance Of Nursing, Patricia A. Grady

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Personality Characteristics And Stress On Physical Illness, Carly A. Andersen

Honors Projects

Recent research has indicated that personality characteristics and stress may influence the incidence of illness (Dreher, 1995). The majority of studies have examined personality characteristics and stress in acutely and chronically ill populations. However, this phenomenon has not been extensively studied in healthy populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among personality characteristics, subjective stress, and physical illness in a sample of undergraduate students. This study tested a moderator model in which personality characteristics interact with stress to influence the incidence of physical illness using hierarchical multiple regression. Study participants included 55 undergraduate students selected from …

What Are Female University Students' Perceptions Of Their Healthcare Needs?, Kathleen K. Loose

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to gain a greater awareness of the self-perceived healthcare needs of female university students. An anonymous questionnaire was sent to a random sampling of the total female enrollment at a midwest university. A Healthcare Concern Score was tabulated on 230 completed questionnaires. There were 21 items identified as concerns. Students in the 17-24 year old age bracket had a higher healthcare concern score than individuals in the 24-53 year old age bracket. Orem’s Self-care Deficit Theory (1991) was the conceptual framework for this study. The majority of identified concerns fell within the category of …

Does The Method Of Treating Bacterial Vaginosis In Early Pregnancy Affect The Re-Occurrence Rate Near Term?, Karen Taylor

Masters Theses

There is no significant difference in the relationship between oral or vaginal metronidazole and oral clindamycin in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV) in early pregnancy and the re-occurrence rate of BV at 35 to 37 weeks gestation. Treatment of BV in pregnancy has been shown to decrease the preterm delivery rate saving millions of dollars and improving the health of infants. This was a descriptive, correlational study using a retrospective chart review. A constructed checklist was used for collecting data from 186 charts.

Age, parity, and insurance were comparable in each of the three drug groups. The re-occurrence rate …

The Effect Of An Osteoporosis Prevention Program On Knowledge And Self-Efficacy, Kathryn Hayter

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an Osteoporosis Prevention Program on knowledge and self-efficacy for exercise and calcium intake. Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Model was used which describes efficacy expectations and outcome expectations as predictors of behavior.

A quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test was used with 32 women, age 40-62, at an urban outpatient center. The experimental group attended an Osteoporosis Prevention Program.

There were significant post-test differences between groups for osteoporosis knowledge and osteoporosis self-efficacy for calcium intake but not for osteoporosis self-efficacy for exercise. Additionally, paired t-tests found a significant improvement in scores pretest …

Concurrence Of Decreases In Barometric Pressure And Spontaneous Rupture Of Membranes In Term Gravid Women, Linda M. Owen

Masters Theses

A retrospective design was used to examine the relationship between spontaneous rupture of membranes in term gestation gravid women and decreased barometric pressure of ten millibars or greater in the twenty-four hours proceeding the rupture of membranes. Delivery logbooks and charts of all women who were admitted to a Midwestern Hospital in 1997-1998 with spontaneous rupture of membranes (N-533) were examined and data from the Midwest Climate Center was utilized to determine the changes in barometric pressure within the twenty-four hours proceeding the documented rupture of membranes.

No correlation was elucidated between the timing of spontaneous rupture of the amniotic …

Adolescent Knowledge About The Relationship Between Exercise And Prevention Of Osteoporosis, Alice M. Padilla

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the intact of an educational intervention on adolescent knowledge concerning exercise as an osteoporosis preventive behavior. This study examined whether there was a knowledge gain in each group (girls and boys) after receiving the education intervention and it investigated the difference in knowledge gain between groups.

This was a secondary analysis of data from a study that used a pre-experimental pretest-post-test, no control group design. There were 82 boys and 102 girls who completed the Healthy Bones Knowledge Questionnaire as a pre-test, received an education intervention based primarily on nutrition, then completed …

The Effect Of Social Support On The Psychological Adaptation Of An Individual Receiving An Alternate Form Of Nutrition Therapy, Kristin J. Ladd

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of social support on an individual's psychological adaptation to an alternate form of nutrition support. Betty Neuman's Systems Model provided the framework for this study. A descriptive correlational design was chosen for this study and data were collected using a questionnaire methodology. Proposed data analyses measures were Pearson's product moment correlation, t- Test, and Mann-Whitney U. The targeted sample size for this study was 20 patients with cancer or gastrointestinal disorders, however, termination of the study occurred when only four individuals were recruited after five months of data collection. This …

Early Nursing Interventions And Their Effect On Fatigue In Patients Receiving Chemotherapy, Karla J. Baker

Masters Theses

Fatigue is the number one side effect that patients experience when they receive chemotherapy. They do not always expect it or know what to do when it effects their entire life. This study described the affect of early nursing interventions on fatigue caused by chemotherapy. This descriptive, two group comparative study used a convenience sample of patients, receiving chemotherapy for the first time, to determine the degree of fatigue they experienced. A tool by Barbara Piper RN (1997) was used to describe the effect of early intervention on fatigue experienced by cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Internal consistency of this tool …

Fetal Infant Mortality In Kalamazoo, Lisa A. Wullschleger

Masters Theses

The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine the incidence rates of five pre-selected perinatal variables that existed within the white and non-white groups of fetal, infant deaths that occurred in Kalamazoo County between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1997. The variables were prenatal care, birth weight, estimated weeks of gestation, and maternal, fetal, infant medical complications. The question posed was as follows: Is there a difference in incidence rates of the variables between the white and non-white perinatal deaths in Kalamazoo County?

A sample size of 50 cases was studied. Kotelchuck's instrument tool (1994), the Adequacy of …

The Relationship Between Physician Knowledge, Physician Background, Experience With Nurse Practitioners And Role Expectations For The Nurse Practitioner, Heidi Brands Flamming

Masters Theses

This descriptive study examined the relationship between physician knowledge and role expectations as influenced by experience with nurse practitioners. The sample consisted of 111 physicians practicing in West Michigan. Data was collected using a combination of instruments--a nurse practitioner role behavior tool (Hupcey, 1994) and nurse practitioner/physician role appropriate vignettes (Davidson & Lauver, 1984). Physician knowledge of the nurse practitioner role was significantly higher (t = -2.85; p = .005) for the group of physicians who had practiced with a nurse practitioner as compared to the group of physicians who had not practiced with a nurse practitioner. Role expectations between …

Patient Perception Of The Role Of The Nurse Practitioner In Primary Care, Betsy J. Mulder

Masters Theses

As nurse practitioners (NP) provide services to a variety of health care consumers, there remains ambiguity regarding their scope of practice. This descriptive, comparative study asked a convenience sample of patients who have had contact with nurse practitioners (n = 56), and those patients who have had no contact with nurse practitioners (n = 51), to indicate their agreement with the appropriateness of behaviors for the NP role. A questionnaire used by Bambini (1995) was modified for this study with an alpha reliability of .95. Perceptions of behaviors were ranked according to the level of perceived appropriateness. None of the …

The Knowledge Of Dementia Among Nursing Staff Working In Special Care Units, Julia M. Gray

Theses

Dementia is a growing concern among the elder population. Special Care Units in long-term settings are becoming common placements for elders with dementia. The nursing staff within Special Care Units ideally have additional training in dementia. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the knowledge of dementia among nursing staff working in Special Care Units.

Health Promotion Behaviors In Midlife Women In Alabama., Mona Lynn P Lester

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Nursing Interventions On Thermoregulation And Neuromotor Function In Very Low Birthweight Infants, Leanne Monterosso

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The prone position is used routinely in neonatal intensive care units worldwide in the nursing of preterm infants because of reported beneficial psychological effects This position can, however, lead to development of flattened posture very low birthweight (VLBW) infants and contributes to both short and longer term implications for functional motor development of upper and lower extremities. To date limited research has been undertaken to investigate methods of reducing flattened posture and its related negative outcomes temperature instability is also a problem for VLBW infants and no nappy exists that meets postural size and thermoregulation requirements. The purpose of this …

Factors Influencing Adherence To The Childhood Immunization Schedule., Leanne C. Busby

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.

Predictors Of Exercise Activity Among Rural Thai Older Adults., Taweeluk Vannarit

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.

Great Suffering, Great Compassion: A Transcultural Opportunity For School Nurses Caring For Cambodian Refugee Children, Teresa L. Tellep

Master's Projects

The unique cultural ways of Cambodian refugee families, combined with the physical and psychological health problems inherent in their refugee experience, present challenging and rewarding opportunities for school nurses to engage in the process of transcultural nursing. The authors discuss the profound and devastating impact of the refugee experience upon the mind, body, and spirit of Cambodian children. The purpose of this exploratory and descriptive study was to understand the nature and meaning of a school district's cross-cultural team's experiences of providing health care for Cambodian refugee children. Focus group interviews of school nurses and Cambodian liaisons were conducted, utilizing …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Moderate- And High-Carbohydrate Diets On Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors: A Pilot Study, Margaret Helen Fernandez, Julia Ava Niehaus Soper

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This pilot study compared the effects of two diets on total cholesterol to high- density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, body mass index, and waist circumference. A diet of 15% protein, 55% or more carbohydrate, and 30% or less fat was compared to a diet of 30% protein, 40% carbohydrate, and 30% fat. Lipid levels and anthropometric measurements were obtained on 18 adult males with moderately elevated lipid levels before and after 12 weeks of dietary intervention. Analyses showed variances between and within the study groups in the areas of anthropometric measurements and lipid levels; no statistically significant differences between the groups …

Yale Nurse: Yale School Of Nursing Newsletter, September 1998, Yale University School Of Nursing

Yale School of Nursing Alumni Newsletters and Magazines

This issue features the celebration of the School's 75th anniversary and the start of the Dean appointment for Catherine L. Gillis DNSc, RN, FAAN

Please contact the Medical Historical Library if you need a higher resolution version.