Digital Commons Network^™

Dnp Final Report: Improving Length Of Stay Outcomes Using Structured Barrier Rounds: A Quality Improvement Project, Martha Kwamboka Apella

DNP Final Reports

Prolonged length of stay (LOS) in the acute care setting is a challenging issue driven by multiple factors. Increased LOS is associated with mortality, hospital-acquired infections, patient safety events, functional impairment, decreased quality of life, social isolation, and increased cost of care. The causes of increased LOS in the medical-surgical unit are unclear, necessitating an evidence-based project to address the problem. The purpose of this quality improvement initiative was to implement structured interdisciplinary barrier rounds and evaluate their effect on LOS, opportunity days, and estimated cost of care in a medical-surgical unit. The facility complex care coordinator (CCC) was identified …

Maintaining Excellence Under Pressure: The Stress–Performance Paradox In A Multi-Campus State University System, Rico D. De Asis Dr.

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: This study examines how multiple stress dimensions (levels, sources, effects, and coping mechanisms) relate to teaching performance in resource-constrained Southeast Asian public higher education, addressing the geographic concentration of faculty stress research in Western contexts.

Methods: Using multiple regression analysis with 80 permanent faculty members across three campuses of a state university system, I assessed relationships between stress factors and teaching performance. The study employed validated stress assessment instruments examining stress levels, sources (student, teacher, environment, work-related), effects (self, family, work), and coping mechanisms.

Results: Self effects of stress demonstrated the strongest negative relationship with teaching performance (R² …

Regulatory Innovation Through Authority: An Analysis Of India’S Central Consumer Protection Authority’S Functioning (2020–2025), Gaurav Pathak, Mohit Yadav, Anush Ganesh

International Journal on Consumer Law and Practice

This article presents the first comprehensive empirical analysis of India’s Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), since its establishment in 2020, based on an examination of 165 orders across 118 cases through 2025. The study fills a critical research gap by systematically analysing CCPA’s enforcement patterns, procedural efficiency, and regulatory evolution. The unique dataset reveals that CCPA has fundamentally transformed India’s consumer protection landscape through a distinctive dual approach that combines reactive enforcement with proactive regulation. This study finds that 72 per cent of cases were initiated suo moto, indicating a paradigm shift from complaint-driven to preventive market surveillance and that …

How Do Habitual Entrepreneurs Develop Entrepreneurial Addiction?, Wan Khairul Anuar Wan Abd Manan, Athirah Ismail, Puteri Fadzline Muhamad Tamyez Fadzline

Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship

Habitual entrepreneurs are a key driver of economic development. Hence, it is important to generate a more detailed understanding of their addictive behaviour while running their businesses. The purpose of this study is to explore whether and how habitual entrepreneurs develop entrepreneurial addiction and the effects of this addiction. The study is based on a qualitative research design and analyzes the development of entrepreneurial addiction among habitual entrepreneurs. Findings indicated that habitual entrepreneurs actively develop entrepreneurial addiction after owning three businesses, due to several symptoms, namely, fulfilment, opportunity obsession, tolerance, engagement, and neglect, along with prior entrepreneurial experiences. Habitual entrepreneurs …

Does Reporting Of Israeli Organ Harvesting Constitute Blood Libelous Folklore, And Why Does It Matter?, Simon J. Bronner

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

Global news reporting of “organ harvesting” by Israeli soldiers for medical institutions in the twenty-first century is analyzed as “newslore,” defined by folklorist- journalist Russell Frank as “folklore that comments on, and is therefore indecipherable without knowledge of, current events.” Built on hearsay, the reports, especially in the Arab press during the Israel-Hamas War, begun in 2023, have connections to a complex of antisemitic “blood libel” narratives in Europe about Jews violating the bodies of Christian children. The accusations of organ harvesting invoked a number of antisemitic tropes that were visually conveyed globally through memes and posts on the internet, …

Mapping Media Literacy Assessment: A Systematic Review To Connect The Dots, Lara Azar, Casey Frechette, Hafsa Zia, Joy Amulya

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The goal of this study was to address persistent challenges in assessing media literacy by reviewing assessments developed between 2011 and 2020. We combined landscape analysis, research synthesis, and grounded theory to select assessments, identify key attributes, iteratively code, analyze, and create an integrated synthesis of approaches to media literacy assessments. The analysis classified media literacy constructs by learning dimension (knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors) and participation mode (consumption, engagement, creation). The results showed that while most assessments focused on consumption-oriented constructs, engagement- and creation-oriented constructs were also included. Assessments primarily served three research purposes: evaluating media literacy levels in populations, …

How To Incorporate Media Literacy Into General Education Curricula, Dennis O. Frohlich, David Magolis

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Media literacy scholars have long championed the inclusion of media literacy courses in all levels of education, from K-12 to collegiate levels. Universities’ general education curricula are one possible site for inclusion of a media literacy course. However, with each discipline vying for a spot in a university’s general education system, a course in media literacy can easily be overlooked or excluded. In this paper, we detail our efforts to successfully incorporate several media literacy courses into our university’s general education curriculum. This is a process we went through twice under two different general education systems. This paper will detail …

Demographic Context Of Media And Information Literacy (Mil) Skills Among Senior High School Students In Ghana, Patience Emefa Dzandza Ocloo, Aurelia Ayisi, Abena Animwaa Yeboah-Banin, Annie Oye

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This paper explores the media and information literacy (MIL) competencies of young Ghanaians in senior high schools. It is premised on the rising spate of misinformation, online security breaches, and the avalanche of content young people must navigate. Together, these factors demand young persons to be new media savvy in order to use the affordances of the current media ecology to their benefit. To advocate for comprehensive MIL education in senior high schools in Ghana, the study adopts a comparative analysis logic to examine demographic differences that attend young people’s media and information literacy. A nationwide survey of 1200 senior …

Fact-Checking In The University: The Experience Of The ‘Verificatón Electoral’ As A Model Of Teaching Innovation, Irene Larraz, Samuel Toledano, Jordi Rodríguez-Virgili, Félix Arias Robles, Ángeles Durán, Marta Pérez-Escolar, Rocío Zamora Medina, Rubén Ramos Antón, Óscar Espíritusanto Nicolás, Miguel Ángel Esteban Navarro, Marcos Bermejo Gil

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article analyzes the experience of Verificatón, a teaching innovation project based on a live fact-checking hackathon aimed at identifying and combating disinformation in the electoral context. The initiative, developed by the fact-checking media outlet Newtral in collaboration with nine Spanish universities, brought together a hundred journalism students. The results show that this experience facilitates the adoption of the fact-checking methodology in the students' professional practice and contributes to overcoming the competency gap in university journalism education. The case study validates this training proposal, which, framed within an electoral scenario, reinforces students’ learning of the role of critical thinking in …

The Role Of Media Literacy In Shaping Campus Student Leaders’ Perceptions Of Media Activism, Online Risks, And Social Support, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Minnie S. Mcmillian, Shumaila J. Bhatti, Shannon Burth, Julius Matthew Riles, Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, Melody Wilson

Journal of Media Literacy Education

in social movements. Within contemporary contexts, media is an important site through which campus student leaders raise awareness, share relevant information, distribute online petitions, and shape public discourses on various social issues. Media literacy is an essential skill for student leaders to be effective in their activist initiatives and be able to cope with the inevitable pushback through trolling and cyberbullying that such activism would likely bring up. This survey (N = 855) with college student leaders across three universities explores how they rate themselves on media literacy skills, how well they understand the risks involved with media activism, and …

Empowerment Or Oppression? College Students’ Interpretations Of Sex And Relationships In The Popular Media, Nicola Mcclung, Riana Pella

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Scholars have long emphasized the harmful effects of overtly sexist and oppressive media images on young people’s understandings of sex and relationships. Yet, this emphasis on explicit harm leaves a gap in understanding how college students interpret subtle, hidden, and ambiguous media messages. To address this gap, we asked 196 California college students at a large public university to critique a range of mainstream media content— from overtly oppressive, to affirming of nondominant gender identities, to containing mixed messages about empowerment and oppression. Responses were coded using our media literacy scoring guide for assessing students’ ability to critically analyze media …

Ƒ(Enlightenment): A Complex Adaptive Systems Model Of Recursive Causality And Human Meaning-Making, Daniel Lambert

Dissertations and Theses

Conflict Resolution has developed as a richly interdisciplinary field; however, its theoretical architecture remains fragmented across distinct bodies of scholarship. Existing approaches offer valuable but often isolated explanations of conflict behavior, limiting their ability to account for its complexity. This thesis addresses this limitation by advancing systems science as an organizing framework for integrating these perspectives. It introduces the Human-Complex Adaptive Systems (H-CAS) framework, which conceptualizes human behavior as a recursive adaptive process operating across interconnected regulatory domains. Within this model, conflict is not treated as a discrete event or purely deliberative process, but as an emergent property arising from …

Cultural Humility, Reformation Of Power Structures, And Cultural Competence As Seeds And Fruits Of Interculturality, Doug Herbek

Obsculta

This piece examines how interculturality both promotes and is fostered by cultural humility, reformation of power structures, and development of cultural competence. As we pursue interculturality, we incarnate the Gospel. In the process, local church leadership becomes inclusive and integrative, worship becomes more heartfelt, and community and unity are fostered as we celebrate our differences.

An Introduction To The China Land Sales Data Set: The Universe Of Land-Use-Right Transfers In China 2000-2022, Yilin Hou, Lin Li, Qiang Ren

Center for Policy Research

The China Land Sales Data Set (2000-2022) includes the universe of land-use-right sales in China in the first 23 years of the 21st century, a period of the fastest mass urbanization and intense infrastructure construction in China’s history, that accompanied the rapid growth of China’s economy and household income. For this reason, this data set carries substance in many ways for anyone who needs to understand the occurrences in China of that period. The phrase “land sale” refers to the transfer of land-use right from the state as the sole owner of urban land to any individual, firm or entity …

Military Culture And The Student Veteran: A Mixed Methods Study Of Service Members Transition Into Higher Education, Joanna Fagan

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Military veterans are entering higher education spaces at a steady rate. While their visibility on U.S. campuses is increasing, these veterans face various challenges in entering higher education. This mixed-methods study examined the relationships among military identity, trauma exposure, and psychological functioning in student veterans, with a focus on meaning in life, life satisfaction, and social engagement. Quantitative data was used to assess correlations and associations between meaning making, military identification, satisfaction with life, and college involvement, while qualitative data were used to contextualize and extend statistical findings. Results indicated that military identity was positively associated with meaning making but …

Strategic Organizational Growth In Nonprofit Organizations: A Swot-Based Change Management Analysis, Sharika Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nonprofit organizations often face operational and sustainability challenges. This study examined a nonprofit serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities that was experiencing increased service demands, communication challenges, and workforce shortages. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to develop a sustainable strategic change management approach to strengthen workforce development, financial stability, stakeholder collaboration, and strategic planning. Guided by the research question, "How can the client nonprofit organization implement a sustainable change-management approach that addresses internal communication challenges and resource constraints while maintaining mission alignment?" the study used a SWOT analysis and Kotter’s eight-step change model. Data were collected …

Determinants Of Waste Management Behavior And The Potential Role Of Doorstepping As An Intervention, Nurdiana Darus, Maya Tamimi, Nuraeni Nuraeni, Khairunnisa Syafira Dumbi

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

This study aims to evaluate factors associated with community participation in Waste Bank activities and waste management behavior, while exploring the potential role of doorstepping interventions to improve community engagementThis study was conducted in South Jakarta, a densely populated area with a large volume of daily waste. A quantitative approach with a cross-sectional design was used. The study involved guided interviews with 201 respondents who were customers of Gesit Main Waste Bank. Binary logistic regression was used to evaluate the influence of independent variables on waste management behavior as the dependent variable. The results showed that 42.8% of respondents had …

The Undergraduate Students' Rate Of Bisexuality And Its Acceptance In Their Own And Others' Romantic Relationships, Na'ni Machenry Caliste

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

This research explores SMU’s undergraduate students in their own identities and romantic relationships in the realm of the bisexuality spectrum using the Kinsey Scale. I developed a 46-item online survey comprised of six component parts, which incorporated previous scales of Kinsey, Consensual Non-Monogamy, Self-Acceptance of Sexuality Inventory, and Experience in Close Relationships scales, to measure respondents’ sense of attraction and preferences as well as attachment scales and assess the participants’ relationship beliefs pertaining to consensual non-monogamy. A total of 312 undergraduate students started the survey, but only 250 consented and completed it. I present descriptive and inferential statistics on participants’ …

Myth, Spirituality, And Thought Patterns In Two African And Brazilian Ritual Dramas, Dele Layiwola

Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies

This essay conceptualizes and historicizes the phenomena of religion, custom, and belief systems by utilizing two celebrated dramatic texts and performances as practical illustrations of the complex roles they play in the social, political, and cultural lives of human beings, irrespective of their geographical locations. The arguments demonstrate that religion or spirituality is a given phenomenon in the personal and public lives of the denizens of various societies. It possesses its own logic and rules, which may not be mutually compatible, nevertheless constitute a constant universal principle. The paper employs dramatized examples to show that in classical or modern times, …

Ikenga: Symbolism, Spirituality, And Sociocultural Importance In Igbo Traditional Belief Systems, Chinyere Ndubuisi

Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies

The Ikenga, a noteworthy relic of the Igbo people of southern Nigeria, is examined in this paper as a major art object for a better understanding of African traditional religions and belief systems. Ikenga is a wooden sculpture traditionally made to represent an individual's power, achievements, and spiritual essence among the Igbo. Ikenga is ascribed the embodiment of the relationship between personal action, ancestral respect, and divinity within Igbo mythology. Within the framework of Igbo traditional religion, this paper examines the ontological significance, spiritual purposes, and social consequences of the Ikenga. The symbolic relevance of Ikenga as both a personal …

Situating Everybody Hates Chris (Ehc): The Appeal Of The Show, Elizabeth Johnson, Donald Culverson

Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies

"Everybody Hates Chris" (EHC) achieved critical success by employing comedy to address significant social issues, distinguishing itself in early-2000s television. Unlike earlier and contemporary series such as "Moesha," "The Hughleys," and "The Cosby Show," EHC offered a nuanced portrayal of Black family life, engaging an audience often overlooked or misrepresented by mainstream media. This article examines shifts in the television industry from the late 1990s to the early 2000s that facilitated EHC's innovative approach. The series departed from traditional family sitcoms, functioning not merely as entertainment but as a social commentary on the complexities of the family as a societal …

Christian Missions’ Medical Work In The Colonial Ilorin Province, 1900 To 1960, Rasheed Onagun

Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies

A scarcity of labor and the pursuit of optimal profit maximization led to the colonial government's collaboration with Christian missions to disseminate and expand Western healthcare to the populace. In Ilorin Province and Nigeria as a whole, missions undertook the majority of colonial medical work and public health initiatives. For the first time in the history of Ilorin Province, missionary endeavors introduced Western medicine as an alternative healthcare source to many, necessitating a historical examination. This paper explores existing literature, oral testimonies, and extensive archival documents to analyze the impacts of missionary medical work on the well-being of the people …

Bloomington Community Brain Health Services Program: The Intersection Of Law Enforcement And Brain Health, Janet Yeats, Luke Campbell, Booker Hodges

Forensic Scholars Today

In 2023, the Bloomington Police Department launched the Bloomington Community Brain Health Services (BCBHS) program in response to increasing mental health crises, provider shortages, long wait times for services, and rising law enforcement involvement in crisis calls. The Bloomington Model integrates licensed therapists and supervised graduate-level interns directly within a police department structure. The program aims to reduce mental health-related calls, stabilize residents experiencing crisis, and eliminate cost barriers by offering up to 15 sessions of free, short-term therapy delivered in homes, schools, virtual settings, and community spaces.

This article outlines the program’s development, implementation, and early outcomes, highlighting key …

Ai Vs. Licensed Psychologists: A Comparative Analysis Of Treatment Plan Quality For Treating Psychological Distress, Michael Edward Maloney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The study was conducted to investigate whether statistically significant differences exist in the quality of treatment plans developed by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms versus treatment plans generated by licensed psychologists, with a focus on intervention specificity and clinical appropriateness. Given the rapid proliferation of digital mental health technologies and the persistent shortage of licensed mental health professionals, empirical evaluation of AI-driven clinical tools has become a critical area of inquiry. Grounded in dual process theory (DPT), which conceptualizes decision making as the product of both intuitive and analytical cognitive systems, the study employed a quantitative, between-groups design. Sixty-six licensed psychologists …

Upright: Zheng 正 And The Semantics Of Political Legitimacy, Kaz Wegmuller

Open Educational Resources

This article examines the semantic structure of the left-right political binary in contemporary Anglophone discourse. It argues that the fusion of “right” as directional orientation with “right” as moral correctness produces a form of semantic over-determination that complicates the articulation of democratic legitimacy in periods of political crisis. The claim is not that directional metaphors determine political outcomes, but that they furnish a discursive resource that can be mobilized in struggles over authority, order, and rectitude. To illuminate the contingency of this fusion, the article turns to the East Asian concept of zheng 正 (uprightness), whose semantic independence from handedness …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Artificial Intelligence In The Indonesian Film Industry, Louisa Christine Hartanto, Patrisia Amanda Pascarina, Cosmas Gatot Haryono

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

This study explores how stakeholders in the Indonesian film industry perceive the emergence and use of artificial intelligence (AI). Framed by Roger's Diffusion of Innovation theory, this study explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is positioned as an emergent technological innovation, spreading via communication channels across the film industry's social ecosystem. This approach illuminates how distinct categories of adopters collectively construct the meaning of AI and shape their varied responses to its encroachment on creative labour. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach, the study draws on data from two Focus Group Discussions involving directors, actors, government experts, academics, emerging filmmakers, students, and …

Principles Of Sociopolitical Competency In Psychological Practice, Research, And Teaching, Richard E. Redding, Nina C. Silander

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Research shows that sociopolitical attitudes and values (SPAVs) often play an important role in people’s personal and social identity, life choices, psychological and behavioral functioning, and interpersonal relationships (including those between psychologists and their clients). Thus, SPAVs are frequently relevant to the work that psychologists do, whether as clinicians, researchers, or educators. After reviewing the research on the impact of SPAVs on people’s lives and relationships, we provide a set of evidence-based principles for effectively addressing SPAVs in clinical practice, psychological research, education and professional training, and professional ethics.

The Relative Strength Of Social Media Motives, Perceived Race Relations, And The Centrality Of Black Identity In Predicting Black Community Activism, Johnnie Gordon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As social media has become a central context for identity development, sociopolitical awareness, and civic engagement among Black emerging adults, exposure to racialized content, experiences of online discrimination, and competing narratives regarding racial progress may heighten awareness of systemic inequities and strengthen collective racial identity. To date, the potential of these experiences to motivate engagement in Black community activism to advocate for community empowerment has not been investigated. Informed by social identity theory, this quantitative study assessed the relative importance of motives for social media use, perceived racial progress, and Black identity centrality in predicting Black community activism among emerging …

Sleep Restriction And Its Affects On Mood, April M. Rummery Lamb

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Sleep plays a fundamental role in the human body being able to function effectively, in particular it plays an essential role in mood regulation. Previous research on sleep and mood has found that there is a correlation between receiving an inadequate amount of sleep and having a negative mood. However, the current field has mostly looked at the relationship between disordered sleep and mood disorders as opposed to everyday sleep patterns and daily mood. The present study aims to look at how sleep restrictions which occur naturally (not caused by sleep disorders such as insomnia) effect daily mood. To conduct …

Beyond Self-Defense: A Critical Analysis Of The Biden Administration’S Application Of ‘Just War’ Theory In The Israel-Hamas War, Thomas Elias

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Abstract

The Israel-Hamas war has ignited critical questions regarding the justification for violence, particularly the right to self-defense. Harm to Palestinian noncombatants and the conflict’s prolonged duration has contributed to critiques and doubts about Israel’s military operations and the Biden administration’s substantial military aid post-October 7th. The war’s extensive destruction and dehumanization creates a stark tension with the Biden administration’s invocation of just war theory. This paper critically analyzes the Biden administration’s use of just war theory in supporting the Israel-Hamas war, investigating how Christian theological ethics on just war and self-defense have been utilized and misapplied since October 2023. …