Digital Commons Network^™

Relationships Between Project Cost, Project Team Member Role, Project Schedule, And Burnout, Alan Lee Bundschuh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employees affected by burnout syndrome often experience reduced engagement and decreased

job performance, costing their organizations through lost productivity and profit. However, it is

not clear what causes employee burnout in working environments. The purpose of this

correlation study was to examine the relationships between project cost, project team member

role, project schedule, and project team member burnout. This study was grounded in the job

demands-resources theory, which states that all employees experience demands in their work that

may lead to long-term stress and eventually burnout syndrome if these demands are not mitigated

by job resources. The population for this …

A Critical Perspective Of Transformational Leadership And Safety Management Practices, Larry D. Frazier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A troubling trend has developed in the increasing number of commuter rail accidents

causing injuries, fatalities, and safety concerns. The specific problem addressed in this study is that current leadership practices have not achieved success reducing safety violations and rail accidents. The purpose of this qualitative cross-sectional study was to explore the potential influence of perceived leadership styles of 16 frontline rail supervisors and 4 managers on safety management practices within a metro rail system. The conceptual framework was based on Bass's transformational leadership theory and Reason's human error model. The key research question dealt with how leadership style might …

Facilitating Collaboration Among School And Community Providers In Children's Mental Health, Holly J. Curran

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Interprofessional collaboration among school-based and community-based mental health providers in children's mental has been studied in relation to specific providers and as part of program evaluation; however, limited information exists as to how to overcome barriers to collaborative relationships. This study describes the experiences of school and community mental health service providers and those who supervise them. Using phenomenological methodology, three focus-group interview transcripts were analyzed by identifying recurrent themes relevant to the experience of collaboration from school and community providers' perspectives. Although participants viewed aspects of collaboration positively, barriers frequently interfered with collaborative relationships. Support for collaboration from state, …

Education Models For Teaching Adults About Modifying Dietary Carbohydrate And Controlling Weight, Vincient Cleamons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The prevalence of diabetes and other pathophysiological conditions has been correlated with the incidence of obesity. A large portion of an adult community in the northwestern United States suffers from excessive weight that has been linked to premature mortality rates and certain forms of diabetes. Excess calories from carbohydrate have been shown to increase weight. Therefore, diets that are modified in carbohydrate and calories may help mitigate weight and obesity comorbidities. This qualitative, single case study's purpose was to explore the methods health care professionals use for teaching adults about controlling weight. Altheide and Johnson's analytic realism theory, in which …

Employee Turnover At Community Banks, Cheryl J. Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some community bank managers do not possess the skills needed to retain employees, which increases employee turnover and decreases their competitive advantage. The purpose of this explanatory case study was to explore strategies community bank managers use to minimize employee turnover for their organization. The population consisted of 4 community bank managers in the Central Florida area who had at least 1-year of managerial experience evaluating employee retention. The conceptual framework was the jobs characteristics theory of Hackman and Oldham. Data were collected from semistructured face-to-face interviews and business documentation. Methodological triangulation was appropriate to validate the creditability and interpretation …

Relationship Between The U.S. Air Force Physical Fitness Assessment And Healthcare Utilization, Elena Arushanyan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Escalating health care costs in the military health system are not sustainable long term. Regular physical activity has been shown to improve health and reduce health care costs. Military members serving in the United States Air Force (USAF) are encouraged to maintain physical fitness year-round and undergo mandatory physical fitness assessments (PFAs) annually. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine the nature of the relationship between the timing of the PFA and health care utilization (HU) by active duty service members assigned to the United Kingdom's USAF military treatment facility. Donabedian's framework and the logic process model …

Effective Strategies For Managing Continuous Consultant Turnover In It Project Teams, Nicholas K. Jury

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Information Technology project managers have found that collective turnover of consultants lowers code quality, increases knowledge loss and negatively impacts team performance. Within the last decade, companies have begun to see that offshore consultants have a turnover rate greater than 26%, more than double the rates for the rest of the IT consulting industry. Collective turnover also puts additional pressure on the project team, causing work exhaustion and thus additional turnover. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that 6 successful project managers utilized to limit and reduce the impact of collective turnover of their hybrid …

Improvement In The Retention Of Graduate Nurses In A Long-Term Acute Care Hospital, Angie Lim Torres

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The high turnover rate of graduate nurses is a challenge in the United States' hospitals because of high job dissatisfaction rates. The premature disaffiliation of the graduate nurses is costly for organizations and can significantly affect the quality and safety of patient care due to the inadequate supply of adequately prepared staff nurses, particularly in the long-term acute care hospitals. The purpose of the project was to decrease the turnover rate of graduate nurses in a long-term acute care setting from 40% to 20% through modification of the nurse residency program by applying an intervention based on Bauer and Erdogan's …

Gulf War Era Ii Veterans' Cognitive Information Processing And The Civilian Employment Transition, Denita Monique Oyeka

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gulf-War-era-II combat veterans have made professional contributions to the civilian workforce since returning from Iraq and Afghanistan combat operations. Service members in California encounter transition issues related to employment and adjusting their self-identity in the civilian employment culture. These complexities have led to career problems. Using Peterson, Sampson, Reardon, and Lenz's theory of cognitive information processing and Mincer & Becker's theory of human capital, the purpose of this phenomenological study was designed to provide a holistic account of the lived experiences of 11 Gulf War era II veterans who have successfully integrated into civilian employment with a focus on mitigating …

Adults Aged 65+ And The Societal Pressure To Exercise, Susan Murphy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Globally, by 2050, the older adult population will be larger than other age segments of the population. Government programs and health care guidelines are being put in place to help encourage exercise. However, there is little information on how the societal pressure presented in these government programs makes people feel, especially those over the age of 65. The purpose of the present study was to understand what the societal pressure to exercise means to adults over the age of 65 using a qualitative, phenomenological approach and employing in-depth interviews using the health belief model as the guiding framework. The interview …

Instructional Practices In Holistic Education For Patients With Cancer, Alicia Oberle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

During the past few decades, holistic education has increasingly emerged in academia. However, limited research has been conducted on how holistic education impacts instructional practices in real life situations like the well-being of cancer patients. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how a holistic education program impacts instructional practices designed to improve the well-being of cancer patients. The conceptual framework was based on transformative learning theory and learner-centered teaching. This single case study was conducted at a non-profit cancer center in the Western United States which emphasizes multiple dimensions of well-being for cancer patients, including holistic education. …

Childhood Verbal Abuse And Its Psychological Effects On Adults, Lani Thomason

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have documented an increase in child abuse in the past 50 years. Child abuse is associated with many adult physical, emotional, social, and cognitive impairments. To date, physical and sexual abuse have received more attention than verbal abuse. There is a gap in the literature on the effect of verbal abuse on mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of verbal abuse in children on adult psychological functioning. A retrospective, casual-comparative design was used drawing a sample of adults (n = 224), ages 18 to 40, who reported verbal abuse as children as well …

Improving Care Transitions In Patients With Heart Failure: An Integrative Literature Review, Heather Mae Mclain

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Heart failure (HF) hospital readmission reductions are linked to nursing interventions that include scheduling a hospital follow-up appointment with the patient's health care provider within a week of discharge. Yet, patients often leave the hospital without an appointment scheduled. The focus of this integrative literature review was on analyzing data that associated follow-up within 7 days with reduced 30-day readmissions. A search of articles using CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and ProQuest databases resulted in 4,813 articles retrieved using the following search terms: heart failure, readmissions, follow-up appointments, and heart failure guidelines. Scholarly articles selected for inclusion were …

Effects Of Simulated Clinical Experiences On Empathy, Self-Confidence, And Satisfaction In Nursing Students, Dawn Riess

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Empathetic communication enhances the nurse-patient relationship and improves patient outcomes and needs to be taught and evaluated during simulated clinical experiences. Experience in healthcare education has shown students' empathy levels decrease over time. The purpose of this quasi-experimental pretest posttest, study was to compare nursing students' empathy levels, self-confidence, and satisfaction with simulation between the use of the high-fidelity manikin simulator (HFMS) and a standardized patient (SP) used during their simulated clinical experience. Kolb's experiential learning theory was used to guide the study through the four phases specific to simulation and learning. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 135 nursing …

Discharge Calls And Avoiding Hospital Readmissions, Wanda Lee Cassavettes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hospital readmissions are disruptive and costly for patients and hospitals. As hospital discharge instructions are a key nursing responsibility, this project implemented a nurse follow-up phone call intervention within 12-48 hours of patient discharge from an indigent care facility in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The project was designed to understand whether follow-up phone calls from nurses that clarified discharge instructions, symptom management, and medications would be associated with decreased readmission rates within 30 days post-discharge among chronic care patients. The theoretical framework was the health belief model, which proposes that the patient's knowledge of illness severity, …

Improving Attendance In An Undergraduate Business Program At A For-Profit College, Erica Schacht

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a small for-profit college located outside of New York City, declining classroom attendance over the last few years has become a serious concern in the business program. Poor attendance is one of the major causes for enrollment dropping and poor student retention. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify factors that influence student attendance. The study was based on Tinto's (1975) model of student integration and Nora and Cabrera's (1996) student adjustment model, which relates environmental influences on student retention. The research questions were used to investigate why students attend or do not attend classes, and …

How Fine Particulate Matter Modifies Preterm Birth Risks In Korea, Hyun Jin Choi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the increasing interest in preterm birth risk associated with maternal exposure to the current level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Korea, there is little information on differences in PM2.5 exposure and its impact on preterm birth. This study was designed to examine the effects of Korea's air quality on preterm birth, including the possibility of moderation and mediation. This work was also designed to investigate manipulable factors for PM2.5 exposure. The theoretical framework of this quantitative and observational study included the social ecological theory and systems theory. The conceptual framework of this partially ecologic and retrospective cohort study …

Pap Utilization Survey In Nueva Vida, Nicaragua: Professional And Health Promotoras Partnership, Olushola O. Ogunleye, Bethesda J. O'Connell, Megan A. Quinn, Lea C. Florence, Kaitlyn Shirely

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer affecting women in developing countries and accounted for 84% of the global incidence of cervical cancer in 2012. Nicaragua is one country illustrating this disparity, with an annual cervical cancer mortality six times the U.S. rate. This may be explained by lack and poor utilization of effective screening programs, especially the Papanicolaou, or Pap, smear. This study resulted from a partnership formed by faculty and students from two U.S. universities and a Nicaraguan nonprofit organization to conduct projects to benefit a community in Nicaragua. To promote a free Pap smear program provided …

Perceptions Of Grief Education In Accredited Counseling Programs: Recommendations For Counselor Education, Jane E. Hill, Richard J. Cicchetti, Shelley A. Jackson, Gary Szirony

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

As grief can be considered a critical life event, unresolved grief can interfere with quality of life, affecting lifestyle, behavior, emotional strength, and cognitive function. Unresolved grief can even result in suicidal ideation. Counselors can and often do work with grief issues in clients and can promote positive outcomes for grieving clients by addressing personal loss and helping clients process grief related issues. This study was based on an analysis of students within counseling programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs based on earlier research conducted by one of the authors. Self-perception of competency …

Opportunity And Sex Offending By International Peacekeepers In The Central African Republic, Musa Yerro Gassama

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Despite their peacekeeping role in the management of internal armed conflicts, some international peacekeepers have sexually exploited local populations in host countries, resulting in dire social consequences and threats to the success of international peace operations. Although researchers have examined sexual violence committed by peacekeepers, few researchers, if any, have used routine activities theory to examine sex offending by peacekeepers. This article explored the extent to which situational opportunities influenced international peacekeepers’ engagement in the sexual exploitation of civilians in the Central African Republic, a peacekeeping host country. Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with 15 research participants, including local …

Health Promotion Behavior Among Hypertensive And Normotensive Armenian Americans, Zoya Minasyan, Leslie C. Hussey, Kathleen Brewer

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Hypertension presents a significant health risk to both developed and developing countries, affecting approximately 78 million Americans of various ethnic backgrounds. Though a great deal of research about hypertension and minority groups has been published, no studies were located about hypertension in the Armenian American population, despite evidence of health disparities in this population. The purpose of the present study was to examine the differences in health promotion behavior between hypertensive and normotensive Armenian Americans. A quantitative approach was used to examine the relationship between hypertensive status and health promotion behavior. With a sample size of n = 204, this …

Conceptual Framework For A Curriculum In Social Change, Iris M. Yob

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Colleges, universities, and many high schools are expressing their mission in terms of creating social change or contributing to the common good. Such a mission suggests that if they are going to graduate students who will fulfill this mission, they will need to consider how they will best prepare students to do this. The conceptual framework for a curriculum in social change in this article offers a holistic approach, taking into account what a student should know, be able to do, and what values and attitudes should be nurtured. To that end, the article identifies three competencies in the knowledge …

Psychological Uncertainty, Stress, Frustration And Their Relationship With Counterproductive Workplace Behavior, Joan M. Norwood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The overall problem this research addresses is the costly impact of counterproductive work behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine whether uncertainty, stress, or frustration are related to variability, or in predicting counterproductive work behaviors. Wavering economic conditions have steadily altered work environments, and with continuous work changes are growing feelings of uncertainty, concerns of employee and organizational safety, performance, and overall wellbeing. The social exchange theory and the workplace social exchange network were used in this study to better understand employee relationships and response behaviors. Research questions compared the relationships among perceived uncertainty, stress, frustration, and levels …

Strategies For Success And Sustainability In Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises Beyond The First 5 Years, Atem Emmanuel Ndeisieh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to the Cameroon Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) employ over 70% of the active population and contribute significantly to economic growth and development, yet the failure rate of SMEs in the region within the first 5 years remains at 72%. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that SME owners used to sustain their businesses for longer than the first 5 years. With the resource-based view as the conceptual framework, purposive sampling was used to select 5 owners of small food-processing enterprises in Cameroon who demonstrated successful …

How Social Identity Influences Social And Emotional Loneliness, Curtis N. Peterson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social identity theory (SIT) is a robust theory that explains in-group versus out-group behaviors. Two qualities of one's social identity include emotional connection and social connection with others, which someone who is experiencing loneliness tends to lack in their current situation. This dissertation explored whether when one's social identity becomes salient it results in a lower evaluation of one's current state of loneliness. An experiment was conducted in which college student participants, who were 18 years of age or older and currently enrolled in college courses, were randomly assigned to a social identity saliency group (college student) or 1 of …

The Experiences And Perceptions Of African American Women Who Reside In Nursing Homes, Lakeisha De Lon Riley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the experiences and perceptions of African American women who reside in a nursing home and to understand African American women's decisions for admitting to the facility. Social Learning Theory was applied to answer the question of how African American women's experiences and perceptions toward long-term care influence healthcare decisions and admission to a nursing home. Eleven participants interviewed in the study were at least 60 years old, admitted into the facility within the past two years and who had not previously resided in a nursing home. Yin's five step approach …

Antibiotic Prescribing Habits Of Urgent Care Providers, Mellisa Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Antibiotics are commonly prescribed and requested for viral illnesses despite evidence-based research studies and societal guidelines that advise against this practice. Literature has indicated that antibiotic decision-making comes from a provider's experience or exposure to illness, uncertainty of illness, or from being pressured by the patient. Nurses and advanced practice nurses are important participants in the antibiotic stewardship initiative. The purpose of this project was to examine potential knowledge deficits responsible for inappropriate antibiotic prescribing at a rural urgent care clinic in the southeastern United States, which when addressed could promote an educational in-service to decrease the number of antibiotics …

Correlations Between Current And Expected Relocation Quality Of Workplace Factors, Edward Rachny

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High-quality hospitality education is important to bring to international locations because it is a foundation for business and tourism. An international network of hospitality schools (HS) has a problem of convincing faculty to relocate to international locations, which limits expansion efforts and the quality of faculty available at less desirable locales. The purpose of this correlation study was to investigate the relationship between varies workplace factors that faculty expect to be of the highest quality, allowing senior management to ensure relocations. The theoretical foundation that grounded this study was Authors' expectancy theory, which stipulates that what people expect to occur …

Demographics, Self-Autonomy, And Relationships As Predictors Of Substance Use Among Community College Learners, F. Lashell Robertson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abuse of prescription and over-the-counter substances other than alcohol is becoming a prevalent issue; therefore, it is important to identify factors that may help predict risk for this abuse. Some demographic and situational factors have been identified for traditional 4-year college students. However, less is known about community college students, who enter college less academically prepared and may be still enmeshed with family and peer groups from high school. In this correlational study, predictors of substance abuse other than alcohol were explored among a convenience sample of 118 students from an American community college. The research question was developed based …

Toward Excellence: Exploring Leader Strategies In Chronic Wound Care Centers, Geraldine Rosol

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The number of chronic wounds is rising in the United States, and health leaders face the economic and health burdens these wounds pose to the U.S. health care system. Many investigators have documented the importance of leadership in promoting excellence and reducing health care costs in chronic disease. Yet, the literature lacks information regarding leader strategies used to promote wound treatment cultures of excellence directed toward improved quality and reduced health costs. This study examined leader strategies used to promote excellence in chronic wound treatment to address the problem of the economic and health burdens associated with chronic wounds. The …