Digital Commons Network^™

Health Literacy: The Knowledge And Experiences Of Senior Level Baccalaureate Nursing Students, Catherine M. Cormier

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the health literacy knowledge and experiences of senior level baccalaureate nursing students enrolled at state universities in Louisiana. Three hundred and sixty-one students from eight baccalaureate nursing programs agreed to participate in the study.

Assessing The Impact Of A Pre-High-Fidelity Simulation Orientation On Associate Degree Nursing (Adn) Students' Simulation-Related Anxiousness, Diana C. Galvez

Dissertations

High-fidelity simulation has been utilized in healthcare education for many years. This modality allows students to comprehend complex concepts and be able to create meaningful links between nursing, medical diagnosis, and concepts learned in the classroom. Nursing students that are exposed to a simulation experience that produces stress, anxiousness, and fear can demonstrate a decrease in learning, level of retaining information, self-efficacy, competence, academic performance, learner proficiency, learner confidence, as well as anxiety and frustration when acclimating to new simulation environment. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of a pre-high-fidelity simulation orientation session on Associate Degree …

The Effect Of The Heart Failure Nurse Navigator On 30-Day Hospital Readmissions Of Older Adults, Mary Ann Leavitt

Dissertations

Across the US, 22% of Medicare patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of heart failure (HF) will be readmitted within 30-days of discharge. There is no one cost-effective process identified to help patients transition home and maintain their own selfcare. The aim of this study is to compare readmission rates, HF knowledge, self-care, and quality of life for patients who transition home from the hospital under the care of a Heart Failure Nurse Navigator (HFNN) with patients who receive usual care.

The HFNN is a home health RN with specialized training in HF care. The HFNN visited intervention group (IG) participants …

Use Of Outcome-Present State Test Model Of Clinical Reasoning With Filipino Nursing Students, Susy A. Jael

Dissertations

Clinical reasoning is a nursing competency necessary to make the best decision to deliver safe and effective care. A review of the literature shows a link between hazardous errors in patient care and poor clinical reasoning among nurses, and suggests that more study be given to best way to teach clinical reasoning. It is crucial that nurses today and of the future possess the clinical reasoning skills to provide increasingly complex patient care. This study tested the effect of the Outcome-Present State Test (OPT) Model of Clinical Reasoning on Filipino junior nursing students' clinical reasoning scores on the Health Sciences …

No Coward Soul Is Mine’: A Critical Edition Of Select Works By Ina Boyle (1889 - 1967) - Volume I, Emma C. O'Keeffe

Dissertations

The primary aim of this project is to produce an authoritative critical edition of five works by Ina Boyle composed between 1913 and 1958, through the medium of digitally typeset scores, these include: Elegy (1913) for cello solo and orchestra, Psalm (1927) for cello solo and orchestra, the Virgilian Suite (1930–31), a ballet suite for dancers and orchestra, Lament for Bion (1944–45) for tenor solo and string quartet, and Three Ancient Irish Poems (1958) for soprano solo, viola and harp.

Effective Risk-Based Decision Making In Quality Risk Management, Valerie Mulholland

Dissertations

Patients expect safe, effective, high-quality medicines that are available when needed. Meeting these expectations is increasingly challenging in a global pharmaceutical supply chain, as evidenced by persistent product quality and supply issues. A key contributory factor to these issues is disruptions in manufacturing operations, which in turn are often caused by a hesitancy to change and to continuously improve approved processes. Regulatory agencies repeatedly indicate that they will consider increased autonomy for post-approval changes, if pharmaceutical manufacturing operations can demonstrate the effectiveness of Quality Risk Management (QRM) within the Pharmaceutical Quality System (PQS). Thus, the question was posed by Dr …

“A Real Man . . .”: Deconstructing Machismo Heteronormative Standards With K–12 Latino Male Educators Through Dialogic Spaces, Mario Echeverria

Dissertations

In a K–12 educational landscape where 75% of educators are white women, recruitment of Latino male educators is crucial for diversification, yet these educators represent just 2% of the teaching workforce in the United States (NCES, 2020). These educators grapple with a layered sense of identity as they navigate expectations of hegemonic masculinity and machismo norms that dictate their roles as disciplinarians and saviors, especially for young boys of color (Brockenbrough, 2018; Lara & Fránquiz, 2015; Martino & Kehler, 2006; Mills et al., 2004; Singh, 2021). Unfortunately, Latino male educators leave the profession at twice the rate of their Latina …

Examining Systemic And Dispositional Factors Impacting Historically Disenfranchised Schools Across North Carolina, Raketa Ouedraogo-Thomas

Dissertations

This mixed method sequential explanatory study provided analysis of North Carolina (NC) school leaders’ dispositions in eliminating opportunity gaps, outlined in NC’s strategic plan. The study’s quantitative phase used descriptive and correlation analysis of eight Likert subscales around four tenets of transformative leadership (Shields, 2011) and aspects of critical race theory (Bell, 1992; Ladson-Billings, 1998; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 2006) to understand systemic inequities and leadership attitudes.

The qualitative phase comprised three analyses of education leadership dispositions and systemic factors in NC schools. The first analysis of State Board of Education meeting minutes from 2018–2023 quantified and analyzed utterances of racism …

Twenty First Century Principal Leadership, Shannon R. Goodacre

Dissertations

With the shifts and newly evolving complexities of the 21st century, the significance of what is needed from a successful school principal has reached a critical point. Today, one of the most vital roles of an effective principal is to, "Create a climate hospitable to education so that safety, a cooperative spirit, and other foundations of fruitful interactions prevail" (Foundation, 2013, p. 6). Therefore, the present study, using a constructivist research approach to conduct a phenomenological study, strove to understand a phenomenon, in this case, the phenomenon of leadership as it is practiced by high school principals (Adom, 2016). This …

What Matters Most: A Phenomenological Study On The Experiences Of Engagement And Inclusion Of Online Part-Time Faculty In Christian Higher Education, Eleisha Garland

Dissertations

Higher education institutions significantly rely on part-time faculty members to meet course demands. The growth of part-time faculty has grown over 250% since the 1970s. Part-time faculty are now seen as the majority over tenured and tenure-track faculty. Due to the changes in higher education and the crucial role online part-time faculty play in higher education institutions, online bachelor-level program deans must learn to support and engage these faculty members more effectively. The leadership problem identified for this study is that online bachelor-level program deans are being challenged to deliver the support needed to online part-time faculty members to ensure …

Charting New Paths: Exploring The Influence Of Followership Perspectives On Millennial Career Behaviors In The Changing University Workplace, Kimberly M. Stapleton

Dissertations

This dissertation will explore the attributes and application of the Reversing the Lens Approach (Shamir, 2007) to followership and its influence on career advancement strategies for millennials working at universities. The research will assess millennials as being born between 1980 and 1995 and currently working at universities in the southeast United States. This is a phenomenological study with an exploratory qualitative research design that seeks to uncover and understand to what extent millennials' roles as followers and their interactions with their leaders influence their career advancement strategies and what, if any, are the implications for their current institutions and higher …

Development Of Methods To Quantify The Affective Response To Food Product Consumption Based On Kansei Engineering And Their Application In New Product Development, Dietmar Weiss

Dissertations

Consumer research, crucial to the success of new products, relies traditionally on rational judgements and opinions, which may not reflect the real reasons for consumer choice. The goal of this research was to apply and further develop the concepts of Kansei engineering to quantify an emotional response to product use. In addition to the application of the traditional Kansei engineering methods, three innovations were introduced. Firstly, the use of images instead of words to define the emotional space and further limit the interference of cognitive processes in the outcome. Secondly, the application of orthogonal arrays in product designs. Thirdly, the …

Microstructure Control Through The Use Of Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Based Additive Manufacturing, Benjamin M. Beeker

Dissertations

Additively manufactured (AM) parts are subjected to rapid and repeated localized melting, solidification, and reheating, which produces a heterogeneous microstructure. To homogenize the resulting heterogeneous microstructure that results from this non-equilibrium thermal cycling, ex-situ heat treatments can be used. However, this is intended to provide homogenous properties to the printed part, thereby not realizing one of the potential benefits of AM in providing site-specific properties such as fatigue resistance, wear resistance or high strength. This study explores the use of in-situ heat treatments to spatially control microstructure evolution, thereby controlling the location of specific mechanical properties. To guide the processing …

Design, Modeling, And Experimental Realization Of Tunable Fabry-Perot Nanocavities For Broadband And Narrow-Band Applications, Kirtankumar Pravin Dixit

Dissertations

Efficient control of light absorption at the nanoscale has become a popular area of research, leveraging metal, semiconductor, and dielectric thin film technologies to engineer multilayer structures that modulate light through interference. A Fabry-Perot nanocavity can be configured with a dielectric or semiconductor layer sandwiched between two metal layers to exploit interference. This necessarily involves multiple optical paths through a spacer medium. The ensemble structures can be configured for anti-reflection, high-reflection, and dichroism. This dissertation is structured around four main objectives, each aimed at demonstrating the advanced capabilities of these nanocavities in manipulating light. The goals specifically focus on showcasing …

Nuclear Fission Rovers For Martian Exploration, Alexander Constantine Bendoyro

Dissertations

A comprehensive analysis was performed on the impact of embedding a Kilopower-style fission reactor into a pressurized rover on architectural performance for a sample lunar, Mars opposition, and Mars conjunction mission. The high gamma ray flux necessitated the addition of substantial shielding for the crew. A single material shielding analysis using the Taylor formulation revealed that varying the distance between the crew and the reactor core from 3 m to 6 m reduced the required shielding thickness by 7%. Increasing the power output of the reactor from 3.4 kWe (comparable to radioisotope power capability) up to 10 kWe (Kilopower design …

A Case Study Of Technology Integration At A Community College During A Disruption Of Learning Due To A Global Pandemic, Cara Suzanne Barth-Fagan

Dissertations

This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the financial stress, digital divide, and inequalities in educational opportunities that arose during this period. However, it also acknowledges the advantages of remote learning, such as flexible scheduling, individualized learning, and global collaboration. The study design used was qualitative, aiming to identify the perceived levels of student engagement and support between faculty and students, and the perceived levels of success of completing a blended learning course in an online, hybrid, or hyflex format during a global pandemic. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance …

How The Extraction Of Free Ligands From Nanoparticle Dispersions Affects Their Langmuir Films, Jimmie Mitchell

Dissertations

When nanoparticles are used as coatings on displays, solar cells, or devices, a thin, closely packed, uniform film is desired to enhance performance. Organic ligands are commonly used during the synthesis of metal or semiconductor nanoparticles. The ligands bind to the surface of the nanoparticle to control size, stability, or functionality. Commercially available nanoparticles have excess (free), ligands in their dispersions. Removal of the free ligands can potentially improve the performance of the system, especially when the dispersion is subsequently coated on a surface. Current methods to remove free ligands from nanoparticle dispersions result in mass loss, reduced performance, or …

Navigating Global Landscapes: Exploring The Dynamics Of Cultural Intelligence In Business Organizations, Rong Min

Dissertations

This dissertation delves into the multifaceted factors influencing Cultural Intelligence (CQ) among U.S. managers, with a specific focus on openness to experience, emotional intelligence, international experience, and the role of age. Employing a quantitative research methodology, this study engages a diverse sample of managers across various industries in the United States to ascertain how these variables collectively contribute to or hinder the development of CQ within a global business context. Both openness to experience and emotional intelligence were significant predictors of higher CQ, underscoring their importance in facilitating effective leadership in multicultural settings. Although international experience also enhances CQ, its …

Transforming Church Culture: Exploring The Extent To Which Servant Leadership Behaviors Influence Organizational Culture In Small African American Baptist Churches In Central Arkansas, Derick Easter

Dissertations

This quantitative correlational study examined the extent to which servant leadership behaviors predict organizational culture in small African American Baptist churches in Central Arkansas. In light of the post-pandemic decline in church membership and participation, the study explored whether enhancing church culture through leadership practices could help stabilize or grow congregational engagement. The primary research question was: To what extent do servant leadership behaviors predict organizational culture in these churches? Five dimensions of servant leadership—altruistic calling, emotional healing, wisdom, persuasive mapping, and organizational stewardship—were evaluated. The study involved 150 participants from churches affiliated with the state’s two major African American …

["At That Time"] In The Hebrew Bible And Its Role In Daniel 12:1: A Diachronic And Synchronic Study On Semantics Of Narrative And Prophetic Temporality, Roger David Ruiz Araica

Dissertations

Problem

The expression ["at that time"] in Dan 12:1 is the last temporal expression of the predictive discourse of Dan 11:2–12:3. There is no consensus about the temporality of this expression. Thus, this dissertation seeks to answer the following question: What is the temporal frame of the phrase ["at that time"] is in Dan 12:1 according to the temporal indicators provided in the context of the predictive discourse of Dan 11:40–12:3?

Methodology

The methodology of this dissertation combines diachronic and synchronic approaches. First, as a diachronic procedure, it analyzes ["at that time"] in the Hebrew Bible to determine its temporality …

The Impact Of Generational Intelligence And Its Relationship With Team Cohesion And Team Performance In A Jamaican Multi-Generational Workforce, Omar Z. D. Oliphant

Dissertations

Problem

The Jamaica Union Conference (JAMU) currently faces a phenomenon of having a multi-generational workforce that includes four generations working alongside each other across its five fields for the first time in its history. This intersection of generations brings challenges concerning the adequacy of leaders’ generational intelligence and its relationship to team outcomes and perceptions of performance. The potential concerns for leaders center around employee recruitment, retention and engagement, conflict resolution, workplace culture, and productivity, among others (Tapscott, 2009). Any potential misunderstanding resulting from inadequate cross-generational intelligence among members of the generations currently represented may result in these Jamaican generationally …

Maternal Involvement, Parenting Styles And Socioeconomic Status As Predictors Of Academic Achievement Of Standard 5 Students In Trinidad And Tobago, Edison Greenaway

Dissertations

The Problem

Underachievement remains a long-standing issue for the Ministry of Education in Trinidad and Tobago. This has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which deleteriously impacted the education system. School closures became mandatory, and online learning was implemented throughout the education system. The results of the 2022 sitting of the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exams emphasized the issue of underachievement, with a significant decline in performance. Only 37.06% of students scored above the 50% mark. Familial factors such as parenting styles and parental involvement have been noted in the literature to positively impact students’ academic achievement (Borup et al., …

Jointly Operating A Merged Junior Academy: A Case Study Of Interracial Cooperation In Seventh-Day Adventist Education In North America, Fabian S. Reid

Dissertations

Problem

Despite the landmark 1954 US Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that rules segregated schools unconstitutional, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America continues to operate segregated schools in close proximity, a practice rooted in a 1944 General Conference vote that allowed the establishment of separate regional (predominantly Black) and state (predominantly White) conferences within the same geographical regions (a conference is a group of churches, schools, and other institutions within a specified geographic region with one central administrative body). This dual system persists even as declining enrollments and frequent school closures prompt consideration of school …

The Processes, Events And Characteristics Associated With The Leadership Emergence Of New Believers In The Contemporary Movement Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In The United States, Cleveland Hobdy Iii

Dissertations

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is confronting an unsettling reality in the 21st century. A considerable body of literature has highlighted an escalating attrition rate, with the 'Ministry journal reporting in April 2019 that almost 50% of new converts eventually abandon their commitment (Thomas, 2019). Other data collected by the World Church through its Office of Research include statistics and archive information that confirm the losses (Knott, 2016; Trimm, 2023). After all the baptisms, membership transfers, professions of faith, and accessions, the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church is netting one new member per church per year. Since 1965, roughly 4 out …

The Andrews University Mba Program In Vietnam: Assessing The Experience And The Career Advancement Of Its Students, Masazumi Mark Sugi

Dissertations

Problem

The demand to recruit highly skilled managers and laborers in Vietnam has encouraged educational institutions to upgrade the quality of their higher education programs and to evaluate their effectiveness. Andrew University’s MBA program did not have an assessment developed to evaluate the program’s effectiveness in Vietnam. It required an assessment of students’ experiences as a major predictor of evaluating how the Andrews University MBA program in Vietnam has impacted their career path and the extent to which it has benefited students.

Method

This study investigated the motivations, expectations, actual experiences, and career advancement opportunities of graduated students and current …

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership On Writing Across The Curriculum, Amie M. Wright

Dissertations

This research study examined the relationship between school leadership style and the use of writing across the curriculum (WAC) in secondary classrooms. Writing practices and the use of writing as a form of assessment in subject areas other than ELA is thought to be a way to better prepare students to meet the literacy expectations of the 21st century. For writing practices to be integrated across the curriculum in secondary environments, school leadership support is essential. This study aimed to answer the following questions: How can school leaders in secondary educational settings support writing across the curriculum? What are the …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Play-Based Learning In Early Childhood Classrooms, Laura B. Rushatz

Dissertations

Play-based learning is an important part of developing the whole child emotionally, socially, physically, cognitively, and communicatively. Through play, children are allowed to explore, investigate, discover, think, solve problems, and communicate. The purpose of this study was to determine what early childhood teachers in public schools know and believe about the use of play-based learning in their classrooms and how these teachers perceive their administrator’s role in the use of play-based learning. This study used a mixed method approach to gather the perceptions of early childhood educators in seven different school districts through four counties. The sample included responses from …

Strong Partnerships Require Collaboration: The Investigation Of Interagency Collaboration Efforts Between Schools And Community-Based Organizations In Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness, Iantheya K. Brown

Dissertations

This study provides valuable insights into effective interagency collaboration strategies for supporting students experiencing homelessness. Through qualitative analysis, three overarching themes and seven sub-themes emerged, highlighting the importance of partnership building, support system enhancement, and addressing the complex needs of students experiencing homelessness. The findings underscore the crucial role of early relationship establishment, McKinney-Vento education, transparent communication, and shared information in maintaining and expanding partnerships. However, challenges persist, including discrepancies in definitions and misconceptions about homelessness, necessitating a more empathetic approach. Leadership engagement and culturally responsive practices are essential for navigating these challenges and fostering effective collaboration. By adopting a …

The Phenomenology Of Success: Women Who Made It To The C-Suite Despite Barriers, Bettye H. Smith

Dissertations

Multiple researchers have explored avenues to achieve gender diversity in leadership, primarily by studying the barriers to success for aspiring women leaders. Despite barriers, a small group of women have risen to the top positions of US corporations, demonstrating that there is a path to success and highlighting an opportunity to address leadership diversity differently. Whereas most research on gender diversity in leadership focuses on the barriers women encounter, this qualitative phenomenological study focused on how women can succeed. By leveraging Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory to explore systems that enabled a phenomenal group of women to advance to the C-suite, …

How Can A Cloud Computing It Framework Be Created And Applied Effectively In The Online Printing Industry?, Stefan Meissner

Dissertations

This research aims to design a cloud computing IT framework for the online printing industry based on a detailed literature review, the development of proof of concepts (PoC), and the conduction of a focus group. The framework can be adopted by the online printing industry or by vendors of print-specific applications to optimize their products for the online printing industry. The author has been working in the online printing process optimization and automation since 2007. During this time, he got deep insight into many industry-specific applications, their architectural design, and their challenges being used in the context of online printing. …