Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Bidirectional Associations Between Parenting And Adolescent Coping In The Context Of Exposure To Community Violence, Jenny Phan

Dissertations

Coping refers to all the strategies and processes that an individual uses to eliminate, reduce or tolerate stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Rosario et al., 2003). Within the general coping literature, research has observed that use of approach-oriented coping strategies is associated with positive psychosocial outcomes, and avoidant-oriented coping strategies is associated with negative psychosocial outcomes (e.g., Compas et al., 2001; Wadsworth & Compas, 2002). However, most of these studies have focused exclusively or predominantly on middle-class White participants (e.g., Compas et al., 2001; Wadsworth & Compas, 2002) which may limit the generalizability of these findings to other groups. Further, …

Institutional Experiences Of Justice-Involved Adolescents: Profiles, Predictors, And Post-Release Associations, Elizabeth Sargent

Dissertations

Experiences within juvenile justice placements have long been a topic of concern amongst researchers and policy makers, with institutional violence exposure and harsh treatment being two such reasons for concern. The majority of adolescents who enter the justice system already have extensive violence exposure, which can continue while they are detained through victimization and witnessed violence. One’s adjustment to justice settings is influenced by characteristics and experiences prior to placement, and institutional experiences may also have influences on mental health and behavior after release. In the current study, reports from justice-involved adolescents were used to 1) identify profiles of institutional …

Enshrining Memory: The Production Of An American Catholic Past, Emily Arledge

Dissertations

American Catholics throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries advocated for a canonized American. To promote a candidate, organizers of canonization causes collected objects related to the person’s life and curated exhibits to educate Catholics about the candidate. American shrines became intertwined with creating museums or heritage tourism sites for Catholics to encounter their faith and learn about their place within the nation’s history. This dissertation argues that shrines create an American Catholic public memory by interpreting the lives of saints and potential saints through the American past, situating themselves into a national story, and reproducing a saint’s memory for future …

Making Lemonade Out Of Lemons: How Millennial Black Women Teachers Navigate K-12 Educational Spaces, Janese L. Nolan

Dissertations

Research suggests that Millennial Black women teachers (MBWTs) are having experiences that are complex and contradictory. Research also suggests that those experiences continue to be underexamined and unexplained. To illuminate the unique socio-political positions of MBWTs, in this study, I examined their socio-political context and navigational tactics while also exploring whether Lemonade Navigational theory could illuminate the contradictory experiences of MBWTs given their generational epistemology.

The Way To Well-Being Through Safety, Trust And Freedom: A Youth-Driven Framework For Older Youth In Child Welfare, Bridget Marie Colacchio

Dissertations

The current study looks at the experience of well-being among young people who experienced foster care in the United States. The objective of the project was to seek a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of well-being from the perspective of those with most direct knowledge of it: youth in care themselves. Chapter 1 includes an overview of the social, historical, policy, and clinical landscape underpinning the study, starting with a summary of the current state of the child welfare system in the United States. This includes a look at two key contextual factors – structural racism and neoliberalism – that …

Identifying Factors Affecting Saudi Nurses’ Intentions To Report Medication Errors In Arar Hospitals, Ohoud Aldughmi

Dissertations

Background: Medication errors are the most common safety issues in Saudi Arabia. To avoid medication errors, Saudi hospitals need to identify the causes of errors by encouraging reporting errors. Most Saudi nurses do not report errors because of the blaming culture. Therefore, Saudi nurses need a psychological safe environment that encourages nurses to admit and report errors. Even if establishing a good error reporting system is helpful, Saudi health organizations need to discover nurses' perceptions, attitudes, norms, behaviors, and intentions regarding medication error reporting. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting the intention of Saudi …

Pandemic Pedagogies: Fatalistic Or Black Feminist?, Sydney Marie Simone Curtis

Dissertations

The research question I pursued is: “How do Black feminist instructors who identify as spiritual define and embody pandemic pedagogy?” Pandemic pedagogy is a term used to describe the experiences of teachers and students at HEIs and K-12 schools as they navigate teaching and learning during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (Schwartzman, 2020). I identified two general approaches in the current literature on pandemic pedagogies in postsecondary education: “fatalistic” approaches that bemoan the challenges faced by teachers and students during the pandemic, and “responsive” approaches that describe attempted solutions to these challenges, without addressing root causes. Conversely, “transformative” pandemic pedagogies are …

Barriers And Facilitators To Library Social Work Practice In The United States: A Mixed-Methods Study, Margaret Ann Paauw

Dissertations

Background and Purpose: Library social work is an emerging field where libraries and social workers partner to meet the psychosocial needs of library patrons. With libraries being situated as the last truly public spaces, they are positioned as centers of communities and have called upon the field of social work to assist in navigating the changing landscape of their patrons. Library social work has been around for over ten years, yet research has struggled to keep up with practice. This study was the first nationwide study on library social work from the perspective of the people who are doing the …

A Descriptive Exploration Of Quality And Opportunities In Outdoor Urban Play Spaces: The Case Of Chicago Public Schools, Katherine Anne Varey

Dissertations

This study investigated the quality of children’s play spaces, both green and built, in and surrounding urban public schools in Chicago. Given children’s declining access to nature and the outdoors, especially in urban areas, the aim of the study was to both assess the current potential for high-quality outdoor experiences, as well as to uncover additional, low-cost, and low-burden opportunities that may exist for enhancing outdoor experiences. Based on a selected sample of 60 Chicago Public Schools, this mixed methods study employed quantitative ratings of play space and neighborhood quality, geographic information systems (GIS) mapping techniques to show distribution of …

Peer Culture Of Block Play In An Early Childhood Classroom, Missi Jacobson

Dissertations

This is an ethnographic study of peer culture in the block play area of an early childhood classroom. Researchers have continued to position block play as an essential activity in early childhood classrooms. William Corsaro’s (1985, 1990, 1992, 2003, 2020) work on peer culture in young children and theory of interpretive reproduction is the framework that guided the methods and theoretical lens of this study. I was a participant-observer, using an “atypical adult” technique, in the block play area in a 4-5-year-old classroom with 22 children during a full school year. The children navigated how to build and play socially …

Cancer Survivor Empowerment Through Patient-Reported Outcomes, Mary Patricia Johnston

Dissertations

Background: Conventional approaches for assessing and managing symptoms in cancer survivors are unlikely to be effective in cancer survivorship care because clinician-driven assessment limits the voice of the cancer survivor while the burden and complexity of cancer care increases. Yet, cancer survivors are not prepared for the shift from clinician-driven assessment and management of symptoms to cancer survivor self-report of symptoms and self-management of their own care. There are gaps in clinician assessment, and no studies describe how patient empowerment may facilitate the cancer survivor’s ability to assume the responsibilities of monitoring, reporting, and managing symptoms as the cancer survivor …

"To This You Were Called": Discipleship, Suffering, And Social Identity In First Peter, Shane Patrick Gormley

Dissertations

At the center of First Peter’s rhetoric stands an exhortation to “follow” in Christ’s footsteps (2:21). Several scholars have suggested (sometimes off-handedly or in a singular footnote) that this specific exhortation utilizes the technical language of “discipleship,” but only to support a particular piece of the letter’s paraenesis (2:18–25). I contend that such a suggestion, while a helpful place to start, does not go far enough. With this study, I propose that we may read First Peter comprehensively as a summons to discipleship in accord with ancient understandings of education, exemplified in the multifaceted system of Hellenistic paideia. I argue …

Student-Faculty Trust And Its Relationship With Student Success In Pre-Licensure Bsn Nursing Education, John E. Scarbrough

Dissertations

Student-faculty trust and related concept characteristics have been shown to be factors associated with successful student learning. Research investigating the role of trust in communications and education has been conducted with students in other disciplines but not with nursing students. The purpose of the research is to investigate the complex relationships between students' trust in faculty, the students' mood states, and students' educational performance and outcomes. Special emphasis is placed on the relationship between student-faculty trust and critical thinking skills. A further purpose of this research is to establish a baseline understanding of trust and related characteristics in a typical …

How Exemplary Female Executive Leaders In Higher Education Use Five Principles Of Grit—Courage, Conscientiousness, Long-Term Goals, Resilience, And Excellence Versus Perfection—To Accomplish Extraordinary Results In Their Organizations, Julie Pettitt

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe how exemplary female leaders who hold executive roles in higher education use five principles associated with grit (courage, conscientiousness, long-term goals, resilience, and excellence versus perfection) to accomplish extraordinary results in their organizations. It challenges the notion that academic credentials and intelligence alone drive leadership success, emphasizing the role of grit in extraordinary leadership. This study delves into the barriers women encounter in reaching executive roles, their strategies for overcoming challenges, and how they leverage gritty qualities to facilitate and sustain transformative change. Methodology: A phenomenological design was …

The Perspective Of Mothers And Clinicians On The Information Needs, Information-Seeking Behavior, Communication Processes, And Information Resources Of First-Time Breastfeeding Latina Mothers, Maryelena Vargas

Dissertations

Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is recommended by major health organizations to promote the health of infants and mothers. Exclusive breastfeeding rates of Latinas at six months, however, are lower than those of White mothers, although Latinas initiate breastfeeding at a higher rate than do non-Latinas.

The primary aim of this descriptive, interpretative study was to explore first-time breast-feeding Latina mothers' met and unmet information needs, information-seeking behavior, communication processes, and resources used related to breast-feeding initiation, adherence, and weaning. The secondary aim examined these concepts from the perspective of clinicians. A convenience sample of 28 Latina mothers and 12 …

Implementation And Evaluation Of A Pain Assessment Tool In A Dementia Care Facility: A Quality Improvement Project, Cynthia A. Carbo

Dissertations

Pain has been under-detected and under-treated in patients with dementia. Signs of distress can be misinterpreted in this population, and patients can be inappropriately given psychotropic medication. Various pain assessment tools for patients with moderate to severe dementia have been devised, and all require further study.

The purpose of this evidence-based project was the selection of a pain assessment tool, training of staff in pain management and tool use in a dementia care facility, and monitoring of pain assessment to comply with regulatory guidelines. Benzodiazepine and neuroleptic doses per patient were monitored before and after the training intervention in an …

Disaster Movies And The Perception Of Human Behavior Myths In Disasters, John Carr

Dissertations

This study explored if disaster movies change the perceptions viewers hold regarding human behavior in disasters, and if so, whether these effects are observable six weeks after watching the disaster movie. The study documented the anticipation of disaster myths in human behavior for 121 respondents, providing data that can better inform the discussion of disaster myths and realities. The study found changes to anticipation of disaster myths in human behavior and realities across multiple categories, with statistically significant results related to the factor of Looting Myth. Limitations for this study include a small sample size, and the external influence of …

Using Industry Sector Entropy To Predict Economic Community Disaster Resilience: Real-World Verification From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Thomas Brindle

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for disaster science researchers to gain insight into the underlying nature of community resilience through comparing the socioeconomic effects of government action to a common threat across urban population centers of varying economic compositions. For example, the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment related to public health mitigation efforts in the leisure and hospitality sector of Las Vegas, NV, during the onset of the pandemic were well publicized. In comparison, other population centers of similar size but with different economic sector composition varied in the degree to which employment were affected, …

Women In Leadership: Journey To The School District Superintendency, Jessica Mcintyre

Dissertations

Educational leadership positions within school districts across the country are becoming more inclusive and representative of the diverse populations they serve; however, there is still a staggering gender gap within the school district superintendent position. This mixed methods research study was conducted to learn about the experiences of women who have already achieved this top position within a school district. The study involved a primarily qualitative approach through interviews with supplemental quantitative survey data. The three research questions guiding this study were: What are the unique barriers women face during their journey to the school district superintendency? What experiences and …

Dramatic Storytelling Develops Emergent Literacy In Efl: Evidence From The Uae Kindergartens, Ghada Yahya Alkilani

Dissertations

There is increasing importance of the English language for educational excellence and career success in the UAE. The early years is a sensitive period for language acquisition, and preschool age is the best time to learn English as a foreign language (EFL). Stories are a main vehicle used in early childhood education (ECE) to engage children in language learning. Although previous studies have found dramatic storytelling to be particularly effective in developing children’s emergent literacy in English as a native language, little is known about the effect of dramatic storytelling on developing young children’s emergent literacy in EFL. Also, there …

English Language Learners And Their Access To Postsecondary Education: Examining Their Achievements And College Readiness Through Educators’ Experiences And Perspectives, Anna Kalinowska

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to bring awareness to the issue of English learners (ELs) being unprepared for college and to study the beliefs and perceptions of educators regarding the factors that contribute to the creation of an achievement gap between EL students and traditional students. The study involved an analysis of trends in the perceptions of school counselors, teachers, and administrators regarding EL students being ready to attend college. Data were collected from nine participants from three public high schools in Pinellas County using Zoom and email interviews and then analyzed. Four main themes emerged from the …

Student Experiences With Faculty Mentorship During The Dnp Final Project, Lori Prol

Dissertations

The basic qualitative research study was conducted to understand the experiences of DNP graduates with faculty mentorship during the final project phase of the DNP program. Using a sampling service from a nurse practitioner organization, 14 qualified participants were recruited. Participants were telephonically interviewed. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were coded into segments then consolidated into categories. From the organization of categories, themes emerged. One-hundred and seventy-seven data segments informed the identification of 9 themes. A dominant theme of a mentor being there for the student was identified. Accessibility and availability of the DNP mentor represents the …

Critical Care Registered Nurses' Perceptions Of Nurse-To-Nurse Incivility And Professional Comportment, Kenneth J. Oja

Dissertations

This cross-sectional descriptive study was designed to examine critical care registered nurses' perceptions of nurse-to-nurse incivility and professional comportment, and the extent to which education, nurses' age, nursing degree, and years of nursing experience is related to their perceptions on these topics. Professional comportment is comprised of nurses' mutual respect, harmony in beliefs and actions, commitment, and collaboration. Yet, it was unknown whether a relationship existed between a civil or uncivil environment in the nursing profession and nurses' professional comportment. Correlational analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between perceptions of nurse-nurse incivility and professional comportment, and the relationships between …

Risky Business: Ceo Risk Tolerance And Non-Gaap Earnings, Johnna Murray

Dissertations

CEO influence on non-GAAP earnings is a growing area of research. Risk-taking by CEOs is one way to gauge the extent of CEO influence on firm outcomes, especially non-GAAP earnings. This research examines the association between CEO sports hobbies, a proxy for CEO risk-taking, and their company’s non-GAAP earnings. In addition to the risk-proclivity of the CEO, non-GAAP earnings are the result of firm size, equity, return on assets, and changes in revenue. The extent of CEO influence was evaluated by a regression analysis of non-GAAP earnings using firm characteristics with CEO risk-taking measures and control variables such as CEO …

A Magnet System Implementation Of The Hester Davis Fall Reduction Program, Debra A. Bauer

Dissertations

A Magnet-recognized academic hospital system experienced an increase in patient falls and patient falls with injury after transitioning to a new electronic health record. The purpose of the project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a system-wide quality improvement practice change. The practice-focused question addressed a Magnet model implementation of a standardized, system-wide, evidence-based Hester Davis Scale (HDS) fall risk assessment and intervention tool and the impact on the nursing-sensitive indicators of patient fall rates and fall rates with injury. Successful implementation and sustained, correct use of the HDS fall risk assessment and targeted fall-prevention-intervention tools added to the evidence …

A Delphi Study Of Effective Strategies For Addressing The Most Significant Challenges To Creating Gender-Balanced High School Career Technical Education (Cte) Pathways, Jon Black

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify what expert high school Career Technical Education (CTE) administrators see as challenges to creating gender-balanced classes across all high school CTE pathways, to rate the significance of the identified challenges according to the experts, and to describe the most effective strategies for addressing the five most significant challenges identified in creating balanced CTE enrollment across all high school pathways. Methodology: This study used a three-round Delphi method to collect data from expert high school CTE administrators. In Round 1, the expert panel was asked to identify challenges to creating gender-balanced …

The Concept Of Home Care Nursing Workload: Analysis And Significance, Barbara L. Mildon

Dissertations

The concept of home care nursing workload has not been widely studied and no evidence was found that an analysis of the concept had been undertaken. Consequently, there was a knowledge gap regarding the definition and attributes for the concept of home care nursing workload as it is currently experienced. To address that gap, a descriptive, three-phase, mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) study was conducted.

With A Little Help At Home: The Impact Of Romantic Partner Support On Daily Burnout And Workplace Incivility, Matthew Aplin-Houtz

Dissertations

With rude and discourteous encounters in the workplace becoming more common, Workplace incivility (WI) is at an all-time high. As such, workers experience levels of burnout from these negative social interactions. The literature concedes that the results of these interactions lead to mounting burnout, causing negative physical and emotional outcomes at the individual and organizational levels. Considering that the literature also supports that employees have the potential to recover from burnout symptoms through rest, obtaining the perception of control of their circumstances, and cognitive reframing, the time and activities a worker spends at home carry the potential for minimizing burnout …

Assessment Of The Cultural Competence, Dementia Attitude, And Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Among Tertiary Healthcare Providers, Jo Ann Pelaez-Fisher

Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease has made a significant impact on healthcare delivery in the acute care facilities. Tertiary healthcare providers are challenged by the needs of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease while ensuring safe delivery of technical and specialized care in a fast-paced setting. There have been extensive research on informal caregivers and the consequences of providing care to patients with Alzheimer's disease. Few studies have queried tertiary healthcare providers and the influence of culture, attitude, or knowledge on Alzheimer's disease care. No study to date has investigated the elements of high quality Alzheimer's disease care which include cultural competence, positive attitudes, …

A Focused Ethnographic Study Of Nurses' Role In The Early Mobilization Program In The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Chelsea E. Noone

Dissertations

Early Mobilization (EM) in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) is safe and feasible, but there are issues preventing the adoption of EM into clinical practice. The objective of this study was to describe the patient safety concerns and how nurses develop strategies to safely deliver EM to their patients. The second objective was to explore, describe and analyze nurses' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to performing EM, and to identify strategies nurses perceive would assist them to overcome barriers and increase adoption of EM within the PICU. This focused ethnographic study included 15 in-depth interviews with 10 PICU nurses. Data …