Digital Commons Network^™

Social Support Among Family Caregivers Who Attend Hospice Virtual Group Counseling Sessions: Facilitators And Barriers To Attending These Sessions, Katherine M. Hertzfeld

Dissertations

The National Hospice and Palliative Care organization has identified that a majority of its estimated 1.43 million patients in 2016 were cared for by family members. Studies show that these family caregivers often suffer poor health outcomes if they do not receive enough social support during the grieving process following their family members' death. Attending group counseling sessions can provide social support if the family caregiver is willing to attend. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) indicates changes in health behavior and can facilitate individuals to attend group counseling sessions. The purpose of this evidence-based practice project is to identify the level …

Use Of Comprehensive Care Coordinator Telephonic Outreach To Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening In Primary Care, Sarah N. Klotz

Dissertations

Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States. More than 140,000 patients in the United States will be diagnosed with CRC in 2020. Despite clear benefits to timely CRC screening only 63% of eligible patients in the United States are screened appropriately. The Target Health System has identified that under-screening for CRC posess a significant patient care outcome and quality reimbursement concern. This evidence-based practice (EBP) quality improvement (QI) project was designed to improve the CRC screening rates in primary care. The EBP QI project used the existing care coordinator program to expand …

Semantic Classification Of Multidialectal Arabic Social Media, Tom Rishel

Dissertations

Arabic is one of the most widely used languages in the world, but due in part to its morphological and syntactic richness, resources for automated processing of Arabic are relatively rare. Arabic takes three primary forms: Classical Arabic as seen in the Qur’an and other classical texts; Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as seen in newspapers, formal documents, and other written text intended for widespread distribution; and dialectal Arabic as used in common speech and informal communication. Social media posts are often written in informal language and may include non-standard spellings, abbreviations, emoticons, hashtags, and emojis. Dialectal Arabic is commonly used …

Professional Development And Special Education: A Comparison Of Special Education And General Education Teachers' Experiences, Angela Gill

Dissertations

This quantitative study was completed to compare the professional development experiences of special education teachers and general education teachers. The researcher reviewed literature related to the history of professional development, various professional development organizations, the standards of professional development used in Mississippi, and an overview of special education. Consent was obtained from various school districts in Mississippi. Qualtrics was used as the platform for the questionnaire. Participating school districts were emailed a link to the survey instrument. Data from the completed questionnaire were analyzed for levels of satisfaction for topics and utilization of PD information. Information was gathered concerning participants …

Offenbach’S Operetta As Performance Practice: A Pedagogical, Dramatic, And Stylistic Role Guide For Pâris In La Belle Hélène, Peter Lake

Dissertations

This dissertation originated from my personal experience in performing the role of Pâris in Offenbach’s La belle Hélène and the research I conducted in preparation for the performance. Upon examining the score, I discovered the role to contain vocal elements that seemed foreign to my expectations of operatic repertoire. After consulting as many scholarly sources as I could find on the subject, I discovered little to no sense of direction in preparing and performing this unique role or for French operetta as a genre. I decided to compile my experience and research into a usable tool for preparing a French …

Using Native Ads In Public Relations Campaigns: A Study Of Instagram Influencers In Kuwait, Ahmad Alhaidar

Dissertations

Native advertising through online influencers is one of the fastest-growing online advertising formats that public relations practitioners use worldwide. However, there is a lack of research about how public relations practitioners utilize native advertising in social media in the Middle East. The current study focused on Kuwait, one of the areas with the most notable growth in Instagram usage in recent years.

This study examines the effects of persuasion knowledge, the congruence between influencer and product, and parasocial relationships on ad credibility, influencer credibility, sharing intention, brand interest, and purchase intention. The scholar utilized a 2 (persuasion knowledge: active vs. …

Cognitive Aptitude As A Predictor Of Success In Associate Degree Nursing Programs, Nancy Brooks Leahy

Dissertations

Student success in nursing education is essential to supplement the healthcare workforce and sustain the delivery of safe and efficient nursing care. However, the loss of students who drop out or fail out of nursing programs is alarmingly high even though institutions have sought to identify the best candidates for admission to rigorous nursing curricula. While most nursing programs have used academic measures, such as grade point average or standardized testing to rank students for admission, these measures have not adequately captured the characteristics that students must possess to be successful. To further identify nonacademic attributes that enhance achievement, new …

Facilitating Implementation Of In-Room Whiteboards In The Skilled Nursing Environment Using The Parihs Framework, Ashley Lubbers

Dissertations

The application of research to practice is a difficult task to successfully carry out for many healthcare professionals and organizations. The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) framework is a tool that acts as an implementation guide for translating research evidence to practice. This study explored the use of an adapted version of the PARIHS framework as a guide to implementing in-room whiteboards in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) on their short-term rehabilitation wing. While the utility of in-room whiteboards has been demonstrated in the acute care setting, there are few studies of their use in SNFs. …

A Study Of Communication Practices Between Office And Field-Based Personnel In Home Healthcare Agencies, Ruth M. Bates-Hill

Dissertations

The population of developed countries is rapidly aging. People want to age in their residence, and as they advance in years, most people will need assistance with activities of daily living and perhaps medical assistance to remain at home. Home health aides provide a large portion of such care. However, the annual turnover rate of home health aides exceeds 60% due to factors such as low wages, poor benefits, and a challenging work environment. Many studies have been conducted to elucidate the factors contributing to job satisfaction in the home health aide population, yet despite decades of research, turnover among …

On Prediction Of Early Signs Of Alzheimer’S— A Machine Learning Framework, Abdalrahman Alsaedi

Dissertations

Dementia is a collective term used to indicate a loss of memory functions with the presence of at least one additional loss of a major cognitive ability that hinders a person’s previous level of functioning. Studies show that dementia is highly age- associated and that the most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Early recognition of Alzheimer’s disease, before irreversible damage to the brain has already occurred, is paramount to slowing or preventing the disease. Therefore, algorithms for the prediction of early signs of dementia are essential. Machine learning approach has been reported to use several data sources such …

Reframing National Women's History Month: Practicalities And Consequences, Skylar Bre’Z

Dissertations

This study evaluates the practicalities and consequences of designating one month (March) out of the calendar year for the commemoration of women’s history. In the 1970s and 1980s, national women’s organizations such as the Women’s Action Alliance (WAA) collaborated with the Smithsonian Institute and the Women’s History Program at Sarah Lawrence College to build programs to increase awareness of women’s history. Using an interdisciplinary approach grounded in feminist theory, media studies, and historical memory studies, this project contextualizes the commemoration through its connection to 1970s women’s activism, explores its usefulness as a tool for building educational equity, and questions its …

Institutional Changes In Western Michigan University For Incorporation Of Education For Sustainability, Saman Khan

Dissertations

Higher Education institutions (HEIs) have the potential to be significant contributors in the pursuit of a sustainable world through the incorporation of Education for Sustainability (EFS). However, HEIs are entrenched with structures and values that are often resistant to change. The literature reveals that instructors’ beliefs and institutional contexts are the two main factors that impact the implementation of institutional change for sustainability education. Western Michigan University (WMU) has created new required curriculum “WMU Essential Studies” (WES) for undergraduate students and they have targeted sustainability as an essential learning outcome, by integrating and applying it in content courses. Using a …

The Effects Of Online Parent Training In The Teach- Model-Coach-Review Instructional Approach On Parents’ Use Of Language Expansion During Routine-Based Activities For Children With Cochlear Implants In Thailand, Rumpasri Sukonthaman

Dissertations

Early intervention is not officially implemented in Thailand. The shortage of practitioners, the inaccessibility of early intervention services, and the lack of parental involvement extremely deprive opportunities for children who are deaf and hard of hearing to develop language and communication within the critical period. This dissertation aimed to explore an intervention approach that practitioners can use to encourage and empower parents’ roles and responsibilities, as well as improve the children’s language outcomes. The objectives in this dissertation study were to explore (a) how online parent training in the modified Teach-Model-Coach-Review Instructional approach can be implemented to improve the parents’ …

“Will You Scream With Me?”; The Experience Of Expressive Therapy For One Adult Survivor Of Childhood Sexual Abuse And Their Counselor: A Single-Case Study Giving Voice To Complex Trauma, Maegen Grace Horton

Dissertations

Due to the high prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (Finkelhor, 1994), most mental health counselors will likely provide treatment to adult survivors. However, many counselors lack specialty training in working with this vulnerable population (Priest & Nishiinura, 1995). Recent neurobiology research has illuminated the long-lasting effects of childhood sexual abuse on the brain and its implications for emotional expression and regulation (van der Kolk, 2014). Informed by this research, it stands to reason that expressive therapy, defined by Malchiodi (2005) as “the use of art, music, dance/movement, drama, poetry/creative writing, play, and sandtray within the context of psychotherapy, counseling, rehabilitation, …

Physical Education Teacher Education: Curriculum, Philosophies, And Readiness For Induction, Collin Chandler Brooks

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine preservice physical education teachers’ professional socialization experiences at one university and how these events prepared them for induction into the teaching profession. In study one, modifying curriculum mapping procedures provided by Britton et al. (2008), a curriculum map exercise was conducted using six sets of standards over 21 physical education teacher education (PETE) courses at PETE State University (PSU). Individual course maps and the program curriculum map were the primary data sources during this study. The data were analyzed using deductive content analysis (Sparkes & Smith, 2014). The number of times course …

Remote Neuropsychological Assessment: Does Mode Of Administration Matter?, Renee Dematteis

Dissertations

Neuropsychology relies heavily on standardization of administration to increase the validity, reliability, sensitivity, and specificity of an assessment instrument. The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly increased the need to be able to provide neuropsychological assessments remotely. Teleneuropsychology can be conducted through various avenues, including telephone, computerized, and televideo modalities. Given neuropsychology's reliance on standardization for proper use of normative data that accompanies individual assessments, the question arises how mode of administration impacts the validity, reliability, sensitivity, and specificity of an assessment instrument. The literature review summarizes the research conducted regarding the validity, reliability, sensitivity, and specificity of telephone neuropsychological assessments, computerized …

Academic Nurse Educator Attitudes Regarding Their Role Educating Ethnically And Racially Diverse Nursing Students: A Focused Ethnography, Melissa Lillian Weir

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explore academic nurse educator attitudes, specifically beliefs and values, regarding their role educating ethnically and racially diverse students through the lens of culturally relevant pedagogy. Focused ethnography methodology was applied through all phases of this research. Interviews with 14 academic nurse educators provided insight into a subculture of nursing. Themes that emerged from data analysis included strengths perspective, teacher-student relationships, diversity as an asset, crucial or difficult conversations, and ethnicity and race setting the narrative. In addition, assimilation and white privilege were discussed due to compelling and varied responses from participants. The results …

Romantic Undertones In Revolutionary France: The Case For Tarare As Spark For The Revolution, Sean Robert Stephenson

Dissertations

Music is almost never cited among the causes of the French Revolution. Other arts are occasionally mentioned, such as painting and poetry, as are more obvious disciplines including philosophy and literature, which could directly disseminate the ideals of the Enlightenment. Despite this, music is only referenced insofar as how it was impacted by the Revolution, rather than how it may have played a part in the development of revolutionary sentiment. The purpose of this dissertation is to make a case for music as a cultural cause for the French Revolution by analyzing a relatively unknown opera, Tarare, by composer Antonio …

Metacognition In Undergraduate Chemistry Education: Instructor Perspectives And Students’ Use, Amber Nicole Heidbrink

Dissertations

My dissertation research has been a quest to understand how to improve metacognition development in undergraduate chemistry education. The first step I took in this investigation was to speak with those with the largest influence on an undergraduate chemistry student’s education: the instructors. I interviewed seventeen postsecondary chemistry instructors on their thoughts of metacognition, its importance, their current practices for developing their students’ metacognition, and their suggestions for how to improve metacognition development in undergraduate chemistry education. After conducting a qualitative reflexive thematic analysis of the interview transcripts, I found that many of these instructors valued metacognition and believed it …

Consistent Bedtime Routines Are Linked To Better Sleep Outcomes: Why?, Kristy Larsen

Dissertations

Results from nationwide studies estimate that between 81 and 95% of parents in the United States with young children use bedtime routines. This is auspicious given that the use of a consistent bedtime routine is linked with better sleep quality. Indeed, the use of bedtime routines has been determined to have “strong” empirical support for addressing bedtime behavior problems (e.g., bedtime resistance) and for improving children’s sleep. However, it is unclear how, or through what mechanism(s), that a consistent bedtime routine is associated with positive sleep outcomes. We evaluated compliance near bedtime and anxious distress at bedtime as possible mechanisms …

The Effect Of A Contextualized Dosage Calculation Learning Intervention On Pre-Nursing Students’ Math Self-Efficacy And Ability To Pass High Stakes Dosage Calculation Examination On First Attempt, Eileen Veronica Weatherby

Dissertations

Many students in pre-licensure nursing programs struggle with calculating accurate medication dosages even though they meet the numeracy requirements for application to the nursing programs. Most pre-licensure programs require that nursing students pass dosage calculation exams at a specified level of accuracy before progressing to the next term. Students typically have three tries to pass at the specified level and should they not succeed, they must withdraw. If they wish to continue in the program, they must complete the requirements for re-entry which may include space availability restrictions. Factors influencing dosage calculation performance include fear of mathematics, low math self-efficacy, …

Nursing Perceptions And Attitudes Toward Sex Trafficking: Does Victim Gender Matter?, Sarah Rapoza

Dissertations

Sex trafficking (ST) often goes unrecognized; yet, it is a pervasive issue that disproportionately affects marginalized populations. Sex trafficking involves the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving of persons for the purpose of commercial sex acts. As a result of ST, victims suffer adverse health effects and often present to healthcare facilities while still under control of their traffickers. Few healthcare personnel are aware trafficking is happening in their geographical areas and victims are rarely identified or offered assistance. The majority of studies and interventions related to ST focus on female victims despite evidence that males are also …

Predicting Student Success In Coursework Within A Regional Online School: An Analysis Of Student-Level And School-Level Predictors, Cary J. Stamas

Dissertations

Online education options in the K-12 environment have steadily increased from the infancy of online education at the turn of the millennia. Educators have utilized this format to meet the many different needs that exist for all students. Early research into the academic success of students in these environments prior to 2000 indicated there was no significant difference in student achievement for distance learning as compared to face-to-face learning. Since 2000, there has been increased focus on student performance in higher education online environments, but research is limited for K-12 schools. For the research that does exist, school-level variables and …

Are All These Elementary Assessments Necessary? Phenomenological Study Of Standardized Assessments In The Elementary School Setting, Cathy Wright

Dissertations

All children warrant a rich, meaningful public education that prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges that await them as contributing members of a democratic society and a global economy. Based on testing calendars, teacher testimonials, and applied research from other state and local mandated testing studies, this study found that the length of time students spend taking and preparing for the test is extensive. CBS News (2015) noted between 20-25 hours are spent by each student taking standardized assessments, according to a comprehensive report of 66 of the nation’s large-city school districts by the Council of the Great …

Creating Appropriate Clinical Guidelines For The Bilingual Population With Acquired Brain Injuries, Sophia L. Pena

Dissertations

While there is a growing bilingual demographic in the United States, relatively little is known about treating this population should they experience a brain injury. This is a growing area of interest, as research has demonstrated that the acquisition of a second language promotes neuroplastic changes that then impact brain functioning pre- and post-brain-injury. Given bilingualism’s cognitive complexity, clinicians are left with challenges on how best to tailor treatment for brain-injured bilingual populations. Therefore, the focus of this review was to provide clinical recommendations to clinicians performing assessments with bilingual individuals with acquired brain injuries. The goal was for the …

Leadership Strategies That Exemplary K-12 Latina Superintendents In California Use To Create An Organizational Culture Of Inclusiveness Using Kennedy’S Five Leadership Qualities Of Cultural Differences, Martha Martín Pérez

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to identify and describe the leadership strategies that Latina superintendents in California use to create an organizational culture of inclusiveness using Kennedy’s (2008) 5 leadership qualities of cultural differences.

Methodology: This sequential explanatory mixed methods study analyzed quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to identify and describe strategies found when analyzing the data. This study summarized the findings that emerged to identify and describe strategies that create an organizational culture of inclusiveness.

Findings: Examination of mixed methods data from the 15 Latina superintendents in California participating in this study indicated …

Confronting And Dismantling Whiteness In Higher Education: A Grassroots Approach, Winnie Needham

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate how an Educational Studies department in a small, Midwestern liberal arts college might confront and dismantle whiteness in curricular, pedagogical, and policy choices. Utilizing a critical participatory action research design, five higher education faculty engaged in a critical conversation inquiry group (Schieble et al., 2020) to develop their critical literacy (Rogers and Mosley, 2014). This study was designed to answer the following questions: How do faculty within an Educational Studies department think about their racial identities and the relevance of racial identity to the program, the institution, and higher education? …

A Comparative Analysis Of Effective Mathematics Curriculums In The State Of Missouri, Matthew Robert Britt

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the mathematics curriculums and implementation strategies of high-performing school districts in Missouri. The study was designed to determine any similarities or differences in the selection of mathematics curriculums or in implementation strategies among these high-performing school districts. Scores from the mathematics section of the ACT during the years all Missouri 11th-grade students were mandated to take the ACT were used to make determinations about the efficacy of mathematics curriculums and implementation strategies. The school districts with an average score in the top 10% of the state during the mandated years were asked …

Evaluation Of An Elopement Risk Assessment Tool In An Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Hospital, Beth Lockhart

Dissertations

Persons admitted to acute care, inpatient psychiatric facilities often pose a threat to themselves or others, a situation which could quickly devolve if they were to leave treatment prematurely. There is a need for an elopement risk assessment with appropriate interventions correlating to level of risk. An acute care, inpatient psychiatric hospital implemented an elopement risk assessment tool in March of 2020. This quality improvement project used an observational descriptive design and comprised of a retrospective chart review, aimed to determine the effectiveness of the risk assessment tool on decreasing elopements. Charts of those that eloped in 2019 (n=8) and …

Risk-Taking Behavior Of Alcohol Use Among Young Adults Who Have Aged Out Of Foster Care, Elizabeth Ana Borroto Levine

Dissertations

Risk-taking behaviors such as excessive alcohol use in adolescence may become destructive habits in adulthood and pose major health problems. For aged-out foster care teenagers (AOTs), the behaviors are especially increased. The study purpose was to determine the incidence of alcohol use among AOTs in South Florida and to test four hypothesis measuring the variables of self-perceptions (self-esteem), risk perceptions (costs/benefits), social/environmental perceptions (peer influence), peer group characteristics (peer values), and risk-taking behaviors that would predict alcohol use among AOTs living in South Florida.