Study Of Preservice Teachers’ Preparation For Di: Investigating Data For Secondary Teacher Candidates In One Research University, Matthew Trp Dittrich

Dissertations

This dissertation, A Study of Preservice Teachers’ Preparation for DI: Investigating Data for Secondary Teacher Candidates in One Research University, was a mixed methods study of secondary data that analyzed the results of undergraduate and graduate teacher candidate scores on the three different instruments, which were used by a midwestern university in their teacher preparation program for state teacher certification. The purpose of this study was to examine if graduate preservice teacher candidates and undergraduate preservice teacher candidates were equally prepared in the area of differentiated instruction. The study also included an examination of preservice training among these teacher candidates. …

Experiences Of Graduate Level Students Of Color With Race In Psychology Diversity Courses, Lakesha Winley

Dissertations

The ethnoracial makeup of individuals entering fields of study such as psychology continues to change but the experiences of graduate level students of color in these programs is a phenomenon that has received little attention. When attempting to understand these experiences specific to racial content, the literature is almost nonexistent. This qualitative inquiry was designed in an attempt to understand, assess, and depict the experiences of students of color related to experiences of racial content in their American Psychological Association (APA) accredited graduate level diversity/multicultural psychology courses. The focus was on their reactions (e.g., emotional, physical, somatic) to class discourse, …

Psychotherapy Model For The Training Of Counselors In India, Vini Kalra

Dissertations

Common mental disorders in India are on the rise and are adding to the national burden of mental health care on a day-to-day basis. The demand for treatment of mental illnesses has risen considerably, though there is a shortage of mental health professionals who can deliver counseling services. The Indian government has made efforts to improve the scalability of services by training lay health counselors to diagnose and conduct brief counseling with the mentally ill and those involved with their care. Despite efforts to scale up services, the treatment gap still exists, as mental health services are not uniformly distributed. …

Community Violence, Protective Factors, And Resilience: Gender Differences In African American Youth, Kimberly Nelson-Arrington

Dissertations

African American youth are exposed to community violence in varying degrees. Over the last few decades, much research has focused on the negative implications of such exposure. While it is helpful to explore the detrimental effects of community violence on this population, the factors that promote resilience, leading to favorable outcomes, should be explored with just as much fervency. The present study sought to explore the protective factors that contribute to resilience in African American youth exposed to community violence. While resilience is a multidimensional construct, this study focused on the participants’ psychological outlook, namely their sense of hopefulness and …

Exploring The Impact Of Insecure Attachment Styles In Couple Adjustment Through The Lens Of Cluster B Pathology, Laura Bonnemort

Dissertations

The current body of research literature appears to lack adequate studies focused on individuals who possess an insecure attachment, potential cluster B personality pathology, and who are engaged in couple discord. The following clinical research project explored how insecure attachments impact the trajectory of both cluster B pathology and adult couples’ relationship discord. Studies reviewed included adults diagnosed with mood disorders, personality pathology, and those engaged in couples therapy due to dissatisfaction and discord. Developing an insecure attachment in childhood appears to place adults at risk for higher rates of personality pathology and risky romantic relationships fraught with discord. Evidence-based …

Cultural Homelessness, Self-Esteem, And Skin Color Satisfaction Among Latinxs, Josephine M. Almanzar

Dissertations

This study explored feelings of cultural homelessness, self-esteem, and skin color satisfaction among Latinxs. A close interest was placed in examining responses of participants who identified as racially Black or Afro-Latinx. Through an electronic survey, the study aimed to answer the four research questions: (1) Is there a correlation between cultural homelessness, self-esteem, and skin color satisfaction; (2) Do participants of different self-perceived skin colors differ in self-esteem, cultural homelessness, and skin color satisfaction; (3) Does age moderate the relationship between self-perceived skin color and self-esteem; and (4) Does age moderate the relationship between self-perceived skin color and cultural homelessness. …

Military Sexual Trauma In Veterans: Consequences, Treatment, And Therapeutic Implications, Chelsey Siville

Dissertations

Amongst Veterans served within the Veterans Affairs healthcare system, approximately 1 in 50 men and 1 in 3 women have experienced military sexual trauma (MST). While every individual is different, a common characteristic or identity amongst those who have served is that of a warrior – someone perceived as strong and ready to defend both their country and fellow soldier. Experiencing military sexual trauma can create a painful and discrepant identity as well as impact almost all domains of functioning. Unfortunately, trauma is an all too common occurrence in the lives of many service members and the multifinality of trauma …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Lightwaves And Cardiac Rate, Tara S. Cortes

Dissertations

Man and his environment interact continually through changing energy patterns. One of the energy patterns with which man interacts is light, or more specifically, the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. This paper deals with changing patterns of man as seen through cardiac rate changes as the organism interacts with visible light of different colors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between exposure to planned environmental visual stimulation, in the form of colored light, and heart rate response.

A Quantification Model For Home Health Care Nursing Visits, Judith I. Storfjell

Dissertations

Home care managers are faced with an unprecedented challenge to provide quality care at reduced costs at the same time that their case mix is becoming more complex. Since the major expense in home care is nursing labor, improving nursing productivity is a primary method of reducing costs. However, the elements of a home visit have never been defined in such a way that they could be priced appropriately or so that productivity could be measured more precisely than identifying the number of home visits made per day or calculating the average cost per visit. This exploratory study was designed …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Of Power And Empathy In Nurse Executives, Patricia J. Moulton

Dissertations

Changes in the health care delivery system have presented new challenges for the nursing profession. Nurse executives are faced with the responsibility for managing people, resources, and change within an environment that demands quality and cost containment. To meet these challenges, nurse executives must become active and knowledgeable players in the dynamic energy field of the health care environment. A descriptive correlational design was used to investigate the relationship of power and empathy in nurse executives within the context of the Science of Unitary Human Beings (M. Rogers, 1990). Power was defined as the ability to participate knowingly in change …

The Process Of Recovering In Women Who Have Been Depressed, Ann R. Peden

Dissertations

Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression and one woman in four is likely to suffer from a serious depressive episode at some time in her life (Wood, 1989). Literature abounds on the treatment of depression in women. The majority of the studies are quantitative in nature, and treatment methods have been examined using experimental methods. Wellness or recovery has been measured by a score on a depression scale. This view of recovery does not take into consideration the individual's environment, inner strengths, personal definition of health, or the process of recovering. Lacking from the literature …

Effects Of Conflict Types And Power Style Use Among Health Professionals In Interdisciplinary Team Collaboration, Deborah B. Gardner

Dissertations

This research examined the effects of perceived conflict and power style use on interdisciplinary collaboration outcomes in an academic health sciences education project. Fifty-one nurse practitioner students, physician assistant students and first and second year medical students and 16 faculty who participated in the education program, Interdisciplinary Student Community Patient Education Service (ISCOPES) were studied.

Analysis And Observation Of The Concept Of Community Health, Mary Jo Baisch

Dissertations

The concept of community health has varying meanings for those in different professional disciplines and for community residents. The aim of this study was to analyze this concept using Rodger's Evolutionary Method of Concept Analysis (2000). The study design included three phases. In Phase I, the attributes of community health, the sociocultural context surrounding its use, and related concepts were identified in professional literature sources. In Phase II, the Phase I results were compared with the attributes of the concept identified in six community health assessment instruments. The findings of the first two phases were then compared with the perceptions …

The Lived Experience Of Homeless Women With Preschool Children, Sandra S. Averitt

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of being a homeless woman with preschool children living in a temporary shelter. Six focus groups were conducted, in which 29 women from two shelters participated. An interpretive phenomenological approach to data analysis was used. Themes and exemplars were identified. Several strategies were used to assure the trustworthiness of the analysis: the use of a research assistant experienced in group process for debriefing after each focus group; the use of a computer data management program to assure that recurrent themes were identified; and the use of extensive notes with …

Psychophysiological Recovery After Acute Myocardial Infarction, Lynne M. Buchanan

Dissertations

This research describes the physiological and cognitive/affective responses of twenty-one physiologically stable adult males within five days of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The relationships between physiological and cognitive/affective variables were explored focusing on them as manifestations of autonomic nervous system (ANS) imbalance. Physiologic responses of heart rate variability (HRV) and complex ventricular arrhythmias (CVA) were measured using Space Lab ambulatory monitors. The R to R interval data was used to calculate four non-invasive indicators of ANS imbalance: Kleiger global standard deviation (GSD), Magid number, SDANN index and BB50A index. A severity rating of CVA was calculated using Lown's grading criteria …

Improving Transitional Care In Rural Health Using A Standardized Discharge Time-Out Process, Lori Koethe

Dissertations

The process for transitioning patients from hospital to home is complex and fraught with opportunity for error. Increasingly, hospitals are tasked with regulatory, safety, and public expectation burdens to ensure that safe, effective transitions from hospital are well-planned, well-communicated and collaborative.

Transitional care processes are well documented in large, academic medical centers. Little evidence exists within the rural healthcare community. We sought to determine if the implementation of a discharge time-out could improve patient satisfaction and identify and correct errors prior to discharge.

Improving Resource Access And Implementation For Informal Cancer Caregivers In A Clinic At An Outpatient Cancer Center, Marie Milton

Dissertations

Cancer caregivers are at risk for distress from lack in caregiver support. Caregivers were not screened for distress in a cancer clinic and ineffective caregiver support was identified.

Purpose: To improve resource access and implementation in caregiver support and thereby reduce caregiver distress levels.

Finding Support: Evaluating The Use Of A Virtual Dnp Final Project Peer Support Community In A Limited-Residency Program, Pamela Simon-Card

Dissertations

The high number of doctoral students leaving their studies before completion of their degree is a concern of both students and educational institutions. Identification of barriers to DNP student persistence is needed, along with the development of strategies to address them.

The primary aim of the project is to determine the effect of a virtual DNP Final Project Peer Support Community with Final Project Resources Toolkit on students' perception of connectedness, peer community and perceived stress regarding their DNP final project experience in a limited residency program.

Participation In Sporting Activities As A Mechanism For Enhancing Science Instruction, Erin Roades

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

After students have taken years of science classes, they still believe science content is disconnected to the “real” world or to their lives. Teaching without attention to relevance results in decreased motivation for learning and negative attitudes toward science. An instructional method incorporating physical, sport-related activities was used to develop relevance and enhance achievement in science compared to typical/traditional science instructional methods. In the typical method, science lessons consisted of front-loading science content through direct instruction followed by a laboratory activity to confirm lesson content. The experimental teaching strategy used was “Relevance Integration for Teaching Science using Sports Exploration” …

Predictors And Outcomes Of Home Care Use In Urban Elders, Andrea B. Brassard

Dissertations

This study used longitudinal data from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP), a random sample of 2128 Medicare beneficiaries, to examine predictors and outcomes of home care use. Predictors of home care were examined using Grabbe's (1992) Home Care Service Utilization Model. In this model, functional status is the pivotal predictor of home care use. Three other predictor categories were examined: individual factors, family variables, and policy/economic factors. Significant predictors of home care use, other than functional status, were increasing age, female sex, two or more (out of seven) reported medical conditions, hospitalization within the past year, living arrangement, …

Investigations Into Economic Class And Retention Rates Of Nursing Students, Angela D. Martindale

Dissertations

This quasi-experimental, quantitative design based on a grand theory developed for this study explores whether a course designed to allow students to investigate their own environment will affect retention rates of nursing students. A convenience sample of 11 participants were recruited to take the course and data from 185 students was provided for the control group. The course was taken over the Summer and the retention was measured at the beginning of the Fall semester (R1), the end of the Fall semester (R2) and then at the beginning of the Spring semester (R3). The study demonstrated that there was a …

Environmental Modification Strategies Used By Caregivers, Deborah H. Messecar

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the environmental modification strategies used by family caregivers of chronically ill older people. The specific aims of the study were to describe: (1) the environmental modification strategies that family caregivers used; (2) why environmental modification strategies were effective; and (3) how caregivers changed their environmental strategies over time. A qualitative design using the methods of data analysis recommended by Miles and Huberman (1994) guided the research.

Health Status And Psychological Well-Being In Elderly Women: The Self-System As Mediator, Susan M. Heidrich

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explain how elderly women manage to maintain high levels of psychological well-being despite losses associated with aging, especially loss of health, and to examine this process in young-old and old-old women. Two hundred and forty three community-dwelling elderly women completed surveys regarding demographic characteristics, their health status, and psychological functioning. The self-system was proposed as a mediator of the relationship between health status and psychological well-being, and a model was examined in which health status had a direct path to psychological well-being and an indirect path through the self-system. Three theoretical perspectives on …

Theory, Reality, Survival: An Organizational Analysis Of A Nurse-Managed Neighborhood Health Center, Sally P. Lundeen

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the development of Erie Family Health Center as a nurse-managed, community health center. Analysis focuses on those factors within the organization itself and in the external environment which facilitated or impeded agency survival and growth. The factors are identified and analyzed from the perspective of the nurse administrator. Erie Family Health Center, a limited service medical clinic, was developed into a multiple site, comprehensive, community health center between 1977 and 1985. Administrative and programmatic leadership was provided by master's prepared nurses. Factors contributing to the survival and growth of this …

The Health Beliefs Of Papua New Guinea Nursing Students, Michael Beebe

Dissertations

The present study was conducted to determine if a Western theoretical model, developed to explain the abstract structure of health beliefs, would provide appropriate guidelines to construct an instrument to assess health beliefs of individuals in a non-Western society. The Health Belief Model (HBM) as originally described by Rosenstock (1966) and altered by Becker, et al., (1974a,b) was the theoretical model used.

Synchronous Support, Congruent Coping, Or A Good Marriage: Which Is More Important To The Wife's Perception Of Her Husband's Helpfulness In Dealing With Her Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain?, Sharon W. Dowdy

Dissertations

Living with a chronic illness requires adaptations for the individual and the entire family. The effects of stressors on individual health outcomes have been extensively studied. However, the effects of spousal interactions on the chronically ill individual's health have not been fully explored. This study explores three processes that may add to the understanding of when the behaviors of a husband are perceived to be helpful by his wife when dealing with the pain of RA. Is it when the support offered by the husband is that which the wife desired and/or received, and/or when the support received was that …

Determinants Of Health Service Utilization: A Secondary Analysis Of The Comprehensive Multi-Level Nursing Practice Model For Rural Hispanics, Debra J. Mcginty

Dissertations

Rural Hispanic communities in America face socioeconomic barriers that are costly in terms of morbidity and mortality. Explication of the community qualities that influence healthcare utilization of rural Hispanic populations is critical to overcoming these socioeconomic barriers. Yet, empirical support for community concepts and relational links to explain healthcare utilization in rural Hispanic communities have not been addressed in the nursing literature. This study sought to improve understanding of the inner workings and coping mechanisms within the community. The study was a secondary analysis of data sets obtained from a larger study entitled Comprehensive Multi-Level Practice Model for Rural Hispanics …

Moderating Effects Of Cognitive Adaptability On Expressive Writing Outcomes Among Persons Infected With Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Lois J. Wagner

Dissertations

This study explored the effects of expressive writing on psychological well-being, health status, and adherence among persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. It further explored the moderating effects of cognitive adaptability on these outcomes. Thirty-seven participants were randomized to write weekly for 20 minutes on each of four days, either about stressful/traumatic life experiences (experimental) or trivial, non-emotional topics (control). Dependent measures obtained at baseline were repeated one month after writing. Higher cognitive adaptability (dispositional optimism coupled with perceived competence) was associated with improvements in positive affect, global sense of meaning, HIV-cognitive adaptability, HIV-quality of life, and HIV physical …

Perinatal Exposure To Hyper-Interleukin-6 Affects Neurodevelopment In The Mouse, Susan Brunssen

Dissertations

Pro-inflammatory cytokines, especially Interleukin (IL)-6, are elevated in the brains and serum of very premature infants in association with perinatal infectious and hypoxic/ischemic insults. To determine potential adverse effects of IL-6 on brain development, cross-fostered litters of male cd-1 mice were injected sub-cranially with hyper-IL-6 or vehicle at postnatal day (PND) 4 and examined for alterations in functional landmarks of CNS development.

The Experience Of Hope For Adults With Cystic Fibrosis, Janet P. Tracy

Dissertations

In this highly technical biomedical era, advances in diagnosis and aggressive treatments have altered the survival age for many chronically ill people. What is the meaning of hope to people who have lived beyond their expected life span? The purpose of this study was to describe and interpret the meaning of hope in people who have beaten the odds of statistics. A Hermeutic-phenomenological design as informed by van Manen and influenced by Watson and Parse, guided and unfolded the meaning of hope for this population.