Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Of Education, Years Of Experience, And School Nursing Practice, Erin Gooding Cruise

Dissertations

Because of the complex nature and autonomy of school nursing practice, multiple professional organizations recommend a Bachelor of Science in Nursing as the minimum level of education for entry into this specialty. Despite research demonstrating benefits to patients and nurses with this level of education, school nurses across the U.S. vary widely in their educational and experiential preparation for this critical role. Benner's Novice-to-Expert Framework emphasizes the importance of experience in nursing or in a specialty practice to developing the skill needed to provide expert nursing care. This study investigated what knowledge school nurses considered important to competent practice when …

Functional Analysis Of Gambling, Mack S. Costello

Dissertations

Given high rates of gambling and the growing population of disordered gamblers, there is a need to develop assessment strategies with improved treatment validity. More specifically, assessment strategies are needed that identify the controlling variables for disordered gambling and, thus, provide guidance in the selection of treatment and prevention strategies. This study sought to develop a functional analysis for gambling by utilizing a simulated gambling environment in which contextual variables hypothesized to be causally linked to disordered gambling could be systematically manipulated. Seven experienced gamblers participated in the multi-element, single-subject experimental study. Participants who endorsed at least some problems from …

How Teacher Beliefs Impact Teacher Behaviors: Teaching Children With Moderate Intellectual Disability To Read, Cheri Lynn Fortney

Dissertations

This study uses a sequential mixed methods multi-strand design to study the teaching behaviors of special education teachers who are teaching elementary k – 5 students with moderate Intellectual Disability (ID) to read. It provides a better understanding of the relationship between teacher beliefs and teacher behaviors and the importance of teacher beliefs when working with special education students. If you have pathognomonic beliefs, you believe “that disability is an internal, fixed, and pathological condition of the individual that is not amendable to instruction” (Jordan, Glenn, & McGhie-Richmond, 2010, p.262). If you have interventionist beliefs you “view disability as created …

Teaching At The Top Of The Class: Black Female Educators' Perspective On Teaching High Achieving Black Children, Sheandra P. Brown

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine the action steps that Black female educators take when teaching high achieving Black students. More specifically this study investigated the way that the participants implement instruction in their classroom for high achieving students. This study included five Black female educators from four predominately Black school districts in a small town in the Midwest. Critical Race Theory and Othermothering were used as theoretical frameworks to examine the importance of the role that Black female educators play in today's urban classrooms. The terms gifted and high achiever are often used interchangeably in …

Sexual Orientation Microaggressions And Psychological Well-Being: A Mediational Model, Cori E. Deitz

Dissertations

Prior research has indicated a strong connection between the experience of perceived discrimination and negative mental health outcomes. Sexual minority individuals experience higher rates of psychological distress compared to their heterosexual counterparts and this increased risk has been attributed to stigma-related stress. The psychological mediation framework proposed by Hatzenbuehler (2009) suggests that there are mediators of the relationship between stigma-related stress and mental health outcomes. This study investigated the mediating roles of expectations of rejection and internalized heterosexism in the relationship between the experience of subtle perceived discrimination (sexual orientation microaggressions) and psychological well-being. The model was tested among 233 …

“Alone In Our Grief:” Exploring How Surviving Siblings Make Meaning After The Death Of A Brother Or Sister, Jodi M. Flesner

Dissertations

Sibling loss is an important, yet often overlooked topic in the literature on grief. The purpose of this study was: (a) to better understand the phenomenon of sibling grief through personal narratives, (b) to explore common meanings made by bereaved siblings, and (c) to investigate strategies used by bereaved siblings to make meaning out of their siblings’ deaths. A narrative research design was used to identify core themes with regard to both meaning making outcomes and processes. Seven young adults who lost a sibling in adolescence each completed two in-depth interviews averaging almost 90 minutes each. Sibling profiles were created …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of A Web-Based Education Program About The Icu Environment And A Standard Education Program On Anxiety, Depression, And Acute Stress Experienced Among Family Members Of Icu Patients, Chrystal Leigh Lewis

Dissertations

Family members of ICU patients may experience anxiety, depression, and acute stress disorder symptoms. A need identified by the multi-society task for critical care research was to study the usefulness of interventions to quantify and treat anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms experienced by family members of ICU patients (Deutschman et al., 2012). This task force encouraged investigating using technology to address this need. (Deutschman et al.). The purpose of this prospective, quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group (pretest/posttest) design study was to compare the effect of standard ICU education and a web-based education program about the ICU environment on the level of …

Eliciting Knowledge Bases With Defeasible Reasoning: A Comparative Analysis With Machine Learning, Peter Keogh

Dissertations

This thesis compares the ability of an implementation of Defeasible Reasoning (via Argumentation Theory) to model a construct (mental workload) with Machine Learning. In order to perform this comparison a defeasible reasoning system was designed and implemented in software. This software was used to elicit a knowledge base from an expert in an experiment which was then compared with machine learning. The central findings of this thesis were that the knowledge based approach was better at predicting an objective performance measure, time, than machine learning. However, machine learning was better equiped to identify another object measure task membership. The knowledge …

Examining School Counselor Advocacy For Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Students: An Assessment Of Factors Toward Action, Jack Simons

Dissertations

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students have been historically marginalized and at-risk for school dropout (Pope, Bunch, Szymanski, & Rankins, 2004), and school counselors advocate for them (ASCA, 2013a). For this survey study, empirical and conceptual literature pertaining to factors that were hypothesized to relate to school counselor advocacy for LGB students were reviewed. In particular, there has been limited empirical data that have addressed this issue. The underlying theoretical framework applied was the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1985). The TPB has been used to predict a variety of behaviors such as teaching students with special needs (Casebolt …

Transitioning Teens With Diabetes To Adult Healthcare, Rebecca Ann Meyer

Dissertations

Adolescents must enter adult health care services at age 18, yet most are not ready and have not mastered daily self management of their type 1 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of a transition planning intervention, focused on educating adolescent/parent dyads about diabetes self management in preparation for the transition from pediatric to adult health care, using a newly developed transition plan and framework. The setting was a diabetes endocrinology clinic where 95% of young type 1 diabetics in the metropolitan area are seen. The intervention included supporting the parent in the relinquishing of …

An Examination Of Forgiveness Attitudes, Assertiveness And Self-Esteem In Relationships Between Forgiveness, Relational Abuse, And Well-Being., Brandon Lowell Whittington

Dissertations

This study examined attitudes towards forgiveness, assertiveness, and self-esteem as moderators between the tendency to forgive and life satisfaction, physical health, and relational abuse. One hundred and seventy two women recruited online completed measures that assessed self-ratings of the above variables. The tendency to forgive was positively associated with life satisfaction although not associated with physical health or relational abuse. Conversely attitudes towards forgiveness were positively associated with physical health, although not associated with life satisfaction or physical abuse. Assertiveness was positively associated with life satisfaction, although not associated with physical health or relational abuse. Self-esteem was positively associated with …

Investigating The Utility Of A Mindfulness-Based Intervention With Men On Probation Or Parole, Reginald Wynn Holt

Dissertations

Using a mixed-method design of quantitative and qualitative approaches, this study investigated the utility of implementing an adapted version of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Addictive Behaviors (MBRP; Bowen, Chawla, & Marlatt, 2011) with six men on probation or parole. The researcher integrated a focus on anger management into the eight MBRP sessions and taught mindfulness meditation exercises during a weekly group. Outcome variables of mindfulness, anger, and empathy were measured at baseline and immediately after the intervention. Field violation and parole revocation data were provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections 30 days following completion of the program. The participants’ …

In Search Of Spirit: The Making And Meaning Of Gay Spirituality, David Willilam Hart

Dissertations

Over the past two decades, a substantial number of scholarly studies have examined the confluence of religious and sexual minority identities (Kocet et al., 2011; Love, Bock, Jannarone, & Richardson, 2005; Rodriguez & Ouellete, 2000; Schuck & Liddle, 2001). Religious identity was often framed within a traditional Judeo-Christian context. A major limitation of this body of work is the neglect of spiritual identity as a construct separate from religious identity. Many Protestant, Judaic, Islamic, and Catholic doctrines regard homosexuality and gender non-conformity as deviant and view the expression of same-sex attraction as errant and immoral (Haldeman, 2002). While reconciliation of …

Attitudes Toward Aging Sexual Expression In Nursing Homes: An Exploration Of The Older Adult Resident Phenomenon, Angela Marie Schubert

Dissertations

Previous research on older adults in nursing home facilities has focused on medical care, safe and dignifying living conditions, quality of life variables, and assessment of senility and sexual disinhibition, or inappropriate sexual behavior, almost all of which was conducted using quantitative methods. The aim of this study was to give voice to ten older adults (six men and four women) who had been living in a nursing home and the four staff (one social worker and three registered nurses) who cared for them. This study aimed to explore sexual expression as it was perceived, experienced, and practiced by those …

The Impact Of Realignment On Property Crime: Perspectives Of Chiefs Of Police, Daniel S. Llorens

Dissertations

Realignment, instituted in October 2011, was California’s latest effort at prison reform by realigning responsibility for prisoners labeled nonviolent, non-serious, and non sex-related from the state to counties. Many of these offenders were in state prison upon conviction of property crime offenses. Realignment had a net decarcerative effect on offenders. Simultaneously, California cities’ officer staffing levels shrunk during the great recession. To determine what impact realignment may have had on property crime in small California cities, and to identify effective response strategies, property crime and officer staffing data was analyzed and a survey administered to the chiefs of those cities. …

Waste Management In California Jails And Prisons, Antoinette D. Bland

Dissertations

The focus of this mixed-methods study was to identify waste reduction strategies that reduced the impact of California jails and prisons on the environment through waste diversion and reduction. This study also sought to identify barriers that hindered jail and prison personnel from developing such strategies, and pursued recommendations on how those barriers could be overcome. This study provides examples of organizations currently reducing waste through strategic initiatives and highlighted areas where jails and prisons could begin or further improve waste diversion practices. The study utilized archival data, a web-based survey, and interviews for data collection and analysis. The findings …

Spatial, Temporal And Demographical Analysis Of Gulf Of Mexico Research Priorities, The Effect Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Stephen Hiller Sempier

Dissertations

A set of twenty equally-weighted national ocean research priorities were define in 2007, but it was not clear if these priorities applied for the Gulf of Mexico. A series of three longitudinal surveys of people who conduct research, sponsor research or use research for professional or recreational purposes was released that focused on the twenty research priorities and asked people how they rated each. A convenience sampling method was employed, which suggests that the results are constrained to the survey respondents and should not be extrapolated to a larger population. More than 1,500 people completed the 2013 GMRP survey and …

The Soldier And The Cigarette: 1918-1986, Joel Richard Bius

Dissertations

The military-industrial complex has been the topic of intense conversation among historians since President Dwight Eisenhower first gave the phrase life in January 1961. The term typically conjures up images of massive weapons procurement programs, but it also ironically involved one of the world’s most highly-engineered consumer products, the manufactured cigarette. “The Soldier and the Cigarette: 1918–1986” describes the unique, often comfortable, yet sometimes controversial relationships among the military, the cigarette industry, and tobaccoland politicians. The dissertation argues that the federal government’s first cigarette warning in 1964 changed a relationship between soldiers and cigarettes that the Army had fostered for …

The Role Of Shared Mental Models In Team Coordination Crew Resource Management Skills Of Mutual Performance Monitoring And Backup Behaviors, Alan Reid Martinez

Dissertations

The purpose of Crew Resource Management (CRM) is to improve flight crew coordination in multipiloted cockpits and in turn increase aviation flight safety. One aspect of CRM team coordination is the ability for flight crews to monitor each other properly and provide the appropriate backup if necessary. The author explores the role of shared mental models among Coast Guard rotary wing cockpit flight crews and their influence on monitoring and backup behaviors during nighttime overwater flight maneuvers. Using the Coast Guard’s MH-65 Operational Flight Trainer located at the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama, cockpit flight crews flew …

Trading Identities: National Identity, Loyalty, And Backcountry Merchants In Revolutionary America, 1740-1816, Timothy Charles Hemmis

Dissertations

This project tracks the lives a select group of Philadelphia frontier merchants such as George Morgan, David Franks, and others from 1754-1811. “Trading Identities” traces the trajectory of each man’s economic and political loyalties during the Revolutionary period. By focusing on the men of trading firms operating in Philadelphia, the borderlands and the wider world, it becomes abundantly clear that their identities were shaped and sustained by their commercial concerns—not by any new political ideology at work in this period. They were members not of a British (or even American) Atlantic World, but a profit-driven Atlantic World. The Seven Years’ …

An Examination Of The Volunteer Coordinator's Influence On Church Volunteers' Intent-To-Continue At The Largest Protestant Churches, Jason Berton Golden

Dissertations

Volunteers contribute to the production of goods and services by easing the burden of the paid workforce while not increasing costs. Today’s volunteers tend to be highly trained, skilled professionals looking for a place to invest their time and skills. Churches are the largest single recipient of many volunteers’ efforts. Despite this fact, volunteerism is on the decline in churches.

Once recruited, attrition rates can climb as high as 40% in the first 12 months following training of volunteers. Therefore, the greatest challenge churches face is turnover. Not only does turnover lead to reduced production; it also incurs added expenditures …

A Study Identifying Information Technology Development Strategies For Nursing Professional Development Specialists Practicing In Healthcare Settings, Tammy Lablanche Baker Means

Dissertations

The increased use of information systems (IS) in healthcare institutions, federal health information technology (IT) policy mandating the use of information systems in patient care, and the nursing informatics agenda force healthcare organizations to address the informatics competency of its workforce (Murphy, 2010). This study validates IT competencies for Nursing Professional Development (NPD) Specialists and determines self-directed, informal learning strategies for developing information technology competency. The NPD Specialist is responsible for the professional development of nursing caregivers in healthcare settings.

This study validated 53 IT competencies for the NPD Specialist role in healthcare settings. The validated competencies include current healthcare …

A Quasi-Experimental Study Of Teaching Intercultural Sensitivity On Foreign Language Learning Motivation, Chunling Niu

Dissertations

Through an experimental intervention of a four-week cultural project based on the intergroup contact theory, this study sought to (a) explore the possible pedagogical effects on participants’ levels of Intercultural Sensitivity; and (b) investigate the complex interactions between learners’ Intercultural Sensitivity, Foreign Language Motivation, and their Language and Cultural Backgrounds. Sixty-eight Chinese learning students from a southcentral American university initially participated in the study, whereas only 43 participants completed the required activities and were pretested and posttested on Intercultural Sensitivity and Foreign Language Motivation. The 21 experimental group participants were instructed to complete four cultural assignments during February 2014, namely, …

Perceptions Of Incivility In Nursing Education: A Survey Of Associate And Baccalaureate Program Nursing Students, Kim Elaine Young Vickous

Dissertations

This study explored differences of nursing students’ perceptions of student and faculty incivility, measured using the Incivility in Nursing Education survey, across semesters and between Associate and Baccalaureate of Science nursing students. A sample of 262 Associate and Baccalaureate of Science nursing program students enrolled in second, third, and fourth semesters from a state university located in the mid-south participated in the study. Descriptive statistics, Analysis of Variance, and Independent t-tests were conducted to examine the research questions. These questions explored what student and faculty behaviors were perceived as uncivil and most frequently occurring (disruptive and threatening) uncivil behavior in …

The Great Divide: The Perceptions And Dynamics Of The Faculty And Staff Professional Relationship, Meredith L. Skaggs

Dissertations

The college community is built with several necessary components. When considering the faces of a college campus one visualizes the administration, faculty, staff, and students. Through these roles, each serves a function impacting the mission of the institution. Utilizing qualitative methods of interviews, observations, and document analysis this study examined the dynamics and interactions of two roles on a community college campus. The research sought to understand the perceptions of faculty and staff regarding one another and the ultimate impact on the community college campus culture. The data revealed a gap not only exists in the available literature on the …

Money Changes Everything: The Relationship Between Financial Factors And Persistence For Financially Independent Undergraduate Students At A Kentucky Four-Year Public Institution, Ladonna Hunton

Dissertations

Research on factors related to persistence suggest that re-enrollment decisions are based upon an evaluation of the returns on investment in education. If students perceive that the costs of a college education outweigh the benefits, they will discontinue their involvement by choosing not to re-enroll. As a result, students’ choices to maintain their enrollment in postsecondary education can be an effective indicator of affordability. This study examined the degree to which financially independent undergraduate students’ persistence decisions are related to financial factors, including unmet need, total financial aid received, and type of financial aid received. The data examined in this …

Assessment Of Cultural Awareness In Communication Sciences And Disorders Students, Kimberly Green

Dissertations

As defined by Clinton (1996), cultural awareness is achieved when an individual becomes aware of the fact that culture can contribute to attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Cultural awareness (CA) is dependent upon an individual’s awareness of one’s own culture to the same degree as the awareness of outside cultures. It can be viewed as a prerequisite to a more complex understanding of this somewhat ambiguous concept. The topic of this quantitative study involves an examination of the level of cultural awareness among students in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs in the state of Kentucky. This dissertation threads literature and …

Acceptance Of Change: Exploring The Relationship Among Psychometric Constructs And Employee Resistance, Brian Dunican

Dissertations

Change is inevitable and can influence numerous events inside and outside an organization. The contrasting attitudes of acceptance and resistance to change are an increasingly interesting topic in today’s global, ever-changing, and competitive environment. Discovering the behavioral origins of employees’ reactions to change is an integral part of understanding the way in which individual mindset may play a role in coping with organizational change and resistance. This body of knowledge may give organizations insight for creating a competitive advantage over their counterparts. Conceivably, it can be argued that some researchers view change as a process of gradual adaptation that is …

A Study In How Linking Social Capital Functions In Community Development, Julie Burress Jordan

Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation explores how linking social capital is mobilized in community development and proposes an analytical framework for studying linking social capital relationships unique from bonding and bridging social capital. Linking social capital defines those relationships that are acting to bridge individuals across institutional boundaries and can be particularly important in rural, less developed regions. Although not frequently used in empirical studies, linking capital is typically measured by counting membership in external groups or associations. This study revealed the most direct benefit from linking social capital was financial support from intermediary agencies. Additionally, linking social capital has indirect community …

External Organizational Identification, Parasocial Relationships, And Social Media Use, Lindsey Webb Dancy

Dissertations

The pervasive use of the Internet for social purposes has led to organizational and social change, as well as social movements online throughout the world. Of particular interest in this study is commitment to organizations by patrons and stakeholders showcased via social media outlets. This research includes a review of organizational identification, parasocial relationships and social media research followed by a detailed description of the method, which included the creation and testing of a questionnaire examining the organizational identification and parasocial relationships of external publics, and their social media use. A hypothesis is put forth suggesting that there is a …