Overcoming Inner And Outer Constraints To Enhance Emerging Adult College Students’ Eudaemonic Well-Being: A Mixed Methods Study, Maha Ben Salem

Dissertations

Emerging adulthood is often recognized as a time of uncertainty, confusion, pressure, and stress. This time period also coincides in the Western world with many attending a college or university. Many emerging adults arrive at this developmental stage feeling the pressure and obligation for success but lack the resources needed to make required choices (Rogers & Maytan, 2012). Increasing levels of awareness and positive emotions represent a promising strategy for increasing eudaemonic well-being. To date, no known study has brought together constructs of self and constructs of education to foster eudemonic well-being. The current study fills gaps in the existing …

Additive Metal Deposition Feedback Optimization For The 3d Hybrid Metal Printer, Andrew James Wyman

Dissertations

In the additive manufacturing realm, explicitly the direct energy deposition method, there continues to be numerous advancements along with advantages to control print quality of the component and the ability to apply the successful repetition of metallic layers consecutively. Metal additive printed components have the capacity to directly use the component for the desired application or intended purpose from which the three-dimensional model was created. In contrast, plastic printers that produce components that would not hold to the physical conditions required such as a metallic component could withstand.

Research exertions were focused on improving the present Western Michigan University patented …

Teacher Perceptions Of Competence In Supporting Lgbtq+ Students, Christina Beushausen

Dissertations

LGBTQ+ students continually express concerns about safety in school. This population experiences various forms of bullying and harassment from not only their peers, but from their teachers. Teachers are unaware of the unconscious bias and heteronorms they carry into their classroom that alienate these students. Teachers express that they do not have adequate training to feel confident in their competence to intervene in the issues their LGBTQ+ students face. This study examined how teachers’ perceptions of their competency changed after participating in role-playing simulations as part of professional development. Participants included Midwestern middle school teachers who voluntarily participated in role-playing …

Rumination, Mindfulness, And Posttraumatic Growth During The Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic: A Moderated Mediation Model, Mackenzie Brianna May

Dissertations

Early research examining the impact of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic on the health and well-being of U.S. adult residents suggested the majority were experiencing an increase in anxiety, depression, and trauma-related symptoms. The current study responded to calls for mental health professionals to view the COVID-19 pandemic as a form of mass trauma and sought to understand whether U.S. adult residents reported experiencing posttraumatic growth (PTG) in response to this mass trauma. Consistent with Tedeschi and Calhoun’s (2004) theoretical framework of PTG, the current study attempted to replicate a mediational model that had been used to explain the process …

Getting Them To The Chopper: An Empirical Study Of Man Therapy, A Public Health Campaign Designed To Encourage Men To Utilize Psychological Services, David Gretz

Dissertations

This study examined the effects that the Man Therapy website may have on men’s attitudes and intentions toward seeking professional psychological services, factors that play a role in deciding if they will eventually engage in the behavior of seeking of professional psychological services according to the theory of planned behavior. A large number of men die by suicide every year, and many men struggle with mental health concerns. Various components of masculinities can serve as barriers that dissuade men from seeking treatment for these concerns. Man Therapy is a novel approach that attempts to better engage men with professional psychological …

“Beginning, Again And Again”: The Experiences Of Excellent White Educators In Diverse Urban Schools, Christopher Deremer

Dissertations

This narrative inquiry study focused on the experiences of reputationally excellent White educators working in diverse urban high schools. Using methods from participatory narrative inquiry (Kurtz, 2014), this study asked three participants to explore their respective journeys as educators in diverse urban settings and to use story and reflection as well as more traditional narrative inquiry methods of observation, interviews, and artifact analysis to identify emergent themes about what made these White educators successful and how their definition of success changed throughout their career. The focus on White educators was important because of the demographic divide between students in urban …

Expanding The Conceptualization And Applied Role Of Shame, Nathaniel Michael Burrow

Dissertations

Prior research has shown shame to be a key component of a variety of mental health issues, symptoms, and disorders; however, a growing body of research also found it to be integral in the process of seeking to atone, ameliorate, or repair a prior transgression. This study sought to further explore what factors influenced this process. By utilizing a posttest-only control group experimental design and the Gausel and Leach (2011) model as a framework, this study was able to operationalize and investigate the role shame had in motivating a prosocial versus self-defensive response. Additionally, this study advanced this model by …

Comparing Collegiate Coaches’ And Players’ Perceptions Of The Coaches’ Multicultural Competence, Lee Arakawa

Dissertations

The coaching effectiveness model developed by Horn (2008) describes cultural context as a backdrop that forms beliefs, perceptions, and behaviors displayed by sport coaches. Sue et al.’s (1992) multicultural competencies model stresses the value of awareness, knowledge, and skills used in all service fields to strengthen cross-cultural relationships. Therefore, multicultural competence has been identified from these models as a critical component of effective sport coaching. Despite the growing importance of multicultural competencies expressed by, and for, sport coaches (Mesquita et al., 2011; Santos et al., 2010), there remains limited understanding of how coaches obtain and apply multiculturally competent behaviors and …

Exploring Clinical Implications Of Consensual Non-Monogamy: A Proposed Intake Assessment Tool, Rebecca Tuttle

Dissertations

Relationships in the United States are often assumed to adhere to heteronormative and mononormative standards, which is problematic because a significant minority of individuals are neither heterosexual nor monogamous (approximately 4.5% and 4% of the United States population, respectively). As a result of mononormative biases in particular, alternatives to monogamy, such as consensually non-monogamous relationships, are often socially stigmatized and clinically pathologized. The existing research on consensually non-monogamous individuals indicates, despite negative assumptions, those who engage in consensually non-monogamous relationships demonstrate psychological well-being, physical health, and levels of relationship satisfaction comparable to their monogamous counterparts. While engaging in consensually non- …

Application Of Deep Learning For Medical Sciences And Epidemiology Data Analysis And Diagnostic Modeling, Somenath Chakraborty

Dissertations

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence have made significant progress concurrent with new advancements in hardware and software technologies. Deep learning methods heavily utilize parallel computing and Graphical Processing Units(GPU). It is already used in many applications ranging from image classification, object detection, segmentation, cyber security problems and others. Deep Learning is emerging as a viable choice in dealing with today’s real-time medical problems. We need new methods and technologies in the field of Medical Science and Epidemiology for detecting and diagnosing emerging threats from new viruses such as COVID-19. The use of Artificial Intelligence in these domains is becoming more …

Examining P3 And N2 Amplitudes Following Social Exclusion And Provocation In College Students With High And Low Narcissistic Traits, Kathleen Ramsey

Dissertations

Adults with narcissistic traits are prone to reacting aggressively following provocation due to elevations in emotional reactivity and perceived threat to their grandiose self-views. Prior studies have examined event-related potentials (ERPs) measures in college students with narcissistic traits in the context of risky decision making and facial emotion processing; however, no known studies have examined how those with narcissistic traits react to rejection and provocation at the neurophysiological level during an externally valid social rejection task (i.e., Cyberball). For the purposes of this study, it was predicted that participants with higher levels of narcissistic traits (both total narcissism and grandiose …

Using Nudges To Increase Engagement With Suicide Prevention Resources In An Online Sample Of United State Military Veterans, Brian W. Bauer

Dissertations

Suicide rates have continually increased from 1999 to 2019 in the United States, with populations such as military Veterans showing substantially higher suicide death and attempt rates than civilians. Behavioral economics researchers have demonstrated that people regularly make decisions that are not aligned with their own self-interests (i.e., irrational decisions). These irrational decisions often stem from humans having bounded rationality (i.e., limited computational power), which produce reliable cognitive biases that occur outside of people’s awareness and influence the decisions they make. There are many important decisions leading up to a suicide attempt (e.g., whether to engage with suicide prevention resources), …

Career Mobility Among Immigrant Registered Nurses In Canada: Experiences Of Caribbean Women, Enid M. Collins

Dissertations

Since the late 1950s, the Canadian nursing workforce especially during periods of nursing shortage has added to its numbers through immigration. Changes in immigration laws since the 1960s have opened doors for increased numbers of immigrants from Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean coming to work in Canada. This qualitative research study investigated the experiences of immigrant women from the Caribbean who are registered nurses (RNs) in Canada. There has been no previously published studies that documented experiences of immigrant women of colour related to career mobility in nursing.

Exploring The Impact Of Simulation Anxiety On Clinical Judgment For Nursing Students, Janet M. Reed

Dissertations

Research literature provides evidence that new graduate nurses are often deficient in clinical judgment (CJ). One way to increase CJ is by using simulations. However, the literature is replete with descriptions of the high anxiety that simulation triggers. It is not currently known how anxiety in simulation affects clinical judgment for undergraduate nursing students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of different types of anxiety on the clinical judgment of undergraduate nursing students in simulation.

This research project used a one-group repeated measures quantitative design to answer the research questions using the conceptual framework of …

Keeping Nurses In Nursing: Service-Learning As A Means To Enhance Grit, Caitlin M. Lofton

Dissertations

Retention of nurses is a major concern for the profession, especially in light of the nursing shortage; specifically, new graduate nurses are particularly susceptible to this phenomenon. While there are many causes for turnover and attrition within the profession, nurse burnout has been indicated as a central cause. As such, researchers have dedicated much energy and focus into pinpointing approaches that may mitigate the effects of burnout, turning to grit as a possible solution. However, research on grit in nursing is limited, with even less being included on how this trait can be developed. Nevertheless, researchers agree that strategies for …

Designing Dynamic And Degradable Polymeric Materials With Thiol-X Chemistries, Reese Sloan

Dissertations

With plastic production poised to increase in coming years, there arises a need to develop new polymeric materials designed to combat the global pollution crisis. A commonly utilized approach in addressing this challenge is to employ a responsive functional moiety into the polymer architecture. Thiol-X reactions, a commonly utilized class of “click” reactions, have garnered broad implementation in new stimuli-responsive materials. This work specifically focuses on utilizing radical-mediated thiol-ene coupling and base-catalyzed thiol-isocyanate reactions to develop a library of ternary thiol-ene/thiourethane covalent adaptable networks (CANs) and hydrolytically labile poly(thioether ketal) thermoplastics. CANs are a class of network materials capable of …

Influences Of 12-Hour Shifts On Unhealthy Eating Habits Of Acute Care Nurses, Ruth Sawdy

Dissertations

Shift work is a necessary part of a nurses' work schedule to patients who need 24 hours of continuous care. Eating habits of nurses are influenced by working long hours, not having adequate time to take a meal break, and not having access to healthy food choices which can cause stress and exhaustion and results in weight gain and obesity. The purpose of this quantitative logistic regression analysis, guided by the health belief model and the theory of planned behavior, was to determine if there was a relationship between shift work and the unhealthy eating habits/obesity rates of acute care …

Resilience In Black Mental Health Counselors, Ericka Cables

Dissertations

Though resilience is a commonly studied variable in different disciplines, there is relatively little research on occupational settings. Researchers take various perspectives in defining resilience as a trait, process, and an outcome. Regardless of how it is defined, it is a vital protective factor for Black mental health counselors who may be significantly impacted by similar experiences, such as racism and racial discrimination, as the Black clients they serve. This dissertation study consisted of two studies utilizing the same data set. In the first study, psychometric properties of a new quantitative instrument, the Race-Based Resilience Scale (RBRS), was constructed to …

Factors Influencing The Adoption Of Smart-Home Appliances: Users' Perspectives, Prakash Shahi

Dissertations

Smart appliances will be a significant part of the annual $300 billion smart-home market by 2025. Their use is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 31% for the foreseeable future. Currently, 12-16% of households use smart-home products in the U.S., including thermostats, TVs, refrigerators, coffee machines, garage door openers, and vision-equipped doorbells. Smart appliances provide significant benefits to us over traditional appliances. Smart appliances simplify our lives by automating various tasks in our homes and allowing us to monitor and control them remotely from our offices, grocery stores, and wherever we may be.

Despite the usefulness …

Transition Needs, Challenges, Satisfaction, And Support Strategies Of Newly Hired Nurses In The Clinical Setting, Ric-An Artemio S. Gadin

Dissertations

With a looming shortage of nurses in the global scenario, there is a deep concern to address the transitioning of newly hired nurses to become skilled nurses who can deliver essential health services without compromising the safety and effectiveness of patient care. There is an urgent need to effectively prepare these new nurses for the transition to bedside clinical practice. This prompted the researcher to identify the transition needs, challenges, satisfaction, and support strategies of newly hired nurses in the clinical setting. This study utilized a descriptive method of research using a validated self-constructed survey questionnaire to elicit responses from …

Remote Learning - The Future Of Education: Effective Instructional Strategies Used By Parent Educators And Recommendations For Building Capacity, Raelene Ferguson Haugen

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods Delphi study was to identify the remote learning instructional strategies used by expert Southern California parent educators for implementing the anticipatory set, modeling, checking for understanding, and guided practice elements of Madeline Cheek Hunter’s Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP) framework. The study sought to identify how expert Southern California parent educators rated the effectiveness of the remote learning instructional strategies in the aforementioned elements of Hunter’s ITIP framework. Additionally, the purpose was to generate recommendations from expert Southern California parent educators to build capacity in the identified effective instructional strategies.

Methodology: The classical …

Family Mentorship Program In The Pediatric Organ Transplant Population, Kristin Rich

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem: At a comprehensive pediatric medical center in the Midwest, there are currently no structured support programs for pediatric transplant patients and their families A regulated and structured family mentor/support program for transplant patients and their families can provide the outlet they require to feel supported by peers who have also gone through the same journey of pediatric solid organ transplantation. Methods: A descriptive program evaluation design utilizing the Stetler model to evaluate data regarding the family mentor/support programs in the diabetic and sickle cell departments at a Midwestern children’s hospital. The purpose was to gather meaningful data for …

Lifting As We Climb: Giving Voice To Black Female Mentorship Stories And Exploring Factors That Lead To Successful Mentoring Outcomes, Channon Peoples, Margaret Brockmeyer, Dawn Indelicato-Faw

Dissertations

As researcher-practitioners, we noted that the literature on mentorship has increased dramatically in recent years. However, the literature lacks attention to female paired mentoring relationships, especially relationships between women of color. Although we did not initially set out to fill this gap, our research does bring attention to the power of mentorship relationships between women of color. We explore three critical factors of an effective, female mentor-mentee relationship: social capital development (i.e., expand networks, build relationships), social and emotional learning (i.e., strengthen emotional resilience, increase self-awareness), and awareness of intersectionality (i.e., interact with role models, draw upon one’s unique identities). …

Fall Risk Screening In Community Dwelling Elders Through Self-Assessment, Natasha Dickinson

Dissertations

Problem: Falls and fall-related injuries are considered preventable. Fall risk screening is crucial in the prevention of falls and fall-related injuries in community dwelling elders. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to initiate the use of the CDC’s self-rated Fall Risk Questionnaire (Self-rated FRQ) screening tool and CDC-guided education in a cohort of community dwelling seniors at a geriatric agency.

Method: A pre-post assessment was conducted on community dwelling seniors 65-years and older. A convenience sample of eligible participants (N=16) was taken from a geriatric agency in a Midwest, metropolitan city. Fall incidence and fall-related injuries …

Evaluating Mindfulness On Loneliness In An Older Adult Population, Jessica Tieskoetter

Dissertations

Problem: Loneliness is a widespread public health concern and has negatively impacted mortality and health outcomes among older adults. This quality improvement project’s purpose was to evaluate mindfulness on loneliness and quality of life among adults aged 65 years and older, participating in a weekly befriending socialization program.

Methods: A descriptive cohort design was utilized to assess loneliness pre-and post-implementation of a mindfulness telephone line over three months. A convenience sample of 22 older adults enrolled in a befriending socialization program was used. The Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice framework was applied to guide the implementation of a practice change …

When St. Louis School Nature Leaders And Environmental Partners Work Together Nature-Based Learning Inspires Joy And Curiosity In K-2 Students, Julie Frisch, Melissa Politte

Dissertations

This study focused on what values teachers saw in nature-based learning, what outcomes they saw for their students, and what factors have enabled them to do nature-based learning. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study looked at nature-based learning in St. Louis elementary schools with kindergarten through second-grade students.

We used purposive sampling to choose six schools to examine further through case studies. We then conducted interviews with 8 teachers on qualities of nature-based learning captured in 12 words.

We identified five themes from our interviews and observations: Every School Needs a Nature Champion, Community Bridges in Nature-Based Learning, There is Magic …

Implementing A Standardized Nursing Communication Tool To Improve Inpatient Nursing Communication, Ashley D. Nator

Dissertations

Implementing a Standardized Nursing Communication Tool to Improve Inpatient Nursing Communication

Ashley D. Nator

B.S. Nursing, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 2018

A Dissertation Submitted to The Graduate School at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice with an emphasis in Family Nurse Practitioner

August 2022

Advisory Committee

Cathy Koetting, PhD, DNP, APRN, CPNP, PMHS, FNP-C

Chairperson

Sarah Jackson, DNP, APRN, FNP-C

Amy Terbrock, MSN, PCCN, SCRN, RN

Copyright, Ashley D. Nator, 2021

Original: 08/2021 Revised: 09/2021, 10/2021, 04/2022

Abstract

Problem: Patient handovers occur among nurses more than 4,000 times …

The Effectiveness Of Continuous Video Monitoring In Reducing Inpatient Fall Rates, Yunhee Cruse

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem: Falls are one of the most frequently occurring safety events in hospitalized patients, resulting injuries that can be devastating and burdensome. Patients in neuro-telemetry unit are at greater risks for falls due to their conditions. The continuous video monitoring (CVM) program was implemented to reduce fall rates in the neuro-telemetry unit. This project was to examine the effectiveness of CVM program in reducing fall rates.

Method: A pre- and post-implementation observational evaluation was conducted. By reviewing retrospective data from January 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021 for pre-implementation period and from March 1, 2021 to October 31, …

Improving Saint Louis University Mental Status (Slums) Exam Adherence, Kelsie Patek

Dissertations

Problem: Mild Neurocognitive Disorder (MNCD) and dementia remain one of the most common debilitating problems facing the elderly. The Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) Exam is a screening questionnaire to assess for MNCD or dementia. With the utilization of the SLUMS, clinicians can detect cognitive impairment and provide early intervention resulting in improved function and delayed progression of illness. The aim of this project was to increase the rate of SLUMS completion by at least 75% at a long-term care facility in a rural Midwestern state and to assess changes in diagnoses and treatment plans resulting from use of …

Standardizing Discharge Practices For Pediatric Urology Outpatient Procedures: A Quality Improvement Project, Megan Bush

Dissertations

Background: Standard discharge instructions of verbal and written methods are only understood by about 45-50% of caregivers. Video discharge instructions (VDIs) in addition to standard methods of verbal and written instructions can be very effective for caregiver comprehension (CC), retaining discharge education information and improving patient outcomes. Problem: In an outpatient surgery department in a Midwestern Children’s hospital, 100% of the discharge instructions for pediatric urology outpatient procedures are different than the instructions given to caregivers by the surgeon. Methods: The study utilizes a descriptive evaluation of change in how discharge instructions were written and provided. Interventions …