Digital Commons Network^™

Perinatal Experiences Of Childbearing Women With Physical Disabilities, Serah M. Nthenge

Dissertations

Purpose: The aim of this secondary qualitative analysis was two-fold: to explore perinatal experiences of 22 women with physical disabilities guided by the perinatal health framework of women with physical disabilities and; construct two perinatal life stories of childbearing women with physical disabilities.

Method: The study participants were 22 women with physical disabilities who, at the time of pregnancy, used a mobility device, and had given birth within the last 10 years. The principal investigator of the primary study interviewed all the participants.

Findings: Nine themes were identified in our study. All the participants reported both a lack of disability-specific …

Assessment Technologies Institute Test Results And Blended Experiences For Senior Community Health Nursing Students, Linda Lacomb-Williams

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between senior community health nursing students' ATI test scores and their clinical community health nursing experiences, either in-country or out-of-country. The ATI test results are a reliable predictor of whether the student will pass their nursing board exams (NCLEX-RN). The study also examined whether the two groups of students reported any similarities and differences in their sense of confidence or transcultural self-efficacy and conceptual knowledge and their clinical experiences.

ATI test scores were reviewed for the two groups. Focus groups were held to discuss any similarities or differences in the …

Cultural Practices, Knowledge, And Beliefs Of Newborn Care And Health-Seeking In Rural Zambia, Julie M. Buser

Dissertations

Decreasing newborn morbidity and mortality remains a serious global health challenge. For this reason, interventions like maternity waiting homes (MWHs) and the Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL) initiative may improve maternal-newborn newborn health and delivery outcomes. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to explore and describe the cultural practices, knowledge, and beliefs of essential newborn care and health-seeking in the context of MWHs and the SMGL initiative in rural Zambia. Guided by the Ecological Systems Theory, this goal was met through three studies with the following aims: (1) Describe knowledge and beliefs of newborn care and illness from the …

Lived Experience Of Being An Obese Registered Nurse: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Trina Rodgers

Dissertations

Research has shown obesity is a significant problem affecting the general-public and is increasing in prevalence among health care providers. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to understand the lived experience of being obese as a registered nurse. One-on-one interviews with 15 registered nurses, who had a personal experience with being obese as a registered nurse, were conducted. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, which were taped and transcribed verbatim. The data analysis was conducted manually to gain the true essence of the participant's lived experiences. The responses were analyzed, coded, and themed using Colaizzi's method of data …

The Effect Of Treatment Modalities On Chronic Low Back Pain And Self-Transcendence, Grace Augustine

Dissertations

Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) is a common health problem that most people experience at some point in their lives. For the relief of pain, numerous studies have shown that pain medication causes several side effects and leads to mortality. This study focused on how an individual's choice of CLBP treatment modalities impacts utilization of the strategies of self-transcendence. Chronic low back pain prevalence shows a steady increase in the studies reviewed. Patients may improve in self-transcendence and well-being while they experience CLBP. Self-transcendence is a vital resource of well-being as people seek to manage CLBP.

Identifying Motivation Toward Healthy Behavior In Overweight And Obese Pregnant Women, Heather Lynn Watson

Dissertations

Excessive weight gain in overweight and obese pregnant women may result in long-term maternal and child health implications. Current interventions reflect minimal effectiveness toward achievement of appropriate weight gain in this population. Although not specific to examination of motivation towards dietary and exercise behaviors in pregnant overweight and obese women, the literature supports that motivation represents a factor impacting diet and exercise health behavior modification. This study examined the predictive value of basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness), healthcare climate, attitude toward weight gain, and BMI on motivation towards healthy dietary and exercise behaviors and the mediation effect of healthcare …

Exercise To Reduce Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Nephropathy: A Pilot Rct, Grace A. Kanzawa-Lee

Dissertations

Oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OIPN) occurs in 85-95% of patients receiving FOLFOX or FOLFIRINOX, oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy for invasive gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. Persistent OIPN can impair long-term quality of life (QOL). No OIPN cures are known. Aerobic physical activity (PA) may reduce OIPN by enhancing circulation and re-distributing neurotoxic oxaliplatin away from vulnerable neurons. However, no trials have evaluated solely aerobic exercise for OIPN. This dissertation reports the results of a 1) literature review on exercise for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, and 2) pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) of brisk walking for OIPN in FOLFOX/FOLFIRINOX-receiving GI cancer survivors. The "MI-Walk Intervention" - an …

Effectiveness Of The Nurse-Practitioner-Driven Enteral Nutrition Protocol, Jho Mary Tangcora

Dissertations

The delay in initiating enteral feeding (EF) in the critical care unit is known to cause malnutrition which may lead to poor patient outcomes. The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative project was to determine if the nurse practitioner (NP)-driven enteral nutrition protocol recommended by the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) will psychologically empower the NP toward reducing the delay on initiating EF and lowering the length of stay (LOS) of adult patients an intensive care unit in urban California over four weeks. This project utilized the theoretical foundation of …

Teachers Attitudes Regarding Adverse Childhood Experiences, Trauma-Informed Educational Practices, And Student Resiliency, Alyson Reynolds Kohl

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this convergent parallel design mixed methods case study was to determine how training on Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma-Informed Educational Practice affected the attitudes of teachers, in Shasta County’s Enterprise Elementary School District (EESD), regarding students who had experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE). A further purpose of this study was to understand if teachers in EESD perceived training in ACE and Trauma-Informed Educational Practices (TIEP) was effective in changing their classroom practices to support the resiliency of students who had experienced ACEs.

Methodology: The methods for this research included: an online survey, The Attitudes Regarding Trauma-Informed …

Physical Education Teachers' Instructional Adaptations To Teach Motor Skills To Children With Language Disorders, Kristen Morgan

Dissertations

Children with language disorders have a unique blend of impairments related to communication, memory (Gray et al., 2019; Montgomery et al., 2019), executive functioning (Kapa & Plante, 2015), motor skills (Hill, 2001), imitation, gestures (Wray et al., 2017), and reaching early motor milestones (Diepeveen et al., 2018). These deficits may negatively affect learning motor skills in physical education (PE). Instructional adaptations to overcome these learning impairments in PE has not been greatly explored in the literature. Nor has teachers’ level of self-efficacy in providing adaptations to children with language disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine instructional adaptations …

Vision Based Activity Recognition Using Machine Learning And Deep Learning Architecture, Sarbagya Shakya

Dissertations

Human Activity recognition, with wide application in fields like video surveillance, sports, human interaction, elderly care has shown great influence in upbringing the standard of life of people. With the constant development of new architecture, models, and an increase in the computational capability of the system, the adoption of machine learning and deep learning for activity recognition has shown great improvement with high performance in recent years. My research goal in this thesis is to design and compare machine learning and deep learning models for activity recognition through videos collected from different media in the field of sports.

Human activity …

Action And Outcome: The Connection Between Organizational Goals And Organizational Effectiveness In Major League Baseball, Brian Joseph Fowler

Dissertations

Major League Baseball (MLB) provides an optimal setting to investigate the effects of specific strategic organizational goals and decisions on various key performance indicators (KPIs). The choice to primarily pursue wins or profits (i.e., win maximization or profit maximization), along with how efficiently organizations spend their budgets (i.e., utility), have been shown to impact competitive balance, social welfare, and ticket pricing of sports leagues. The present research builds on the work of previous scholars by empirically examining MLB organizational management at the individual team level. Data collected for the current research included financial information and organizational KPIs for all 30 …

Career Development In Sport And Leisure: An Application Of Social Cognitive Career Theory, Nicole Sellars

Dissertations

Utilizing Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent et al., 1994) this research aimed to determine perception differences related to sport and leisure management employment for undergraduate students in related degree programs with a specific focus on the minority groups of women and People of Color (POC). Given the lack of diversity in sport and leisure enrollment and employment (Adriaanse, 2016; Massengale & Lough, 2013; Shropshire, 2004; Vianden & Gregg, 2017), this research sought to explore whether gender and/or race were predictors of feelings of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, and supports. An electronic survey was distributed to sport and leisure management undergraduate …

Salary Discrimination In The Sports Labor Market: An Evidence From Major League Soccer, Hoyoon Jung

Dissertations

Since Gary Becker’s (1971) discrimination theory, which provided the groundwork to investigate various forms of discrimination based on individuals’ demographic characteristics, wage discrimination has been a long-standing issue in labor economics and sport management. With this knowledge, it is of interest to examine whether sports labor markets offer equal financial opportunities. Although a growing body of literature has examined and uncovered evidence of pay discrimination in various sports settings, relatively little attention has been paid to Major League Soccer (MLS) because of its short history. In addition, there is a need to understand salary discrimination among superstars in MLS amid …

Anxiety, Depression, And Perceived Barriers To Adherence Among Parents Of Pediatric Transplant Patients, Alice Marie Wille

Dissertations

Before being listed for an organ transplant, pediatric patients and families undergo a psychosocial pre-transplant evaluation to determine familial strengths and risk factors that may impact the success of transplant. Adherence is considered to be one of the primary factors in the survival of the transplanted organ and existing research has suggested a link between parental functioning and post-transplant adherence. To better understand the relationship between parental mental health and perceived barriers to adherence, this study examined whether parental symptoms of anxiety and depression significantly predicted parent and patient perceived barriers to adherence in the pre-transplant phase (n=65 parents and …

Predicting Parent Attendance For Group-Delivered Pcit Workshops In Head Start Centers, Jennifer Tannehill

Dissertations

Group PCIT was offered to parents of Head Start children as part of a larger study that investigated the Impact of a Preschool Obesity Prevention (IPOP) Program Enhanced with Positive Behavioral Supports. The dependent variable (DV) in this study was number of group PCIT sessions attended. The independent variables were marital status, income, education level, parenting practices measured by the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-PR, and responses from the Caregiver Feeding Style Questionnaire. Predictions were made regarding the impact each of these variables had on attendance to group PCIT sessions. An ordinal logistic regression model was used to analyze the data. No …

It’S Elementary: The Curricular Decision-Making And Instructional Practices Of Black Male Elementary Teachers., Ashlea Jean Campbell

Dissertations

This study explored the curricular decision-making and instructional practices of four Black male elementary teachers in a large suburban school district. In order to capture the intersection of their racial and gender identity with their educational practices, the researcher utilized educational connoisseurship and criticism, a methodology that examines the nuances that exist in the curricular and pedagogical choices of teachers. Critical race theory provided a framework for addressing the nuance that exists while also challenging dominant ideology regarding Black male elementary teachers. In addition to interviews and observations, this study provided space for participants to contribute directly to the data …

Doing More With Less: A Quantitative Analysis Of Mindfulness, Meditation, Sustainable Consumption Awareness And Practice Among University Undergraduates, Teresa Van Horn

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Climate change, overconsumption, air, and water pollution continue to be pressing issues for society. Given the significant impact of overconsumption, the search for strategies to promote more sustainable behavior has become a topic for investigation. Universities are uniquely positioned to help students work toward sustainable solutions. This research explored the role of mindfulness in university students' sustainable consumption awareness and practice as there are gaps in the literature concerning definitions, constructs, and research regarding mindfulness and sustainable consumption.

To address these disparities, this research used stepwise regression analysis to investigate the extent to which mindfulness and select demographic measures …

Exploring Generational Difference Of Acculturation, Ethnic Identity And Racial Identity In Liberian Immigrants And Their Children Living In The United States, Breezie J. Gibson

Dissertations

Prior literature on immigrants has focused on the impact of acculturation for groups such as Asians and Hispanic or Latinx immigrants (Orjiako & So, 2014; Sall, 2019). Compared to these two groups, the literature on Black immigrants’ experience of acculturation is scarce. In addition to the minimum visibility of Black immigrants in the acculturation literature, there is also limited knowledge relating to differences in the ethnic identity and racial identity of Black immigrants because these immigrants are often grouped monolithically with minimum attention to their diverse countries of origin. Understanding the influence of acculturation, ethnicity, and race is important because …

An Evaluation Of The Healthfulness Of The Hospital Food Environment, Cynthia E. Horton Dias

Dissertations

Though nurses may have knowledge about the health promoting benefits of a healthy diet, many do not consume enough fruits or vegetables. For hospital shift nurses to achieve healthy eating while at work, environmental barriers were reportedly the most challenging to overcome. To better understand the hospital food environment from the nurses' perspective, two mechanisms for workplace food acquisition were studied: 1.) hospital consumer food environment, which includes cafeterias, vending machines, and gift shops; and 2.) free food at work.

Bringing Hospital And Community Together: Interventions To Bridge The Transitional Care Gap, Jeremy Yates

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem

As healthcare spending continues to increase and overall quality lags in comparison to other developed countries, hospital readmission has been targeted to increase quality while decreasing cost. Components of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have placed an emphasis on preventative and transitional care which has created programs aimed at reducing readmission, including the Community Health Access Programs (CHAP). One program in St. Louis, Missouri consisted of advanced practice paramedics and an occupational therapy assistant that performed discharge follow-up through in-home, in-office, and telephone visits. An in-depth program evaluation can create a foundation to build other programs in communities …

Mentorship Program To Improve Nursing Knowledge On Prevention Of Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries, Terri Lo

Dissertations

In the United States, hospital acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) is one persistent patient safety problems with an increasing incidence rate resulting in patient harm and patient deaths. Pressure injuries can lead to problems for the patient and family related to wound care and quality of life. Prevention of HAPIs is an essential aspect of nursing practice. Education and mentorship about HAPI prevention can help facilitate translation of evidence-based research findings to clinical nursing practice to improve patient care outcomes.

Evaluation Of A Hypertension Bundle To Improve Maternal Outcomes, Jamie Jetton

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy continue to be on the rise in the United States, contributing to an increase in both maternal morbidity and mortality rates. These disorders not only have an effect on the pregnant women, but also the neonate. Early recognition and treatment of increased blood pressure findings can improve maternal and fetal outcomes.

Methods: This Quality Improvement (QI) project used a descriptive design and was comprised of a retrospective chart review, focused on the effectiveness of evaluating a hypertension bundle to improve maternal outcomes. The data collected for this project encompassed six months pre and post …

Registered Nurses' Perceptions Of Obesity, Elizabeth Pettifor

Dissertations

Obesity has become an epidemic in the United States (U.S.) population. Obesity is a risk factor for many health problems that ultimately lead to death or disability. Nurses in the U.S have a higher-than-average rate of overweight and obesity. The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative case study was to identify and recommend areas for change in the hospital environment to assist bedside nurses in the U.S to have a healthier lifestyle. Social media was used to conduct a purposeful sampling technique and recruit 10 registered nurses working full time at the bedside in the U.S who struggle with obesity. Semi …

Vocational Education: Cna Students’ Perspectives Of Soft Skills In Training And The Workplace, Kimberly S. Mcclendon-Payton

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify CNAs’ perceptions about the most important soft skills used by CNAs in training and the workplace.

Methodology: This quantitative research study identified CNAs’ perceptions of the most important soft skills they used based on the composite model for soft skills. CNAs were selected based on purposeful sampling. Likert scores were collected from the survey responses.

Findings: Examination of the quantitative data from the 35 CNAs revealed that brainstorming is the most important collaboration soft skill in CNA training and the workplace.

Conclusions: Results based on the findings of this study …

The Mother's Lived Experience Of Breastfeeding In The First 4 Weeks Postpartum: A Heideggerian Hermeneutic Phenomenological Analysis, Stacy Rosales

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to more fully understand, in their own words, the experiences of mothers who began breastfeeding their infant after birth and may or may not have been breasting at four weeks postpartum. A single research question guided this study: What are the lived experiences of breastfeeding mothers during the first four weeks postpartum? Eight mothers who delivered in the past four to six weeks were interviewed. Data were analyzed using a Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach. This method was chosen because it allowed the researcher to conduct interviews and explore the lived experience of breastfeeding mothers …

Evaluation Of Depression, Anxiety And Stress In Graduate Nursing Students, Rachel Dunston

Dissertations

Mental health issues are growing in the United States. Postgraduate school is widely known to increase the level of psychological difficulties (Dyrbye et al., 2006) experienced by students. There is a need to address mental health care in graduate nursing students. This project was a descriptive observational comparison pre-post-intervention design used to see if online modes of delivery would aid in decreasing mental health issues for nursing graduate students. Participants were provided with access to three podcasts and encouraged to use the Sanvello mobile application provided to all students at this university. The first podcast focused on using the Sanvello …

Impact Of Social Isolation In Hiv-Positive Individuals During A Pandemic, Corina Jane Bakoylis

Dissertations

Problem: The global pandemic of COVID-19 caused concern for immunocompromised individuals. The purpose of this quality improvement initiative was to assess the impact of social isolation on feelings of loneliness, depression, and social isolation experiences in HIV-positive individuals residing in a long-term care facility.

Methods: A mixed-method convergent design with a purposeful sample of HIV-positive adult residents residing in a long-term care facility was utilized. An evaluation of loneliness using the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale (Version 3) and depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) were completed. Personal experiences were also assessed with five predetermined open-ended …

Pre-Anesthesia Assessment In Children With Down Syndrome: A Head To Toe Guide, Laurel Kinsey

Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to provide and assess an educational intervention for a multidisciplinary interprofessional collaborative sedation team at a children's hospital in Anchorage, Alaska.

The Effects Of Race, Ethnicity, Education, Marital Status, And Family Size On Hysterectomy Rates, Zula Price

Dissertations

Decreasing disparities in hysterectomy rates have been a goal of the United States Department of Health and Human Services as a method of improving women's health. In the United States, hysterectomy rates remain high, particularly among Black women in contrast to other racial and ethnic groups (Qi et al., 2013). This study, using a descriptive research framework, utilized a sample of 1,921 women across the United States who participated in the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Data were analyzed from the responses of subjects who reported having a hysterectomy in the 2012 NHANES, which is designed to …