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Missionary Nurse Dorothy Davis Cook, 1940-1972: "Mother Of Swazi Nurses", Susan E. Elliott

Dissertations

Dramatically absent from nursing's historical knowledge and professional recognition are the lives, roles, contributions, and legacies of Christian faith-based nurses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ministry and service of Sister Tutor Dorothy Davis Cook, Church of the Nazarene missionary nurse in the African country of Swaziland 1940 to 1972. The multi-dimensional, multi-task expanded roles manifested in her integration of Christian missionary and nurse were explored and her legacy identified.

Low Income African American Adolescent Girl's Eating Choices, Sandra Kay Jenkins

Dissertations

The aim of this exploratory qualitative study is to identify the problems African American adolescent girls face in making eating choices and to learn how they make decisions about eating. Differences related to culture and socioeconomic status influences, and decision-making strategies were explored. Three sites in African American communities were selected for focus groups and individual adolescent girl-parent dyad interviews for data collection. Data were gathered in 5 focus groups and 4 individual adolescent girl-parent dyad interviews with African American adolescents (n=30). Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory (EST) provided the conceptual framework for informing the analysis and interpretation of the data. …

Problem Behaviors In The Male Partners Of Adolescent Mothers: A Comparison Of Age-Discrepant And Age-Consistent Relationships, Julie K. Baylor

Dissertations

Adolescent girls in relationships with adult males are more likely to become parents than those involved with adolescent males. Studies are few and limited by confounding socioeconomic characteristics and considerable missing data. This study of low-income pregnant adolescents compares the problem behaviors of the babies' fathers who are at least 5 years older than the mother (age-discrepant) with those who are less than 5 years older (age-consistent).

A Comparison Of Mother-Child Interaction Between Adolescent And Adult Mothers Of Preschoolers, Ratchneewan Ross

Dissertations

Two main purposes of this study were: (a) to compare the mother-child interactions between adolescent and adult mothers; and (b) to examine the changes of adolescent mothers' mother-child interactions over time.

Assessing Facilitating Factors And Barriers To Body Mass Index Screening Among School Nurses, Ann M. Stalter

Dissertations

Child obesity among school age children is epidemic in the United States (U.S.). A critical review of literature was completed that concluded that Body Mass Index (BMI) screening for early identification and growth surveillance is needed for successful school-based obesity prevention intervention programs. This study used total survey design methods to identify the BMI screening practices of school nurses (SNs) and to identify the facilitating factors and barriers to BMI screening in public elementary schools among school age populations.

Factors That Affect Nutritional Adequacy In Mechanically Ventilated Patients Receiving Enteral Nutrition Support, Colleen M. O'Leary-Kelley

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the adequacy of enteral nutritional intake and the factors affecting its delivery in mechanically ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients. A prospective, descriptive design was used to study a convenience sample of 60 patients receiving enteral nutrition at goal rate.

The Relationships Between Health Literacy, Self-Efficacy And Readiness For Change To Health Promotion Behaviors In Urban Black Women, Millie A. Hepburn

Dissertations

Black women have been shown to experience higher rates of morbidity and mortality as a result of stroke, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and overweight or obesity than women of other races/ethnicities. The ability to avert certain health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke and overweight or obesity is known to be directly related to active engagement in health promotion behaviors, yet Black women are consistently less likely to engage in these behaviors than are white women. Improved understanding of the various factors that impact individual health promotion behaviors to reduce risk, such as health literacy, self-efficacy and readiness …

Using Information Technology To Reduce A Health Risk: Effect Of A Mercury Calculator On Consumer Fish Choices And Test Of A Model For Technology Acceptance By Fish Consumers, Sharon D. Wallace

Dissertations

Research indicates consumers lack adequate information about the mercury content of fish to make informed choices about eating fish. Information technology can be used to fulfill this unmet information need. To examine this matter, a two-part study was conducted using a convenience sample of fish eaters. Three-hundred forty-one participants responded to this on-line study. The Theory of Planned Behavior served as the framework for a one-group, pre-test-post-test design to investigate the effect of a web-based mercury calculator on perceived behavioral control and simulated fish choices.

Dysmenorrhea And Related Factors In Taiwanese Adolescent Girls, I-Chen Lu

Dissertations

The purpose of this cross-sectional, correlational study was to validate the factors that are related to dysmenorrhea in Taiwanese adolescents. The specific aims were to describe the perceived dysmenorrhea pain symptom experience (SE), related self-care strategies (SCS), and perceived effectiveness of self-care strategies (PESS); to explore the relationships between SE, SCS, and PESS; and to explore the influence of contextual factors on SE, SCS, and PESS. A conceptual framework based on the revised Symptom Management Model was developed and guided this study.

Self Efficacy, Self Reliance, Adherence To Self Care, And Glycemic Control Among Cherokee With Type 2 Diabetes, Diana D. Mashburn

Dissertations

Type 2 diabetes is responsible for disability and shortened life span among Native Americans. Adherence to recommendations for diet, exercise and medication is essential to optimizing outcomes. Few studies of self care have included Native American participants.

Among Cherokee adults, aims are to (a) describe self efficacy, Cherokee self reliance, adherence to self care recommendations and glycemic control; (b) explore the relationship between self efficacy and Cherokee self reliance; and (c) predict glycemic control from self efficacy, Cherokee self reliance, adherence to self care recommendations, and personal characteristics.

Predictors Of Quality Of Life Of Elderly End-Stage Renal Disease Patients: An Application Of Roy's Model, Celia G. Hay

Dissertations

There is increasing recognition that what matters most to chronically ill patients is how well they are able to function and how they evaluate the quality of day-to-life. Understanding the impact of chronic illness and associated treatment on functioning and well-being in the physical and psychosocial dimensions of older people's lives is essential. In 2004, over half of all new patients starting dialysis were 65 years of age or older (USRDS, 2004). The physical and psychosocial impact of end-stage renal disease may lead older hemodialysis patients to withdraw from treatment and die from uremia, rather than live with seriously diminished …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Among Social Support, Motivation, Perceived Competence, And Pursuit Of A Baccalaureate Degree Among Associate Degree Nurse Graduates, Margaret Joyce Reilly

Dissertations

The Institute of Medicine Reports of the last ten years highlight the increased complexity of health care and the need for new ways for health providers to respond. While other professional programs have adapted to the growing complexity of the healthcare system and implemented increased educational requirements for entry to practice, notably pharmacy and physical therapy, nursing has not, and remains the least educated among health professionals. The growing trend towards a two year Associate Degree as the initial nursing education degree is increasing at the same time that patient needs are becoming more complicated and health care is becoming …

Leading For Excellence, Atikah S. Osman

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory mixed-methods study was to determine the degree of importance for the 12-step principles proposed by Harvey, Drolet, and Devore (2014) to create a K-12 school environment that fosters high student achievement as perceived by public high school principals. A secondary purpose was to explore and describe the leadership strategies for implementing the 12-step principles proposed by Harvey et al. to create a K-12 school environment that fosters high student achievement as perceived by public high school principals.

Methodology: The researcher used sequential explanatory mixed methods for this study. The researcher worked with a thematic …

Psychoimmunological Outcomes Of A Dementia Caregiver Intervention: The Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold, Linda J. Garand

Dissertations

The goal of this study was to evaluate mood and immune outcomes of a community-based psychoeducational intervention (the Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold, PLST Model) designed to teach family caregivers to manage behavioral problems of persons with dementia. A randomized, repeated measures, experimental design was used to evaluate immune and mood outcomes of teaching the PLST model to family caregivers.

Health-Promoting Behaviors Of The Rural Well Older Adult, Shirley May Newberry

Dissertations

One of the greatest challenges facing nursing in the future will be promoting wellness among the increasing number of older adults, many of whom live in rural areas where they are isolated from access to medical facilities and information about health promotion. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived health status and the health promoting behaviors of the well older adult living in the rural setting. In addition, demographic variables were examined in relationship to the health promoting behaviors and self-perceived health status. A non-experimental research design using survey methods was utilized to explore the …

Patient Satisfaction With Nurse Practitioner Care In Retail Health Clinics, Laura J. Tucco

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to determine if patients treated in retail health clinics reported satisfaction with nurse practitioner care measured with the Nurse Practitioner Satisfaction Survey Retail Health Care (NPSS-RHC), if there was a correlation between demographic characteristics or brand of retail health clinic system and level of satisfaction reported, and if the NPSS-RHC is a reliable and valid measure of patient satisfaction.

Life After Prematurity: Special Health Care Needs, Working Memory, And Health-Related Quality Of Life Among 9- To 11-Year-Old Children Born Prematurely, Michelle L. Kelly

Dissertations

Premature birth, defined as birth before the completion of 37 weeks of gestation, places children at risk for medical, physical, psychosocial and neurodevelopmental impairments. These impairments may vary in severity. Beyond infancy, children born prematurely are typically not studied as a group, but rather fall within many other diagnostic labels and categories. Non-categorical research, using consequence-based measures, is a means of capturing the effect of prematurity. In this study three major areas of functioning were assessed in 9- to 11-year-old children born prematurely and a group of full-term controls: special health care needs, working memory capacity and health-related quality of …

Navigating Troubled Waters: Chronic Illness Experience In A Health Care Crisis, Sally Thorne

Dissertations

This dissertation chronicles the complexity of chronic illness experience in a western biomedically-oriented health care system. It combines an exhaustive description of what it is like to be chronically ill in the current social context with an analysis of the implications of health care service delivery structures and ideologies for shaping that experience. In so doing, it applies an account of the chronic illness experience toward an understanding of some inherent flaws underlying modern health care delivery systems. The methodology for this research applies secondary analysis to an extensive data base derived from indepth qualitative investigations of chronically ill individuals …

Dietary Risk, Readiness To Change, And Factors Related To Dietary Choices In African-American Women, Ellen Beth Daroszewski

Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of American women with African-American women disproportionately represented in the number of women who die of heart disease every year. High dietary fat consumption is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. This study investigated the dietary risk for the development of cardiovascular disease, readiness to change, and intervention strategies to decrease dietary cardiovascular risk in African-American women.

The Experience Of Puerto Rican Families Who Bring Their Children To The Emergency Department For Asthma Care, Jean Sheerin Coffey

Dissertations

The aim of the study was to describe the experience of Puerto Rican families who brought their child to the emergency department (ED) for asthma care. Asthma is the most common chronic pediatric disease, affecting 6.3 million children in the United States and accounting for 728,000 visits to the ED in the year 2000. Black and Hispanic children are frequent visitors; however Puerto Rican children use the services most often. The volume, patterns and populations of children who use the ED for asthma care have been extensively studied, although to date there are no known studies that have explored the …

Hope In The Elderly: Exploring The Relationship Between Psychosocial Developmental Residual And Hope, Eileen Deges Curl

Dissertations

Hope has been postulated to be a motivational life force associated with psychosocial developmental residual from early stages of life (Erikson, 1963). This study explored the relationship between psychosocial developmental residual and hope, in order to test a mid-range theoretical model of hope. The hope model was retroductively derived from Modeling and Role-Modeling theory (Erickson, Tomlin, & Swain, 1988) and previous qualitative research (Dufault & Martocchio, 1985). A correlational research design, with a qualitative component, was used to test the model. For the quantitative part of the study, 90 elderly subjects were selected from two community-based congregate housing units in …

Between This World And The Next: The Lived Experience Of Having A Life-Threatening Illness, Janna C. Roop

Dissertations

Wonderings about hospice patients' experience of dying evolved into the question, "What is it like to have a life-threatening illness?" That question guided this interpretive phenomenological inquiry. Phenomenology is a philosophy that seeks to rediscover the rich meaning lying hidden beneath the surface of everyday. Phenomenology's quest is to coax that which has been concealed out into the light. It is a call to re-dis-cover what Martin Heidegger (1959/1966) might call the mystery of Being. What is it that anesthetizes us to the wonder of our everydays? What is it about the ordinary that blinds us to its depth? We …

Behavioral Symptoms, Inflammation And Cortisol: Relationship To Cardiac Health And Quality Of Life In Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients, Deborah Anne Sindewald

Dissertations

Background: The experience of a cardiac event is associated with psychological stress, which is often accompanied by depressive mood, fatigue and sleep disturbance (i.e., psycho-behavioral symptoms). To assist in recovery, cardiac patients can participate in a structured rehabilitation program, which provides monitored exercise and health education. There is limited knowledge, however, as to the extent to which cardiac rehabilitation reduces psycho-behavioral symptoms; nor is there knowledge of the association of these symptoms with stress-related biological mediators. Cortisol and inflammatory mediators (e.g., interleukin 6; IL-6) contribute to cardiovascular disease, and are also associated with greater stress perception, depressive mood, fatigue, and …

Testing An Ecological Model Of Obesity Among School-Age Children: Identifying Targets For Tailored Intervention, Dorothy Mcleod Loren

Dissertations

Childhood obesity rates remain historically high in the US. One way to conceptualize the many factors that contribute to obesity is through the use of an ecological model. There is a particular need to adapt and test this type of comprehensive model among vulnerable racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Using a large sample of US youth drawn from the ECLS-K:2011 (N=8,225), this project first investigated an ecological model of childhood obesity from kindergarten to second grade, including factors such as child physical activity, child screen time, child bedtime, family physical activity, family food insecurity, family meals, and neighborhood safety. Then, it …

Philosophy And Practice Of Wholistic And Physical Student Development At Select Seventh-Day Adventist Higher Educational Institutions And Work Colleges, Brenda Gay Palmer Chase

Dissertations

Problem and Purpose

There is an extensive array of literature and research espousing the importance of developing the whole student. Comparatively, there is limited research on examining how colleges and universities that promote wholistic student development incorporate each of the human dimensions into an integrated educational experience. There is, therefore, a need for scholarship that compares and contrasts how separate and distinct higher educational systems having a philosophy of educating the whole person define and implement the development of the physical dimension. Similarly, research is needed that examines how the differences in interpreting and implementing the development of the physical …

Metal Ions Impact On Shewanella Oneidensis Mr-1 Adhesion To Ito Electrode And The Enhancement Of Current Output, Aisha Awad Alshahrani

Dissertations

The goal of this study is to enhance the efficiency of bacterial extracellular electron transfer (EET) in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 by enhancing adhesion to the electrode's surface. Our results clearly show a major difference in the attachment and behavior of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 for Ca2+, Pb2+, Cd2+, and Mg2+, compared to the control. the final microbial coverage, as measured by confocal microscopy and cathodic peak charge in cyclic voltammetry (Qpc), increases with increasing metal ion concentrations. We found the cells attached to the electrode increased more with the addition of metal ion concentrations in the following order of metals: Ca2+ …

Health Promotion And Cancer Screening Of Arab Americans, Lamyaa Alyaba

Dissertations

Introduction: Although Arab Americans represent one of the fastest-growing populations in the U.S., there is very little health data about their preventive health habits and health-promoting lifestyle, including cancer screening. Purpose: the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between personal factors, health-promoting behaviors, and cancer-screening behaviors of Arab Americans while controlling for acculturation. Design: Pender's Health Promotion Model was the conceptual framework for the study. a cross-sectional correlational design explored the relationship between the study variables utilizing an online-based survey to collect data from Arab Americans. Multimodal recruitment was used to recruit a convenience sample of 287 …

Dietary Intake And Executive Function In Youth And Emerging Adulthood: Environmental Correlates And Developmental Considerations, Amy Michelle Egbert

Dissertations

Obesity is a major public health concern impacting one in five young people in the U.S., and research suggests that consumption of high calorie, low nutrient foods may play a role in weight gain. Executive function (EF) has emerged as a factor that may play a role in dietary intake across youth development. Although biopsychosocial models of obesity emphasize the importance of identifying individual and environmental influences that may be associated with poor dietary intake, empirical research in this area is lacking. Therefore, the current set of studies seeks to 1) systematically review the literature on the association between EF …

An Ecological Model Of Transmission Of Depression: Risk And Protective Factors For Mexican Immigrant Mothers And Children Living In Poverty, Anna Maria Ros

Dissertations

Family poverty has been found to predict a number of negative outcomes across a multitude of domains of child development, including health, education, language and cognitive development (Reiss, 2013; Yoshikawa, Aber & Beardslee, 2012). Furthermore, studies examining differing prevalence rates of mental illness depending on socioeconomic status have found that children liv-ing in poverty in the United States are between two and three times as likely to meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder when compared to their higher SES counterparts (McLaughlin et al, 2011; Reiss, 2013). Family poverty has been found to predict internalizing psychopathology risk across childhood and adolescence, …

Reducing Inequality And Poverty In Latin America: Conditional Cash Transfer Programs In Chile, Colombia, And Mexico, Jorge Humberto Guzman Gonzalez

Dissertations

Latin America is the most unequal region across the globe. Inequality has increased the election of populist leaders and has resulted in massive social movements and protests in the region. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 2000s, a process of inequality reduction started in the majority of the countries. Since the end of the 1990s, a large number of Latin American countries were the world pioneers developing Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs), to put money in the hands of the poor with the conditions of school attendance and nutritional check-ups for their children. Most of the studies have analyzed the effectiveness …