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Perceptions Toward A Restraint-Free Practice: A Case Study, Suzanne Barnum Goetz

Dissertations

The importance of reducing the use of psychiatric-mental health mechanical restraints has been the focus of clinical nursing practice. A hospital with two psychiatric-mental health units has demonstrated a sustained success related to reducing mechanical restraints. In this qualitative case study, nurses were interviewed to understand how the reduction of mechanical restraints on the psychiatric-mental health units impacts the practice culture and the perception of the psychiatric nurses toward a mechanical restraint-free practice. This study provided new knowledge related to evidence from the psychiatric-mental health nursing practice, themes of barriers, and facilitators toward a restraint-free practice. The participants describe the …

Psychological Empowerment And Job Crafting Among Registered Nurses Working In Public Health In Ontario, Canada, Rebecca Ruth Harbridge

Dissertations

In this study, the relationship between psychological empowerment (PE), an intangible sense of feeling powerful from within, and job crafting (JC), proactively adjusting one's job by changing its core job characteristics, was examined among Ontario registered nurses (RNs) working in public health. Past research suggests PE and JC are associated with motivation and engagement. Yet, there are few PE studies and no JC studies in public health. There are also no studies that examine the PE and JC relationship of nurses in any health care setting.

Coping With Addiction: A Case Study Exploring The Needs Of Struggling Substance Abuse Addicts, Shelly Wims

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the current State Targeted Response (STR) Program in a Midwest recovery program that addressed increases in opioid abuse and barriers to recovery. The study sought to answer how substance abuse counselors detected and addressed potential barriers, if any, to addiction recovery; whether substance abuse counselors sought any need for improvements within the STR to reduce relapse; how counselors addressed the social aspects of addiction; whether counselors addressed the factors influencing addiction relapse; and whether counselors collected feedback from clients concerning their perception of the effectiveness of treatment in preventing addiction …

Climate Control: Does Caring Really Matter?, Wendy A. Dubose

Dissertations

In an attempt to address healthcare disparities, nursing programs have been charged with increasing success rates of minority students to increase diversity within the profession. Despite an upsurge in enrollment numbers of minority students in nursing programs, attrition rates are higher for minority students as compared to majority students. Persistence is paramount for minority students to overcome barriers encountered while pursuing an education in nursing. Perceptions of faculty caring behaviors may heighten nursing students' academic self-efficacy.

Newly Graduated Registered Nurses' Perceptions About And Use Of Principles Of Palliative Care In Acute Care Settings: An Interpretive Phenomenology Study, Latrina T. Geyer

Dissertations

The terms serious or life-threatening illness now included in current palliative care literature indicate the broadened scope of palliative care. However, the change in defining terminology has not consistently translated to a broadened understanding or advanced clinical practice for many healthcare professionals in acute care settings. The purpose of this research study was to discover NGRNs' perceptions, meanings, and use of principles of PC for seriously ill patients in acute care settings. The research question for this study was: What are NGRNs' lived experiences of providing PC for seriously ill patients in acute care settings?

Impact Of Water, Hygiene And Sanitation On Medication Adherence Intention Among Hiv Positive Women Enrolled In Option B+ Treatment Regimen In Zambia, Jerry John Yao Nutor

Dissertations

Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV is a major problem in sub-Saharan Africa despite increasing availability of free and subsidized antiretroviral treatment (ART); MTCT can be significantly reduced provided pregnant and breastfeeding mothers adhere to prescribed regimens. Access to potable water and adequate sanitation is a major problem in low-resource countries including Zambia, located in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated the influence of water hygiene and sanitation (WASH) on ART adherence intention among HIV positive women enrolled in Option B+ regimen, the current World Health Organization recommendation for low resource countries.

Detection Of Breast Cancer In African American Women Using Walk-In Mammography, Munachi Nwosu

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem: Breast cancer is a life-threatening condition, in which the prognosis could potentially worsen with a delay in the detection and commencement of treatment. Scheduling patients for mammograms continues to allow for long wait times that exist in screening mammography. Lower rates of participation in scheduled screening mammograms contributes to the increased rate of advanced breast cancer diagnosis that exit in African American women and threatens their health outcomes. The purpose of this project was to implement walk-in mammography to increase participation for early breast cancer detection.

Methods: An observational descriptive design with a retrospective chart review. A PDSA …

Weaving Empathy Into Simulation Pedagogy: Nursing Simulation Faculty Barriers And Strategies To Cultivating Empathy In Nursing Simulation Pedagogy, Tamara Holland

Dissertations

The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to develop a deeper understanding of the strategies and barriers to weaving empathy into simulation pedagogy so stakeholders and educators may be able to develop a blueprint for improving simulation pedagogy and improving empathy levels of nursing students. The conceptual framework that guided this research was the National League of Nursing Jeffries simulation theory (Jeffries, 2016). This investigation used an interpretive phenomenological design consistent with principles originally identified by Heidegger (1927/1962) and a modified hermeneutic analysis further developed by Diekelmann, Allen, and Tanner (1989).

Preventing Food Fights: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Single Case-Design Research In The Cafeteria Setting, Mary Ware

Dissertations

Disruptive behavior is one of the most prevalent problems in schools, with nearly 50% of all disruptive behavior occurring in non-classroom settings (e.g., cafeteria; Colvin, Sugai, Good, & Lee, 1997). However, the extent to which intervention strategies exist to address these behaviors in these settings is unknown. The purpose of the current study was to conduct a meta-analytic review in order to identify, review, and determine the effectiveness of interventions implemented within the cafeteria setting. Eighteen articles were identified through a comprehensive database search and application of inclusion criteria were included. Overall results determined that interventions implemented in the cafeteria …

Exploratory Study Of Factors That Predict Underrepresented Minority Student Persistence In An Intervention Program, Cres'sena S. Thomas

Dissertations

This study explores factors that predict persistence for underrepresented minority students participating in an intervention program that branches off into a Living Learning Community. This research is significant due to the growing change of student demographics across college campuses and the need for institutions to understand how they can assist in student persistence. The study was conducted as a quantitative study and responses from study participants were analyzed using SPSS. The findings concluded that cumulative GPA was the only significant factor in predicting persistence for this student population. There are some noteworthy mentions from the study regarding the Living Learning …

Chinese-U.S. Leadership: A Case Study Of A U.S. Manufacturing Company In China, Mengting Gong

Dissertations

The purpose of this case study is to gain a better understanding of the way in which some Chinese managers describe their leadership approaches and why they accept and use U.S. leadership approaches in a U.S. manufacturing company in China. Within the single-case (embedded) research design, in-depth interviews and existing data are two main methods of the researcher’s data collection. A purposeful sample (N = 8) of managers from the corporation served as participants. After collecting relevant qualitative data, two rounds of coding occurred. In the first round, initial coding was comprised of identifying codes from the transcripts. For the …

The Motive To Work: Assessing Organizational Motivation Within The Federal Probation System, Aleda M. Thomas

Dissertations

Competition within the United States workforce is growing at an unprecedented rate. Turnover rates of all organizations and businesses have reached an all-time high. According to the U.S. Labor Department, 4.3 million Americans quit their job in the month of August alone. Times have shifted to where the ball no longer resides on the side of employers, but now it resides with employees. As such, it is vital to ensure workplaces are enjoyable and encompass cultures that produce high levels of motivation, satisfaction, and engagement. As such, the retention of skilled and qualified employees must be at the forefront of …

The Impact Of Social Networking Sites On Online Boundaries And Relationship Satisfaction, Jay Ingram

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of how the use of social networking and online boundaries affects relationship satisfaction. Because the literature has not yet addressed how social networking intrusion affects couples, this study draws on previous research of face-to-face boundary setting. An instrument was developed specifically for this study to measure the extent of intrusion of social networking use from factors of romantic jealousy, partner surveillance, and relationship conflict. Previous research found these factors to have a negative impact on relationship satisfaction in face-to-face situations.

Three hundred thirty-one participants completed the Relationship Assessment Scale, the Social …

Building Bridges Not Walls: An Exploratory Study Of Student Involvement And African American Student Retention At Community Colleges, Brittney Rasjan Hernandez-Stevenson

Dissertations

African American students are attending college and working toward earning credentials, yet this population is persisting at lower rates compared to their White counterparts. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact that student involvement has on African American student persistence and retention at community colleges. A Sequential Explanatory mixed methods design was conducted with quantitative data from 743 African American KCTCS community college students that completed the 2019 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and qualitative data from 11 focus group interview participants. An ordinal logistic regression was used to analyze the data and the quantitative …

Self-Management Experiences Of Community-Dwelling Adults With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Wendy S. Bauer

Dissertations

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an incurable lung illness causing significant individual and public health burden. Individuals with COPD often experience high symptom burden, unpredictable exacerbations, numerous comorbid conditions, and frequent health care utilization. Self-management can improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs; however, many individuals with COPD struggle with effective self-management. Improving the self-management of individuals with COPD and the delivery of self-management support from health care providers is crucial to reducing the individual and societal costs of the illness.

The purpose of this study was to explore the self-management experiences of community-dwelling adults living with COPD …

Should We Wear A Mask? Household Assessment Of Mask Wearing For Covid-19 In Ya’An, China, Leonard Peterson

Dissertations

In late 2019 and 2020, the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide and resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic, the second deadliest pandemic in modern history since the 1918 influenza pandemic. Since the virus was novel, no therapeutics and vaccines existed. Effective implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions was essential to reducing the transmission of the disease until the discovery of effective therapeutics and vaccines. This study explores the influence of the facilitating protective action attribute on adopting mask-wearing as a protective action in Ya’an, Sichuan Province, China. The study found that perceptions of mask effectiveness to reduce the probability of contracting and spreading …

Sirencide: The Impact Of Acute Stress On Emergency Vehicle Crashes, Dustin Lambert

Dissertations

Emergency services provide an invaluable service to communities and cities around the world. Research has shown these professionals encounter significant acute psychological stress throughout their work shifts. Acute stress has been shown to impact human performance in various realms, from increased risk-taking to cognitive decline. While the actual work varies between firefighters, law enforcement, and emergency medical services, a shared commonality is the operation of emergency vehicles. Emergency vehicle crashes are recognized as a serious issue by FEMA. The current work aimed to measure the impact of acute stress on emergency responders as measured by fatal emergency vehicle crashes in …

Comparison Of Counselor Job Satisfaction By Setting: Agency, Private Practice And Online, Leeanne Cravey

Dissertations

To answer the research question – “What intrinsic and extrinsic factors increase job satisfaction in private practice, online counseling, and agency practice?” – a survey was administered to assess demographic information and to rate 25 intrinsic and extrinsic components of job satisfaction. Individual components of job satisfaction with the strongest correlation to overall job satisfaction were identified, for the entire study sample and within the three different work settings (agency practice, private practice, and online practice). Due to the small sample sizes of demographic and work setting groups, no correlations with individual components of job satisfaction were statistically significant (all …

The Utility Of The Test Of Everyday Attention For Children (Tea-Ch) For Attention-Related Referrals, Ewelina Lakomy

Dissertations

The Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch) is a commonly used, UK-normed test to assess diverse attentional capacities in children and adolescents. Currently, there is insufficient evidence for the diagnostic utility of the TEA-Ch with ADHD in a U.S. population. The focus in this study was to investigate the relationship between the TEA-Ch scores test authors found to be most sensitive to ADHD in UK samples as well as the relationship of TEA-Ch scores to other measures typically used in the diagnosis of ADHD, including rating scales. Archival and prospective analyses of 121 subjects with mixed-clinical/ADHD diagnoses (ages 6–16; …

The Role Of Neighborhood Factors In School Choice Decisions, Sarah Jefferson

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Examining Media Dependency And Parasocial Relationship On Protective Action Behaviors During Covid-19, Amy Hyman

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the significant role that mass media plays in disseminating messages to the public during disasters and public health crises. Information disseminated during a disaster influences individuals’ decision-making process regarding protective actions, or mitigation behaviors. This study examined the relationship between media dependency theory, parasocial relationship, and media effects (cognitive, affective and behavioral) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative approach was used with a convenience sample. The sample focused on residents in the state of Arkansas and specific generational cohorts. The results found that the generational cohorts had different media preferences during the height of …

Determinants Of Residents’ Shadow Evacuation Intention During A Hurricane In The Rio Grande Valley, Texas, Manpreet Jaiswal

Dissertations

Studies on hurricane evacuation behaviour focus primarily on why individuals do not evacuate when they are instructed to, while few examine the reasons why individuals choose to evacuate under conditions that would not require them to, termed shadow evacuation. Such behaviour might delay the timely evacuation of more at-risk coastal residents. To better understand the reasons for shadow evacuation, this study analyzes data from a household evacuation behavioural survey administered between 2012-2013 to 479 households in Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties, Texas, known as the Rio Grande Valley. This area features a number of Colonia neighborhoods with high rates …

The Influence Of Social Capital On Risk Attitude Toward Covid-19 Amongst Traditional Undergraduates, Jordan Titera

Dissertations

This dissertation assesses the influence of the three types of social capital (bonding, bridging, and linking) on the risk attitude of traditional undergraduate students (under 25 years old who enroll directly from high school, attend full-time, and do not have major life and work responsibilities). The research is motivated by three research questions: (1) What is the risk attitude of traditional undergraduate students surveyed about COVID-19 (addicted, seeking, tolerant, averse, paranoid); (2) What are the social capital characteristics for traditional undergraduate respondents surveyed; and (3) What influence does social capital have on the risk attitude of traditional undergraduate students regarding …

The Impact Of Vicarious Racial Discrimination On African Americans Via Social Media, Asia Wardlaw

Dissertations

Much psychological research has examined the impact of racial discrimination upon those who have personally experienced it. Such research emphasizes personal encounters with racial bias and ethnic discrimination can cause victims considerable mental and emotional injury, manifested as race-based traumatic stress. Far less research has examined the effects of vicarious racism on those who witness it, including those who witness it via online media. Given the growing and significant amount of social media coverage in the United States of America containing images of unarmed African Americans who have been killed in perceived racially motivated encounters, this is a valuable area …

Telework Intensity, Work-Family Conflict, And Work-Family Balance, During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Timir Jayesh Bharucha

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased popularity, application, and utilization of telework. To vastly reduce the spread of COVID-19, governmental agencies worldwide have implemented lockdowns and emphasized businesses and corporations should implement telework wherever possible (Anderson & Kelliher, 2020; Belzunegui- Eraso & Erro-Garces, 2020; Buomprisco et al., 2021; Chong et al., 2020; Contreras et al., 2020; Mouratidis & Papagiannakis, 2021; Nguyen, 2021; Oz & Crooks, 2020; Raišienė et al., 2020; Tavares et al., 2020). States of emergency can disturb employees’ workflow and lead to financial difficulties; thus, telework presents an option to reduce that disruption. In such unprecedented times, …

Adult Postoperative Open-Heart Patients: Anemia And 30-Day Hospital Readmission, Lindsey J. Ryan

Dissertations

In 2013 alone, more than 4% (3.9 million) of patients discharged from a hospital were readmitted. Anemia following a surgical procedure is associated with early hospital readmission.

The following specific aims were addressed:

• Aim 1. To develop an operational definition of the term condition-based maintenance as applied to health care and discuss the applicability and effectiveness of condition-based maintenance within health care.
• Aim 2. To identify the number of adult patients undergoing elective open-heart surgery with preoperative anemia.
• Aim 3. To examine the relationship between preoperative anemia, sociodemographics, and 30-day hospital readmission rates among postoperative open-heart adult patients.
• Aim 4. …

Schools On The Frontlines Of Governance: How The Convergence Of Criminal Justice And Education Shapes Adolescent Perceptions And Behavior, Jennifer O'Neill

Dissertations

Theories of legal socialization posit that individuals’ interactions with both nonlegal (e.g., teachers) and legal (e.g., police officers) authorities impact our broader orientation towards governance our compliance with rules and laws. Examining the process of legal socialization in adolescents is critical for understanding individuals’ relationships with major institutions of social control, and further, predicting delinquency. Extant literature tends to consider legal socialization in the school and in interactions with the police as distinct processes related to offending, neglecting the potential influence of school contextual factors; and yet, because the incorporation of carceral features (e.g., exclusionary discipline, restrictive security, and enhanced …

The Lived Experience Of Becoming A Professional Nurse For Associate Degree Nursing Graduates: A Phenomenological Study, Jean L. Hershey

Dissertations

This qualitative study used a hermeneutic phenomenological design to investigate the lived experience of becoming a professional nurse for associate degree nursing graduates. The study looked specifically at the process of acquiring a professional identity for associate degree nursing graduates. The theoretical frameworks of structural functionalism and reference group theory provided the lens which guided the study. Structural functionalism is a sociological perspective describing how groups reproduce themselves by creating members whose behaviors and values correspond to the established group norms. A reference group is the social group which an individual uses to define attitudes, beliefs, and values which the …

Exploring The Experiences Of African American Nurses: An Emancipatory Inquiry, Laurie Pierce

Dissertations

This inquiry provided a critical and in-depth analysis of African American nurses' situations within the context of the work environment. Through this examination, multiple oppressions were illuminated. Participants identified both personal experiences of oppression and oppression related to administrative and interdisciplinary hierarchies. Additionally, the participants provided their insights on the concept of empowerment. Definitions of empowerment included being a voice for self and others and empowering others is empowering to self. Thus, the concept of relational empowerment was explicated. Furthermore, the participants envisioned an ideal environment where administration is supportive of nurses, nurses have time to care for the patients, …

Relationship Between Nurses' Perception Of Empowerment, Job Satisfaction, And Intent To Stay, Ma Leilani Hall

Dissertations

Retention of perioperative nurses who work in the operating room is critical to an organization's effectiveness and financial wellness. Factors that retain perioperative nurses are empowerment and job satisfaction. The purposes of this quantitative study, guided by Kanter's theory of structural empowerment, were to determine (a) the level of empowerment and job satisfaction among perioperative nurses and their intent to stay in the organization and (b) if age, gender, education, perioperative experience, and national nursing certification predict empowerment among perioperative nurses. Fifty-five perioperative nurses responded to the Conditions for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire- II, Nursing Workplace Satisfaction Questionnaire, and Intent to …