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Hemodynamic Changes Associated With Manual And Automated Lateral Rotation In Mechanically Ventilated Intensive Care Patients, Shannan K. Hamlin

Dissertations

Objective: To investigate hemodynamic responses to lateral rotation. Design: Time-series within a randomized controlled trial pilot study.

Perceived Political Styles Of School Board Members And The Strategies Superintendents Employ To Work With Them, Roni Jones

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to identify and describe perceived political styles of school board members and the strategies superintendents employ to work with them.

Methodology: This explanatory sequential mixed methods study analyzed quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to answer the research questions in regard to the political styles of exemplary rural elementary superintendents and school boards and the political strategies superintendents use to engage with their school board members.

Findings: Examination of mixed methods data from the five school districts participating in this study indicated a variety of findings. The major strategies exemplary …

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. …

The Experience Of Violence And Help-Seeking Among Mothers Of Adult Chronically Mentally Ill Individuals, Darcy A. Copeland

Dissertations

Mothers of mentally ill adults are frequently primary caretakers. If mentally ill individuals become violent, mothers are most often victims. In their role as primary caretakers, mothers are knowledgeable regarding their children's illnesses. They are also familiar with the mental health system, including criteria for involuntary hospitalization. Mothers can identify signs of decompensation in their mentally ill children and recognize their need for hospitalization. They cannot, however, always access mental health treatment due to their children's refusal and/or not meeting legal criteria for involuntary hospitalization. This is problematic, particularly for mothers whose mentally ill, adult children have a history of …

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.

Parents' Impressions Of Their Child's Minor Surgical Procedure With Nitrous Oxide, Tina J. Shapiro

Dissertations

Invasive procedures are often painful and distressing for children and disturbing for their parents. The purpose of this study was to develop a substantive theory of parental perceptions of their school-aged child's responses to an outpatient minor surgical procedure with nitrous oxide.

The Perfect Storm: Unexpected Birthing Experiences And Perinatal Mood Disorders, Joanne G. Goldbort

Dissertations

Intrapartum nurses play a significant role in shaping the lived experience of a woman's birth. Examining the lived experience of women's birth can serve as a critical component in nursing practice as a means to improve patient care outcomes with regards to the development of a perinatal mood disorder. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine women's unexpected birth experience in order to ascertain what contributions from these women's stories might be made to enhance nursing care. Husserl's descriptive phenomenology was the qualitative research design used to examine women's unexpected birth experience, defined as any or all of …

Partners Together In Health: Health-Related Quality Of Life Outcomes In Coronary Artery Bypass Patients And Partners, Lynda C. Macken

Dissertations

Coronary artery bypass (CAB) surgery patients experience profound declines in physical, psychological, and relational health-related quality of life (HRQOL) following surgery. The purpose of this study was to examine HRQOL outcomes in CAB surgery patients and partners enrolled in either the innovative Partners Together in Health (PaTH) intervention or usual care cardiac rehabilitation (CR). An experimental, two-group, repeated measures design was used to examine patients and partners randomly assigned to the groups. Instruments used to measure HRQOL were: the SF-36 Physical Functioning subscale, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depression, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale for marital quality.

Families' Perceptions On Immunodeficiency Virus Hiv/Aids Phenomenon And Its Impact On Family Functioning Of Puerto Rican Families With Children: A Grounded Approach, Marta Rivero-Mendez

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to generate a detailed description of Puerto Rican families' perceptions of their experiences and processes of functioning when the HIV/AIDS phenomenon is present in the family unit. The sample consisted of six family units composed of 29 members who were followed for seven months. A grounded theory approach framed within the symbolic interactionism perspective was followed to answer the research questions and to generate a substantive theory of family functioning. Data were collected, coded, and analyzed concurrently using the method of comparative analysis.

Factors That Influence Contraceptive Decision-Making In African American Women, An Intergenerational Perspective, Allyssa L. Harris

Dissertations

African American women represent a unique group of women in the United States and have a long history of lack of reproductive freedom. Slavery and forced procreation, sterilization abuses, the Eugenics movement, and federally mandated contraception have all impacted on African American women's independence in contraceptive decision-making. Given this population's history, it is important for healthcare providers to understand African American women's contraceptive decision-making, as women often seek their guidance. The purpose of this dissertation research was to discover the intergenerational influences on African American women's contraceptive decision-making. The specific aims of this study were to: (1) develop an understanding …

Noise Reduction Of Eeg Signals Using Autoencoders Built Upon Gru Based Rnn Layers, Esra Aynali

Dissertations

Understanding the cognitive and functional behaviour of the brain by its electrical activity is an important area of research. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method that measures and record electrical activities of the brain from the scalp. It has been used for pathology analysis, emotion recognition, clinical and cognitive research, diagnosing various neurological and psychiatric disorders and for other applications. Since the EEG signals are sensitive to activities other than the brain ones, such as eye blinking, eye movement, head movement, etc., it is not possible to record EEG signals without any noise. Thus, it is very important to use an …

Electrical Characterization And Detection Of Blood Cells And Stones In Urine, Nida Nasir

Dissertations

Urine contains an immense amount of information related to its physical, chemical, and biological components; hence, it is a promising tool in detecting various diseases. Available methods for detecting hematuria (blood in the urine) are not accurate. Results are influenced by many factors, such as, health and vitals of the patients, settings of the equipment and laboratories, which leads to false positive or false negative outputs. This necessitates the development of new, accurate, and easy-access methods that save time and effort. This study demonstrates a label-free and accurate method for detecting the presence of red and white blood cells (RBCs …

The Impact Of Social Media On Improving English Learning Skills: A Case Study Of Uae, Sameer O. A Baniyassen

Dissertations

Social media are one of the current forms of media that have diverse qualities and characteristics. Today, the use of social media is growing day by day at a significant rate. It is in this domain that students can virtually meet with their classmates and their teachers. They can communicate issues that are of significance and are related to their learning process. This study aimed to explore how social media platforms could affect English learning skills and to find whether social media could improve English language skills. The current study used mixed methods involving quantitative and qualitative approaches, such as …

Treatments For Cancer Given Orally: Patients' Perceptions Of Distress Due To Financial Toxicity, Ellen Carr

Dissertations

Purpose/Aims: For adult participants who have received or are receiving treatment for hematologic and solid tumor malignancies given orally, this study describes the relationship between participants’ experience of financial toxicity (FT), the participants’ perception of distress associated with FT, and participants’ self-identified adherence to prescribed treatments in the context of FT.

Background: FT has emerged as an additional source of distress for cancer patients. The costs of treatments given orally can be prohibitively expensive for patients. Therefore, these patients may experience considerable distress and may not adhere to treatments as prescribed.

Method: Descriptive cross-sectional correlational design study of a sample …

The Development Of The Simulation Thinking Rubric, Jessica Louise Doolen

Dissertations

High fidelity simulation has become a widespread and costly learning strategy in nursing education because it can fill the gap left by a shortage of clinical sites. In addition, high fidelity simulation is an active learning strategy that is thought to increase higher order thinking such as clinical reasoning and judgment skills in nursing students. Nursing educators who utilize curriculum planned high fidelity simulation activities measure simulation learning outcomes with various instruments. However, few can quantify learning in nursing students due to high fidelity simulation and most are not supported by a theory of learning. This methodological study sought to …

The Influence Of Self-Esteem And Self-Silencing On Self-Efficacy For Negotiating Safer Sex Behaviors In Urban Bahamian Women, Shane L. Neely-Smith

Dissertations

The rapidly increasing rate of HIV/AIDS among Bahamian women is daunting for the future of Bahamian society. Despite many concerted efforts, scientists are unable to find a cure for HIV disease and are faced with the multiple challenges that treatment and management strategies bring for persons living with AIDS. As a result, there is a major focus on HIV prevention. The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics that put urban Bahamian women at risk for HIV/AIDS so that gender appropriate and culturally sensitive prevention interventions could be developed and implemented. A cross-sectional, correlational survey design was used …

An Investigation Of Suffering Through The Examination Of The Lived Experiences Of Hospice Patients, Junko M. Mills

Dissertations

Although there is a historical and philosophical link between nursing and the suffering of people, a review of literature revealed that there are only a limited number of articles treating suffering conceptually or analytically, and the experience of suffering is under-analyzed. Further, a review of literature also revealed that the lived experiences of hospice patients, which were identified to be an appropriate place to begin an investigation of suffering, have not been well investigated. Accordingly, the two aims of this study were to describe the lived experiences of hospice patients, and to understand what their experiences can inform us about …

Patient Satisfaction With Postpartum Teaching Methods Used By Nurses, Debra L. Wagner

Dissertations

Background. Maternity nurses have a responsibility to provide extensive teaching to new mothers after they deliver their babies prior to discharge from the hospital. Since patient satisfaction is an important indicator of nursing care quality, it is incumbent upon nurses to know which method of discharge teaching enhances satisfaction.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between new mothers' interaction with nurses using different methods to provide postpartum discharge teaching and their satisfaction with nursing care. The relationship between new mothers' background variables and the level of their satisfaction with nurses' teaching methods was also explored. …

The Process Of Adoptive Parenting, Julie A. Luetschwager

Dissertations

Nurses assist families as they shift and change over their lifecycle. Maternity nurses work closely with biological families as they integrate the infant into the family unit; however, the nurse's role with adoptive families focuses on caring separately for the birth mother and the infant being relinquished for adoption. This study seeks to describe the process of adoptive parenting from the perspective of the adoptive parent. An exploratory field design based on grounded theory methodology was used.

The Experience Of Decision-Making Among Telephone Advice/Triage Nurses, Ann M. Mayo

Dissertations

The role of the telephone advice/triage nurse is both complex and demanding. All decisions are made while assessing patients without seeing or touching patients. In addition, the role is often developed to decrease health care costs which can be perceived by nurses as being in conflict with their nursing beliefs. The ambiguous nature of the role makes these nurses' daily experiences with decision-making a challenge. Using a phenomenological method, the lived experience of decision-making among telephone advice/triage nurses was explored by conducting multiple interviews with ten nurses.

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.

The Relationship Of Stroke Patients' Functional And Cognitive Status And Caregivers' Resilience To Caregiver Burden, Margaret D. Nolan

Dissertations

Currently it is estimated that 795,000 persons experience a stroke every year. Of that number up to one-third of survivors will be permanently disabled. It is neither financially feasible nor desirable to place these disabled stroke survivors in long-term care facilities to provide them with the needed assistance if they can be cared for at home. Frequently, the care of these patients is assumed by family members or friends. However, providing care has been shown to be burdensome for some caregivers of stroke patients (Johnson, 1998; Scholte op Reimer, deHaan, Pijnenborg, Limburg, & van den Bos, 1998a; Van Puymbroeck, Hinojosa, …

Factors That Influence Health-Related Quality Of Life And Satisfaction With Care Among Adults At A Community-Based Aids Service Organization, Robert T. Dodge

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to describe health-related quality of life and satisfaction with care among adults at a community-based AIDS service organization, and (b) to identify the socio-demographic variables that influence health-related quality of life and satisfaction with care. The theoretical frameworks that guided this study were the Wilson and Cleary's (1995) health-related quality of life conceptual model of patient outcomes and Ware's (1978) taxonomy of patient satisfaction. The research design consisted of a nonexperimental, descriptive and correlational study that was designed to describe health-related quality of life and satisfaction with care among adults at a …

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 …

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 …

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.

An Investigation Of How Spirituality Supports Smoking Cessation, Lenora D. Follett

Dissertations

Smoking is a worldwide problem with major economic impact. Smoking cessation is difficult to attain, with the majority of smokers desiring to quit smoking. Religiosity has consistently shown some association with decreased smoking levels and increased smoking cessation, but little was known about how spiritual practice or religiosity could be incorporated into smoking cessation interventions. The purpose of this study was to describe the aspects of spirituality that were reported to be helpful by those who said that God or their spirituality supported them in smoking cessation, and to describe other factors that combine with spirituality to accomplish success in …

As Normal A Life As Possible: Mothers And Their Daughters With Congenital Heart Disease, Laura Tynes Gantt

Dissertations

This study utilized qualitative descriptive methodology to examine the impact of the chronic illness, specifically congenital or acquired childhood heart disease, on the mother-daughter relationship. Many studies have examined the effects of the child's illness on the mother-child relationship when the child is very young, but few have looked at the ongoing problems that chronic illness may cause. The investigator observed in her own clinical practice that the mother-daughter relationship when the daughter was chronically ill frequently appeared more antagonistic and ambivalent.

Effect Of A Preoperative Warming Intervention On The Acute Phase Response Of Surgical Stress, Vanda Doreen Wagner

Dissertations

When a patient is exposed surgical stress, the endocrine system secretes hormones in response to that stress. These hormones further activate the immune system to release cytokines and other acute phase reactions. These processes are supposed to protect the body by upregulating the innate immune system and producing an inflammatory response that acts to protect and heal. However, uncontrolled surgical stress may cause a weaker immune response that may lead to delayed wound healing. The phenomenon of unplanned perioperative hypothermia is known to expose patients to additional surgical stress. The purpose of this preliminary experimental study was to determine the …

Brain Disease Detection From Eegs: Comparing Spiking And Recurrent Neural Networks For Non-Stationary Time Series Classification, Hristo Stoev

Dissertations

Modeling non-stationary time series data is a difficult problem area in AI, due to the fact that the statistical properties of the data change as the time series progresses. This complicates the classification of non-stationary time series, which is a method used in the detection of brain diseases from EEGs. Various techniques have been developed in the field of deep learning for tackling this problem, with recurrent neural networks (RNN) approaches utilising Long short-term memory (LSTM) architectures achieving a high degree of success. This study implements a new, spiking neural network-based approach to time series classification for the purpose of …