Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Relationships Between Practicing Registered Nurses (Rns) Pharmacology Knowledge And Medication Errors, Coleen Kumar

Dissertations

Medication errors result in significant negative patient outcomes and major costs to the health care system. Registered nurses (RNs) assume a major role in the medication administration process demanding high-level knowledge and skills.

This study aimed to determine if there was a relationship between practicing RNs' pharmacology knowledge and medication error occurrence.

Baccalaureate Nursing Student And Faculty Views Of Effective Teaching, Kelley Noll

Dissertations

This study aimed to determine baccalaureate nursing student and nursing faculty views of effective teaching. Using the Teacher Behavior Checklist (TBC), a psychometrically sound tool, participants were sent an email containing a link to an online survey (Keeley, Smith, & Buskist, 2006). Baccalaureate nursing students (n=353) and nursing faculty (n=26) were sent the email with a response rate of 25.2% (n=89) and 69.2% (n=18) respectively. Participants were asked to rank order the top 10 qualities and associated behaviors they perceived as effective to nursing education.

The Experience Of Accelerated Nursing Program Graduates Utilizing Ethics In Their Nursing Practice, Mary Ann Siciliano Mclaughlin

Dissertations

This study, based on hermeneutic phenomenology, asked: What is the experience of accelerated nursing program graduates utilizing ethics in their nursing practice? Using van Manen's phenomenological method, 10 accelerated nursing program graduates were interviewed to illuminate their lived experience of utilizing ethics in their nursing practice. Through the process of reading and rereading transcripts five essential themes emerged: the nurse serving as a patient advocate, the nurse promoting a dignified death for a patient, the nurse fostering the humane side to patient care, the nurse encouraging virtuous integrity, and the nurse actualizing authentic leadership.

You Don't Need Eyes To See: The Lived-Experience Of College Graduates Who Are Black Men, Born Into Poverty, And Living With A Visual Impairment, Ronald Dillard

Dissertations

The following study seeks to answer this research question: What is the lived experience of college graduates who are Black men, born into poverty, and living with a visual impairment? The researcher has used intersectionality as an aspect of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to conceptualize the research question and develop an interview protocol.

The researcher has conducted in-depth interviews for this qualitative inquiry, resulting in a narrative study. Purposeful sampling was implemented to identify three participants who fit the criteria of being a Black man, born into poverty, and living with a visual impairment. Data was reorganized to tell the …

The Impact Of Hope On The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Context And Career Exploration, Hunter Christian Vincente Montoya

Dissertations

Economic instability in the United States has significant mental health implications for populations who experience limited occupational autonomy. Literature has demonstrated that career exploration plays an important role in positive occupational outcomes, and research has begun to establish a relationship between hope and career exploration. Hope has been further associated with myriad positive outcomes in the fields of career development and counseling psychology. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between socioeconomic status, hope, and career exploration as guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory, and to ascertain whether hope may moderate between socioeconomic status and career exploration. …

Self-Care, Stress, And School Burnout Among Graduate Students Preparing To Become Mental Health Practitioners, Melissa Rodriquez Estrada

Dissertations

Students in graduate school assume countless responsibilities that range from school-related work to personal commitments (e.g., El-Ghoroury et al., 2012; Myers et al., 2012), resulting in high levels of stress. In addition, those graduate students enrolled in applied psychology programs that focus on working with client populations must navigate clinical and field placement stressors. Dealing with high levels of stress over time paired with ineffective coping strategies can lead to a feeling of burnout. A growing body of research has indicated that appropriate self-care may effectively reduce high levels of stress and burnout (e.g., Kim et al., 2018; Rico & …

Oikophilia: Relationships Among Life, Human Life, And Place In School Communities And Their Expressions In Curriculum, Mandi Leigh

Dissertations

This naturalistic, non-experimental inquiry explored relationships among life, human life, and place in school communities along with their expressions in school curriculum. I used educational criticism and connoisseurship to richly describe, interpret meaning, evaluate significance, and discern thematics surrounding relationships and how those relationships were expressed in the curriculum. Postmodern ecology provided the framework for acknowledging ecological precarity and performing the critical, as in essential, work of deconstructing what harms life that could be reconstituted as nourishment. The first study question was: What relationships exist among life, human life, and place in school communities? To answer the question, ecological data …

Men’S Feminist Identity Development: The Process And Critical Influences, Tiana Alexandria Kioko Johnson

Dissertations

Research has historically focused on feminist women, leaving a gap in the literature for exploring men’s feminist identity development. Given that feminist identity is a strong predictor for engaging in gender-justice activism, more research is needed on the experiences of feminist men and how they come to identify as feminists. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a theory of men’s feminist identity development process, as no widely accepted model currently exists. Additionally, the study sought to investigate feminist men’s experiences of privilege as well as guilt in shame in their feminist identity development, as these factors …

The Role Of A Roman Catholic Organization In Undergraduate Student Psychosocial Development, Identity Formation And Graduation Rates, Jacob M. Larson

Dissertations

The mixed-methods study investigated the psychosocial development, identity formation, and academic persistence of undergraduate students involved in a Roman Catholic student organization at a private, non-sectarian university. The research framed members’ identity development in the context of Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory and Chickering and Reisser’s Seven Vectors of Student Development. The qualitative research relied on interviews, a focus group, and field observations to gather data on members’ psychosocial and identity development. Regarding psychosocial development, participants discussed that the organization helped them develop meaningful, intimate relationships. Participants also highlighted that the organization helped them to develop intellectual competence, discover purpose …

Undergraduate Faculty Expectations Of New Graduate Nurses’ Entry-Level Competencies, Bridgette Lynn Bochner

Dissertations

This qualitative descriptive study sought to describe undergraduate faculty expectations of new graduate nurses’ entry-level competencies. By gaining valuable insight from nursing faculty, essential knowledge gained from this faculty perspective will benefit nursing students, nursing education, and all stakeholders in providing safe, quality care and establishing congruent entry-level competencies for new graduate nurses. Eleven faculty from the central and eastern portions of the United States participated in this study. In-depth interviews using open-ended questions were conducted, recorded, and transcribed by the researcher. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify recurring themes. The themes were validated by the participants using a …

A Qualitative Case Study Into The Electronic Correspondence Between Fifth-Grade Students And Their College Mentors, Kevin Pribnow

Dissertations

The ability to navigate emerging technologies is necessary for social and economic participation in the world. Research shows that children from privileged households receive the support needed to develop digital literacy skills, while children from families with lower socioeconomic status do not receive this support. It is the responsibility of schools to address this participation gap by bringing digital literacies into classrooms. The affordances of new technologies make it easier than ever for teachers to provide authentic literacy experiences for their students. This qualitative case study examined an authentic, digital literacy experience during a virtual pen pal correspondence between fifth-grade …

Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment: Examining The Perspectives Of Survivors And Speech-Language Pathologists, Patricia Lynn Geels

Dissertations

Scientific advancements have led to significant improvements in cancer treatment and increased survival rates. However, cancer survivors often experience long-term effects, including cognitive impairments known as cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI). CRCI is a common and distressing side effect that affects affected individuals’ quality of life. The discipline of speech-language pathology (SLP) is well-positioned to assess and treat CRCI. Still, there is a gap in determining the most effective support for cancer survivors with CRCI. This mixed methods, three-paper dissertation implements exploratory, cross-sectional survey design to examine how speech-language pathologists and survivors view CRCI symptoms, its impact on daily functioning, and …

Effects Of A Self-Forgiveness Intervention On Recovery From Substance Use Disorders, Michael Saltzman

Dissertations

Previous research has highlighted the relationship between shame, guilt, and problematic substance use (Gueta, 2013; Luoma et al., 2019; McGaffin et al., 2013; Rahim & Patton, 2015). Self-forgiveness has been associated with positive outcomes for individuals in recovery with substance use disorders (SUDs), though only one prior study has explored the effects of a selfforgiveness intervention for individuals in treatment (Scherer et al., 2011). This study examines the effects of a self-forgiveness intervention on state shame and guilt, state self-forgiveness, and drug avoidance self-efficacy, and it is the first intervention study to focus on self-forgiveness for individuals with SUDs receiving …

The Relationship Between Colorado Teacher Salary And Colorado Teacher Turnover, Jason Lee Seybert

Dissertations

This secondary research study used quantitative research methods to gather and analyze statistical data on specific factors that have been demonstrated to impact teacher retention and assessed their relative importance in impacting teacher turnover. The data utilized for this study were peer-reviewed, publicly available, government data collected by the Colorado Department of Education. The time period examined in this study was the school years of 2015-2019. The study found teacher salary was a significant determinant of teacher retention in Colorado. When controlling for other potentially important factors, such as academic performance, English language learners, socioeconomic status, minority students, and setting …

Impact Of Coronavirus Disease 2019 On Secondary Market Ticket Price, Attendance Demand, And Fan’S Willingness To Pay: National Football League (Nfl), Yo Han Lee

Dissertations

This study explores how coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected secondary market ticket prices, the number of attendees, and fans’ willingness to pay in the National Football League (NFL). The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the sport industry, affecting everything from the scheduling and delivery of games to the financial health of teams, leagues, and related businesses. One of the most visible impacts of the pandemic has been the suspension, delay, and cancellation of many sporting events, including entire seasons of some professional sport leagues. Sporting events require large gatherings of people in close proximity, which is precisely the opposite of …

Principal Actions That Impact Teacher Retention In High-Poverty Schools, Amy Elizabeth Bekins

Dissertations

Teaching is a profession facing many challenges; among the greatest is high teacher turnover, which is even greater in high-poverty schools. Working conditions are ranked lower in high-poverty schools, contributing to the increased turnover in those schools. Principals have a high impact on teacher turnover, second in impact only to socio-economic status. The purpose of this study was to examine principal actions at schools that serve high poverty areas that are able to retain teachers. A qualitative case study was conducted where a high-poverty school was selected with approximately 80% teacher retention, allowing room for the principal to remove ineffective …

On Phishing: Proposing A Host-Based Multi-Layer Passive/Active Anti-Phishing Approach Combating Counterfeit Websites, Wesam Harbi Fadheel

Dissertations

Phishing is the starting point of most cyberattacks, mainly categorized as Email, Websites, Social Networks, Phone calls (Vishing), and SMS messaging (Smishing). Phishing refers to an attempt to collect sensitive data, typically in the form of usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information, etc., or other crucial facts, intending to use or sell the information obtained. Similar to how a fisherman uses bait to catch a fish, an attacker will pose as a trustworthy source to attract and deceive the victim.

This study explores the efficacy of host-side APT (Anti-Phishing Techniques) based onWebsite features like Lexical, Host-Based, or Content-Based …

“‘State Of War’: British Racial Construction, New World Slavery & The Impact Of Somerset’S Case In The Anglo-American Diaspora", John David Kemp

Dissertations

On Monday 22 June 1772, the English jurist William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, delivered his oral verdict as Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench in the famous case involving the enslaved Afro-British servant James Somerset to declare that only an Act of Parliament could legalize domestic bondage and that Somerset was a free man. For the estimated 15,000 captives living in the English metropole, Somerset v. Stewart effectively undercut the Anglo-Atlantic slavocracy that had hid behind legal technicalities and extrajudicial decrees defending domestic bondage since the last quarter of the seventeenth century. In order to offer a …

Kukama Radio: The Politics And Aesthetics Of Indigenous Media In Peruvian Amazonia, Gabriel Torrealba Alfonzo

Dissertations

This dissertation is about the political and aesthetic dimensions of Indigenous media in Peruvian Amazonia. It explores how Kukama media-makers use aesthetic mastery to engage in three key political fields in Amazonia: indigeneity, historicity, and environmentalism. I specifically examine the audiovisual discourses and media-making practices coming from an Indigenous radio station called Radio Ucamara, located in the town of Nauta in Northeastern Peru (Loreto region). Drawing on place-based ethnography and digital research methods, I analyze the way this radio station instrumentalizes multiple digital and non-digital media forms to make visible (and also audible) their identities, violent histories, and cosmological worlds …

Acting Locally: Vegetable Gardening In Southern Illinois, Aimee L. Trojnar

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the everyday practice of home and community vegetable gardening in a small southern Illinois city. The project engages with questions of how diverse elements of practice interact over time in the development of both gardens and gardeners, dwelling particularly on how the material agency of nonhumans contributes to what emerges. Combining a broad investigation of societal influences and constraints involved in gardening practices with a granular focus on material interactions in the garden, I consider the kinds of relationships individuals forge with the nonhuman environment in a modern, Western context and how they do so. Understanding such …

The Aesthetics Of News: Narrative Construction And Media Illiteracy In Contemporary India, Shashidhar Nanjundaiah

Dissertations

Amidst the public’s declining trust in news, media prosumers—that is, media consumers who have also become producers of mediated texts—are not equipped with any credible alternative mechanism to better understand the world around them. Prior academic studies of news and its delivery have not adequately explored the ideological framework we need to confront this frightening situation. This dissertation does so. I problematize the narration of news as an aesthetic process. Such mass-mediated narration stitches together our world in ideological ways. A tidal flow of stories highlights and obscures selected truths in a frenzy of “new” news cycles, the frequency of …

Predictors Of Nurse Practitioners' End-Of-Life Communication Behaviors With Adults Who Have End-Stage Renal Disease, Joanne V. Payongayong

Dissertations

The scope of end-of-life (EOL) communication is not well known among advanced practice nurses (APNs) who care for adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, the aims of the study were to examine the independent effects of knowledge, attitude, and perceived behavioral control on APNs' engagement in EOL communication and the mediating and moderating effects of attitude and perceived behavioral control between knowledge and EOL communication. A theoretically derived 17-item survey measuring the concepts of interest was developed and administered to a convenience sample of 127 APNs.

The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And Attachment Theory Among Field Grade Officers In The U.S. Army, Rebecca Ochs

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine what relationship exists between U.S. Army field grade officers’ self-reported scores on the five domains of the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) (Kouzes & Posner, 2002) and their self-reported scores on the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) (Brennan et al., 1998). Methodology: This study used a correlational approach to collect quantitative data from U.S. Army field grade officers. Using the LPI, a self-report transformational leadership measurement tool developed by Kouzes and Posner (2002), that measures five domains that include: (a) model the way, (b) inspire a shared vision, (c) …

A Development And Validation Of The Advance Planning Preparedness Scale (Apps), Renee Mcleod-Sordjan

Dissertations

Delayed advance care planning and costs of aggressive life sustaining treatments at end of life significantly contribute to the economic burden of healthcare in the United States. Dying trajectories, in most chronic conditions, have terminal prognostic uncertainties that do not address advance care planning by clinicians in a timely manner. Clinician and nursing barriers include perceptions of inappropriate timing, lack of skills in end-of-life communication and viewing readiness as a behavior rather than a death attitude. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate the measurement of psychological preparedness for ACP to aid in the understanding of readiness …

The Crisis Of Missouri’S Polity: How Privileged Interest Groups Influenced The Development Of Missouri’S 2014 Tax Reform Law, William Warren

Dissertations

Increasing wealth inequality has created a public discourse concerning its societal impact and the government’s role in its regulation. Should the government regulate and redistribute wealth through taxes and government programs, or should the market regulate it? To this end, one concern that has not been discussed is to what extent wealthy individuals have manipulated our government institutions to ensure their preference of market regulation of wealth distribution. Scholarly research has been conducted at the national level to determine the networks who are altering our political institutions to enable wealthy, minority interests’ access to our legislative process. Due to our …

The Lived Experiences Of Expert Nurse Clinicians Transition To Novice Nurse Educators: A Phenomenological Study, Sabrina L. Colbert

Dissertations

The literature is replete with information regarding the nationwide shortage of nursing faculty occurring in academia and practice. Due to the lack of available nursing faculty, masters-prepared nurses are being recruited into academia from clinical practice: expert clinicians with limited preparation in educational pedagogy. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of participants who transitioned from expert nurse clinicians to novice nurse educators in academia. The theoretical framework was Benner's novice to expert theory to explain and interpret the phenomenon as consciously experienced by novice nurse educators.

Positive Emotions And Sexual Desire Among Healthy Women, Elizabeth J. Brough

Dissertations

Sexual desire disorders are highly prevalent, account for a significant proportion of sexual problems, and affect important aspects of women's lives. Sexuality research has traditionally focused on dysfunction models, rather than human strengths approaches. Recently, positive psychologists have developed models and methods to examine human strengths. This study used Frederickson's Broaden and Build model to examine links between positive emotions and sexual desire among women. Positive emotions words were examined relative to sexual domains frequently cited in clinical studies, and compared to sexual cognitions which have been linked to positive sexual outcomes in past studies.

Improving Postpartum Depression Screening Practices In The Postpartum Setting, Courtney Lynn Cole

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem: Postpartum Depression (PPD) is frequently undetected in women due to barriers that limit effective recognition and diagnosis. Depression screenings and treatment referrals improve outcomes in the immediate postpartum period. Follow-up methods for positive depression screens are often missed by postpartum care teams.

Methods: A descriptive, observational design was used for this quality improvement project. A formalized depression screening protocol was created to help guide nursing staff on a Postpartum Unit when detecting a positive depression screen. Convenience sampling was utilized and the sample included patients aged 18-45. Data collected throughout this quality improvement project included Edinburgh Postnatal Depression …

Physical And Psychological Effects Of Qigong Exercise In Community-Dwelling Older Adults: An Exploratory Study, Pei-Shiun Chang

Dissertations

Older adults need exercise programs that correspond to age-related changes. Qigong exercise, a type of Chinese traditional medicine exercise, is a gentle low-impact exercise and is safe for older adults. Qigong interventions have resulted in improved psychological well-being, muscle strength, flexibility and balance in Asian adults with chronic conditions. However, little data are available on the effects of Qigong exercise on older adults' health in the United States. The purpose of the study was to explore feasibility, adherence, and preliminary efficacy of an 8-week Qigong exercise intervention in community-dwelling older adults in the United States.

Student Engagement And The Impact Of Successful Completion In A Virtual Alternative Program, Nicole Almiria Davis

Dissertations

The focus of this study was to examine the correlation between student engagement and successful completion of online alternative courses during the summer session from June 2022 through July 2022. The research questions focused on the difference in engagement levels between students who completed the course and those who did not complete the course. The study was motivated by the growing importance of alternative online programming in education. This study also aimed to fill gaps in existing research that failed to directly connect student engagement to the success of online programs. The findings provide valuable insights for school leaders, teachers, …