Digital Commons Network^™

It's Nerve Racking: The Lived Experiences Of New Graduate Clinical Care Nurses Using Simulation As Part Of An Orientation Program, Robert L. Kerner Jr.

Dissertations

The nursing profession has adopted high fidelity simulation (HFS) on the premise that it provides suitable opportunities for experiential learning in a non-threatening environment and it will improve clinical skills and critical thinking through repetition and reflective practice. Numerous quantitative studies have examined the effect of HFS on skill acquisition, critical thinking and teamwork, predominantly with experienced clinicians. The voice of the learner has been conspicuously absent in the discussion. The phenomenon of interest in this study was the experience of simulation for new graduate nurses. The participants were recruited using a purposive technique, and each underwent a comprehensive interview, …

Cumulative Advantage And Student Performance In General Chemistry: An Empirical Study At A Midwest Tier 1 University (2016-2019), Nicole Barvian

Dissertations

General chemistry (GC) plays a crucial role in the academic and career outcomes of students interested in postsecondary science, engineering and medicine. As a whole, chemistry education research literature has reported student attrition rates averaging from 25% to 35% for nearly a century. Student attrition rates can be attributed to a number of factors, including high school preparation (e.g. Tai et al. 2006), opportunity to learn (Carroll, 1989) and accumulated time and practice in a domain (e.g. Ericsson et al. 1993). The factors, in turn, are affected by mechanisms of social stratification, in particular, the social mechanism of cumulative advantage …

Development And Validation Of Simulation Protocols For Assessing Stresses In A Network Tied Arch With A Posttensioned Tie Girder, Kanchani Lakamalika Kumari Basnayake Mudiyanselage

Dissertations

Posttensioned concrete members; especially the posttensioned tie girders, are critical load resisting elements in network tied arch bridges. The stresses in the structure are influenced by the prestress losses that depend on the posttension force magnitude, time-dependent concrete modulus of elasticity, and concrete creep and shrinkage. The use of performance-based, high-strength, ternary mixes to promote the carbon neutral concrete and the need for executing multiple construction stages challenge the assessment of the state of stress in a completed bridge. The primary objective of this study is the development and validation of simulation protocols for assessing stresses in a network tied …

Simulating Strongly Coupled Many-Body Systems With Quantum Algorithms, Manqoba Qedindaba Hlatshwayo

Dissertations

The complexity of the nuclear many-body problem is a severe obstacle to finding a general and accurate numerical approach needed to simulate medium-mass and heavy nuclei. Even with the advent of exascale classical computing, the impediment of exponential growth of the Hilbert space renders the problem intractable for most classical calculations. In the last few years, quantum algorithms have become an attractive alternative for practitioners because quantum computers are more efficient in simulating quantum physics than classical computers. While a fully fault-tolerant universal quantum computer will not be realized soon, this dissertation explores quantum algorithms for simulating nuclear physics suitable …

Effect Of Implementing Psychosocial Interventions As Pen Pals In General Chemistry, Kristofer Felix Kintner Reiser

Dissertations

General Chemistry has a high DFWI rate, disproportionately impacting students of marginalized identities (Anderson & Kim, 2006). This research investigates the hypothesis that the impacts of stereotype threat and imposter syndrome could be moderated by sharing with others through a pen pal activity. This embedded mixed method study recruited participants who were general chemistry students at a public university in the Rocky Mountain region over two years (n= 264). Participant affect was measured using the Measure of Chemistry Identity (Hosbein & Barbera, 2020), Theories of Intelligence Scale (Dweck, 2000), Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences-Self Efficacy (Dalgety et al., 2003), and general …

Impacts Of Internship Experiences On Professional Identity Development For Undergraduate Women Of Color In Engineering, Kathleen Victoria Armstrong

Dissertations

Women of color are historically underrepresented in STEM, specifically the field of engineering (National Science Board, National Science Foundation, 2019). In considering ways to assist in women of color’s retention and persistence in engineering, it is necessary to recognize the role internships, a form of experiential education, at the undergraduate level impact professional identity development. The purpose of this study was to understand how internship experiences shape professional identity development for undergraduate women of color in engineering. Using a constructivist epistemology, a theoretical framework integrating social cognitive theory and intersectionality, and an interpretive methodology; the researcher utilized semi-structured interviews and …

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 …

Towards Reliable Hepatocytic Anatomy Segmentation In Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Using U-Net With Auto-Encoder, Koloud Najem Alkhamaiseh

Dissertations

Despite the advantages of minimally invasive surgeries that depend heavily on vision, the indirect access and lack of the 3D field of view of the area of interest introduce some complications in the desired procedures. Fortunately, the recorded videos from these procedures offer the opportunity for intra-operative and post-operative analyses, to improve future performance and safety.

Deep learning models for surgical video analysis could therefore support visual tasks such as identifying the critical view of safety (CVS) in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), potentially contributing to the reduction of the current rates of bile duct injuries in LC. Most bile duct injuries …

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 …

Experiences Of Middle School Students With Visual Impairments Accessing Technologies In Inclusive Classrooms, Anitha Muthukumaran

Dissertations

As the educational environment is moving more towards a technology-rich system, students with visual impairments (VI) educated in general education classrooms must be guaranteed equitable access to content curricula. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of middle school students with VI when accessing and using technologies in general education classrooms. In this multiple case study, three middle school students with VI were observed in general education settings for two school days. In addition to the students, general education teachers and teachers of students with VI (TVI) also participated in the study to understand how best they …

A Bayesian Approach To Unit Lindley Mixed Model, Nirajan Bam

Dissertations

In the applied filed of many areas such as Business and Economics, Physical, Biological, Medical, Environmental, and Social Sciences, Psychology, and Educations outcome measurements like rates, proportions, and fractions are common. Researchers have proven that using normal linear regression to analyze the relationship between outcome measurements such as rates and proportions and a set of independent variables can violates key assumptions of the method. Transformation techniques are usually applied to correct the assumptions, but this practice can violate the probability property of bounded nature of outcome variables. Even though beta regression was one of the popular methods to analyze bounded …

Strategies To Increase Engagement In K-12 Stem Programs Among Bipoc Students Grades 3rd – 8th, Denisha C. Griffey

Dissertations

The WIRE Youth Development Programs, housed within the Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI foster two enrichment programs geared towards strengthening the gap in academic knowledge through STEM/STEAM activities. Since its inception, WIRE has impacted over 1,000 youth grades 3-8 among the BIPOC population through its programs, most notably the WIRE Math and Science Summer Camp and Saturday Academy. In 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many K-12 education school systems switched to remote learning. As a result of this transition, there was a decrease in access …

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 …

Reducing Stress And Burnout In Hospice And Palliative Care Through Education, Marvet Wint

Dissertations

Burnout, a syndrome described as a state of mental and or physical exhaustion, impacts the workforce of hospice and palliative nurses where employees' behaviors and professional efficacy reflect poorly on their work. The prevalence of burnout among hospice nurses led to the development of this project. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) served as a reference guide for developing the content, which addressed whether a staff education program at this Southeastern United States facility, would affect a change in knowledge among hospice nurses reduce burnout. Knowles's theory of adult learning framed this education program on self-care and stress management. Focus was …

Missing Value Imputation For Single Omics And Multi-Omics Data, Meng Song

Dissertations

The integration analyses of multi-omics data have the advantages of extending our understanding of biological system across multiple omics layers, unraveling the functional mechanism of complex disease development, and refining the discovery of novel drug targets. However, multi-omics studies often face challenges such as data heterogeneity, missing values problem, interpretability, and imbalance classes. Among these challenges, the missing values problem is a critical issue for large cohort studies as not all samples will get a complete measurement for all the omics layers. To address the problem of missing values in multi-omics data, I focused on the imputation of completely missing …

Neurodiverse Perceptions Of Inclusivity In The Workplace, Shannon Lively

Dissertations

The increase in neurodivergent professionals in the workplace has led to a significant need for researchers to examine neurodiversity inclusion in the workplace. Research has portrayed workplace inclusion as the perception that the individual is a valued member of a workgroup through satisfactory experiences of belongingness and uniqueness. Through semi-structured interviews with 20 neurodivergent professionals, this study examined how they view inclusion, exclusion, and cope with exclusion in the workplace. The neurodivergent participants identified six inclusion and six exclusion categories. Results were largely consistent with previous inclusion research, however, one novel category, flexible accommodations, suggests the importance of considerate accommodations …

Technology In Nursing Classrooms: A Qualitative Phenomenological Interpretative Study, Ose G. Martinez

Dissertations

Nursing students have to learn how to critically think and pass a licensure examination to practice their profession. Current students seem to be bored by lecture strategies most commonly applied by seasoned nurse educators. A gap in the literature regarding lived experiences of seasoned nursing faculty members applying technological applications when teaching nursing topics. The purpose of this phenomenological interpretative study was to understand the lived experiences of seasoned nursing educators using technology in nursing classrooms. Seventeen seasoned nurse educators participated in semistructured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed with the NVIVO 11™ software. During the interpretative analysis, eight …

Topological Data Analysis Of Convolutional Neural Networks Using Depthwise Separable Convolutions, Eliot Courtois

Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present our contribution to a growing body of work combining the fields of Topological Data Analysis (TDA) and machine learning. The object of our analysis is the Convolutional Neural Network, or CNN, a predictive model with a large number of parameters organized using a grid-like geometry. This geometry is engineered to resemble patches of pixels in an image, and thus CNNs are a conventional choice for an image-classifying model.

CNNs belong to a larger class of neural network models, which, starting at a random initialization state, undergo a gradual fitting (or training) process, often a …

Daily Sbar Sheet For Pediatric Patients With Central Lines, Jordan M. Enzwiler

Dissertations

Problem: The patient’s daily central line Theraworx baths were not being documented and completed at a mid-Missouri teaching hospital. After completing a retrospective chart review for 2022, 8.35% (n=90) of daily central line Theraworx baths were documented. Daily central line baths decrease central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), prolonged hospital stays, and costs.

Methods: The quality improvement (QI) project utilized a pilot retrospective and prospective pre-post-design. A retrospective chart review on daily central line Theraworx baths was conducted on patients two years and older within the pediatric service line who had a central line. A situation, background, assessment, and recommendation (SBAR) …

Evaluation Of Simulation On Medication Errors In The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Carrie Clark

Dissertations

Problem: Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, the most common medical error being medication error. Pediatric patients are at an increased risk of medication error due to medication dosage calculation and the use of frequent high hazardous drugs.

Methods: The quality improvement (QI) project implemented the use of descriptive observational design using retro and prospective data. The data was collected over a 4-week and 4-week period by gathering data via safety and environmental management survey (SEMS).

Results: The data gathered consisted of an increase in medication errors of 150%. The data collected yielded …

Prediabetic Screening Tool In Primary Care, Ashley Koon

Dissertations

Prediabetic Screening Tool in Primary Care

Problem: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic health condition that affects millions of individuals each year. In addition, it is known as the seventh leading cause of death. While guidelines recommend using evidence-based screening tools, many primary care practices do not implement them. Therefore, potentially resulting in delayed identification and implementation of primary and secondary prevention strategies.

Methods: This quality improvement (QI) pilot project utilized a descriptive, observational study design. The American Diabetes Association Risk Tool (ADART) was administered to a convenience sample of patients aged 18 to 44 years old without a previous diagnosis …

Implementing Obesity Management Guidelines In Rural Primary Care, Taylor Bell

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem: In the United States, obesity is one of the leading causes of death among Americans and rates of obesity continue to rise. Geographic location significantly affects the number of obesity cases, with rural areas being affected more than other locations. Despite this, obesity continues to be undertreated by rural primary care providers.

Method: This quality improvement (QI) pilot project utilized a descriptive, observational design to evaluate the implementation of an evidence-based clinical practice guideline algorithm for obesity management in a rural primary care clinic. An algorithm was implemented on patients aged 18-60 years and with a BMI of …

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 …

Determinants Of Spiritual Well-Being In Adults Newly Diagnosed With Heart Failure: Primary Palliative Care Applied, Valerie Joy Smith

Dissertations

Guided by Roy's Adaptation Model (Roy, 2009) and using a descriptive, correlational, comparative design, sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, race, marital status, income), coping, primary palliative care (PPC, spiritual needs, social support, decision-making [DM] engagement, psychological support, PPC information and education provision, goals of care discussion, and care coordination across settings and times), spiritual well-being (SWB), and advance directive (AD) completion in response to living with a HF diagnosis within the previous 12 months were described and the potential relationships and differences between the variables explored.

The Impact Of Collaboration, Problem Solving, And Creativity On Computer Programming Education For Middle School Girls, Amanda Meek

Dissertations

Despite high scores and abilities, girls lose interest in science and math throughout middle school. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in the computer science research field will grow 19% by 2026; however, only 18% of the bachelor’s degrees in computer science are earned by women in the United States (ComputerScience.org, 2021). New technology and inventions are being created without the benefit of more diverse perspectives and input from females. There is a need to engage girls and maintain their interest throughout middle school and beyond. Additional research needs to be conducted about the impact and best practices …

Effectiveness Of Simulation-Based Case Studies In Undergraduate Nursing Students, Kesha T. Becnel

Dissertations

An ever-changing healthcare landscape requires today's nurses to have a solid foundation in knowledge and clinical judgment to provide safe care to patients. Nurse educators must implement teaching strategies that help develop the knowledge and clinical judgment that nursing students will need upon graduation and entry into healthcare. Simulation-based experiences have been shown to help develop clinical judgment when used as part of a clinical practicum. However, few studies have examined the effectiveness of simulation-based experiences as a classroom teaching strategy.

Understanding The Structure And Dynamics Of Conjugated Polymers By Deuteration And Neutron Scattering, Zhiqiang Cao

Dissertations

Semiconducting conjugated polymers (CPs) open opportunities to develop a new generation of lightweight, printable, low-cost, deformable, and large-area electronic devices. CPs are characterized by complex chain dynamics and heterogeneous molecular structure with large degrees of conformational freedom.

Chain conformation (i.e., chain rigidity and local backbone planarity) dictates the delocalized electron cloud along the polymer backbone which greatly influences the optical and electronic properties of conjugated polymers. For the first time, we indicate that using variable-temperature scattering and spectroscopy characterizations allows confirmation of the single-chain state to measure the molecular chain conformations. We found a critical role of side chains and …

Novel Corrosion Detection Methods For Understanding Polymer Model Coatings During Immersion, Christopher Scanlon

Dissertations

Coatings mitigate corrosion on assets in varied environments by acting as barriers to aggressive molecules while maintaining adherence to the asset substrate. Eventually, the coatings will be breached or defects in the coatings will transition into breaches. Then, the performance of breached coatings no longer depends on film barrier properties, but on the lateral (x, y-axis) resistance to cathodic delamination as a new type of adherence strength at the polymer-substrate interface. The adherence strength in turn mitigates substrate dissolution (corrosion). Currently, the literature lacks a direct means to detect the earliest onset of coating failure using a nondestructive method and …

Mating Burrows In The Fiddler Crab Leptuca Pugilator: How A Key Resource Is Contested, Constructed, And Shared, Zachary Michael Lane

Dissertations

The Atlantic sand fiddler crab, Leptuca pugilator, is found on sandy, vegetated beach across a large portion of the United States’ Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts and is iconic in regions where dense populations of the species occur for its charismatic courtship, competitive, and foraging behaviors. The social dynamics of the species are complex. Reproductively active males maintain mating territories in the dangerous heat of the intertidal zone, away from their food source at the water’s edge, where they inhabit specialized mating burrows. These mating burrows are essential to successful female reproductive success, and when it is time …

Exploring The Fifth Quarter: An Enquiry Into Offal Eating In Contemporary Irish Food Culture, Its History, And Its Future, Niall Toner

Dissertations

Animal offal and organ meats seem to have all but disappeared from domestic cuisine in Ireland, despite the recent renaissance in the country’s food culture. This thesis has examined the extent and nature of the consumption of these comestibles in contemporary Irish food culture, and the perceived decline in offal’s popularity in Ireland in the past fifty years. It also sought to discover whether offal and organ meats might have a place in the future of our cuisine, and whether the consumption of more offal and organ meats in Ireland might contribute towards a more sustainable food production system, and …