Digital Commons Network^™

Utilizing New Technologies To Measure Therapy Effectiveness For Mental And Physical Health, Jonathan Ossie

Dissertations

Mental health is quickly becoming a major policy concern, with recent data reporting increasing and disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, increased substance abuse, and elevated suicidal ideation. One specific population that is especially high risk for these issues is the military community because military conflict, deployment stressors, and combat exposure contribute to the risk of mental health problems.

Although several pharmacological approaches have been employed to combat this epidemic, their efficacy is mixed at best, which has led to novel nonpharmacological approaches. One such approach is Operation Surf, a nonprofit that provides nature-based programs advocating the restorative …

Audacious Corazón: A Nuanced Art Of Care, Dianne Bermudez Torres

Dissertations

Historically, the concept of care in higher education has focused on academic achievements, neglecting the significance of building meaningful relationships between faculty and students that engage both affective and cognitive dimensions (Noddings, 1994). Teaching with the heart, or corazón, embodies care in teaching. Employed in this study was a mixed-methods, exploratory case study approach that explored the intricate art of care and how faculty foster bilingual authorization credential teacher candidates to evolve into culturally responsive educators. Pearson et al.’s (2021) cariño pedagogy serves as a model that empowers faculty’s humanizing agency. Additionally, the study also reflected on the concept of …

Becoming Restorative: Discomfort, Praxis, And Ecstasy At The Intersections Of Restorative Practices And Teacher Identity Development, Gwynn Alexander

Dissertations

Restorative justice is inclusive of a philosophy and set of practices that have challenged long-standing paradigms that perpetuate harm in schools. Through this lens, schools are recognized as interconnected communities where the well-being and dignity of all members must be valued. While the restorative movement has demonstrated great promise in cultivating the aims of justice, educators have encountered significant hurdles in their efforts toward transformation. A substantial challenge educators face is to identify effective means through which to disrupt persistent pedagogies of violence in primary and secondary education. This dissertation proposed a pedagogy of transcendence, a framework inclusive of restorative …

Resistencia Indocumentada: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Higher Education Undocumented Students In The San Diego-Tijuana Border Region, Adan Escobedo Sanchez

Dissertations

Undocumented students face myriad obstacles while attending higher education institutions that would deter them from completing their academic journeys. Furthermore, they are placed with a dual narrative that labels them as either dangerous or exceptional. This study explored the lived experiences of undocumented students in college in the San Diego-Tijuana border region to consider what factors have led to resilience and resistance in their academic journey. By understanding these factors, the research aimed to tackle the dual narrative that burdens undocumented students from the illegality as a master status they possess.

This study used narrative inquiry and a literature review …

Racism Without Race: The Racialization Of Middle Eastern And North African Students At U.S. Colleges, Hannah Mesouani

Dissertations

Although a growing body of literature covers the experiences of international students at U.S. colleges, the stories of those who do not fit into the U.S. racial schema remain untold. This study examined how Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) students understood their racial identities given the United States’ tense history with Islam and the MENA world. Using foundational texts on critical race theory, current scholarship on Arab Americans and foreign-born students, and facets of the Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS), this study examined the experiences of MENA students who study amid a national backdrop of xenophobia and racialized Islamophobia. This …

The Journeys Of Women In Local Elected Office: From Community Engagement To Making Meaningful Contributions, Andrea Marr

Dissertations

Women remain underrepresented across every level of elected office in the United States. More than 30 years after the supposed “Year of the Woman,” women hold less than 30% of the elected positions in local, state, and federal office. In the past, researchers attributed the paucity of women in office to structural barriers, including sexism in the electorate, fundraising difficulties, and discrimination by party gate keepers. A growing body of research, however, attributes the dearth of female politicians to a lack of political ambition among women and to gender socialization that prevents women from seeing themselves as political leaders.

The …

Talking Back To The Elpac: Resilient Resistance And (Re)Imagining Through Ypart, Zulema Reynoso

Dissertations

Policies that label and track students based on language and race dismiss the voices and lived experiences of English learners (ELs) through forced fits and ideologies that devalue multiple languaging and ways of knowing. This qualitative study explores how an educator and 20 seventh-grade bi/multilingual Latinx students labeled long-term English learners (LTELs) reimagined how language is perceived, taught, and assessed across traditional schooling contexts and language policy landscapes. Drawing from LatCrit theory, Latina/Chicana feminisms, and dimensions of youth participatory action research (YPAR), this study centered both LTELs as jóvenes educados (dignified youth) and a conceptualized taller (studio space) to affirm …

Special Education: Inclusion And Exclusion In The K-12 U.S. Educational System, Erik Brault

Dissertations

The U.S. Department of Education defines students with disabilities as those having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities. Previous research has found that students with disabilities placed in inclusive environments perform better academically and socially compared to students with disabilities who are placed in segregated environments. Yet, we know that inclusion in K-12 general education classrooms across the country is not consistently implemented.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the effects, if any, of general education high school teachers’ personal and professional experiences and knowledge on their attitudes toward educating …

Queering Healthcare Equity: Exploring How Two Community Health Centers That Specialize In Lgbtq Healthcare Frame Cultural Competence, Tommy Royston

Dissertations

Despite increased advocacy and funding, significant inequities in healthcare access, quality of care, and health outcomes have continued to persist for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (LGBTQ) communities. Intersecting marginalized identities such as race, gender, and disability compound health inequities faced by LGBTQ folx. These inequities are not random; rather, they result from deeply embedded homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and racism that pervade the U.S. healthcare system. An exploratory comparative case study was completed using qualitative data collection methods (i.e., key informant interviews, focus groups, and document analysis) to investigate how two California-based Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) that specialize in …

Equalizing Postsecondary Transition For At-Promise Youth Receiving Special Education Services: A Chance To Succeed, Karla R. Sanchez

Dissertations

Postsecondary transition can be difficult for At-Promise Youth Receiving Special Education Services (APYRSES). Special educators supporting postsecondary transition often manifest traditional and institutionalized forms of oppressive education while dismissing collective values and beliefs.

This qualitative case study examined the beliefs and attitudes shared by three special education teachers after being introduced to a justice-focused, humanizing intervention to facilitate postsecondary transition for APYRSES. The conceptualized intervention was grounded in liberatory educational frameworks and drew from critical, culturally affirming, sustaining, and humanizing theories that foster cultural reciprocity, self-determination skills, and antiracist social–emotional justice learning to afford opportunities for APYRSES to succeed. The …

Analysis Of One Secondary School's Support Systems For Aspiring First-Generation Latinx College Students: A Case Study, Tiffany Cunningham

Dissertations

U.S. Census Bureau Report (2020c) showed Hispanic students constituted 18.5% of the U.S. population, 36% attended higher education and only 14% completed postsecondary education. Research has shown Hispanic, specifically Latinx, students faced barriers in accessing higher education’s hidden curriculum, compounded by deficit beliefs about their language, culture, and lack of family involvement (Kiyama, 2018; C. Martinez & Mendoza, 2020). Additionally, first-generation college students require college readiness skills, including specialized knowledge about college and measurable and immeasurable skills shown to support student success in college (Chlup et al., 2018; Duncheon, 2021; Morley et al., 2021). Despite secondary school supports like college …

Safeguarding From Scrutiny: Toward A Critical Consciousness Of Organizational Culture In Humanitarian Ngos, Andrew Henck

Dissertations

Humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (HNGOs) face a moment of reckoning brought on by decades of operational complexity and conceptual tensions between self-espoused values and external pressures as social change movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter demand organizational accountability. Humanitarian aid is being questioned systematically as most HNGOs continue reconciling with their colonialist origin stories from the Global North. Alongside a shrinking British foreign aid budget, and mounting pressures for proving value for money, HNGOs face a record number of natural disasters, energy crises, armed conflicts, and other major emergencies to respond to across the globe.

As the British aid sector …

The Development Of The Holistic Pastoral Wellbeing Assessment: A Mixed Methods Study, Timothy Captain

Dissertations

Some pastors are clearly in crisis. Research has indicated that clergy struggle to cope with the stressors of their profession. While pastoral work is overtly spiritual in nature, day-to-day tasks include interactions with God, themselves, congregants, and the world at large. Without multi-dimensional tools to consider their wellbeing, specifically assessments that reflect their worldview and role, pastors may remain unaware of dangerously low levels of wellbeing until they reach a place of crisis. Therefore, in this mixed methods study, the Holistic Pastoral Wellbeing Assessment (HPWA) was developed and tested to offer a validated, useful tool for pastors and those who …

How Exemplary Chief Nurse Executives Utilize The Six Domains Of Conflict Transformational Strategies To Establish Common Ground And Produce Breakthrough Results, Michael Thompson

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological method study was to identify and describe strategies that exemplary chief nurse executive leaders use to identify and establish common grounds to produce breakthrough results in healthcare by using the six domains of transformational conflict strategies: collaboration, communication, emotional intelligence, ethical behaviors, problem solving, and shared interest.

Methodology: As a part of the thematic phenomenological study, the research identified and described the lived experiences of eight exemplary chief nurse executive leaders in health care who used conflict transformational strategies to find common ground to produce breakthrough results. The target population for the study included …

How Exemplary Elementary School Principals Establish Common Ground And Produce Breakthrough Results By Using The Six Domains Of Conflict Transformational Strategies, Monica Berro

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological conceptual replication study was to discover and describe how exemplary elementary school principals establish common ground and produce breakthrough results by using the six domains of conflict transformational strategies: collaboration, communication, emotional intelligence, ethical behavior, problem solving, and shared interest.

Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological conceptual replication study discovered and described the lived experiences of eight exemplary elementary school principals on how they used the six domains of conflict transformational strategies with their stakeholders to produce breakthrough results. Participants led public elementary schools in Los Angeles and Orange counties in California. Data were collected using …

Covid-19 Pandemic: Lived Experiences Of Teachers Supporting Students’ Socialemotional Learning Needs Upon Returning To Face-To-Face Instruction, Valerie Cover

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of San Bernardino County elementary school teachers in supporting students' social-emotional learning needs upon returning to face-to-face instruction after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodology: This phenomenological study identified and described San Bernardino County elementary school teachers' experiences supporting students' social-emotional needs upon returning to face-to-face instruction after the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were purposively chosen based on specific criteria of working in a public kindergarten through sixth grade setting within San Bernardino County. The participants answered 15 semi-structured questions. The transcribed data collected by the researcher during the …

Nursing Education In Complementary Alternative Modalities: A Case Study, Deborah Bird

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this embedded case study was to describe the preparation for and utilization of complimentary alternative modality (CAM) interventions by an experienced Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) prepared nurse practitioner (NP) working in an outpatient setting.

Background: Given the widespread use of CAM by the American public and the potential complications involved in combining CAM and standard medical care, a lack of educational preparation in CAM interventions by NPs delivering primary care in outpatient health care settings represents both a potential risk and a missed opportunity to provide holistic patient care. Such a lack of knowledge also …

Virtual Learning To Enhance Non-Technical Nursing Skills: A Basic Qualitative Study, Nicole Murtagh

Dissertations

Nurse educators are currently facing restraints of limited space, time, availability, conflicting schedules, and increased demands on in-person learning experiences. Due to these restraints, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rapid technological increase, nursing educators have been tasked with incorporating virtual learning opportunities into traditionally in-person programs. There is a gap in the literature on the faculty experiences of teaching non-technical skills in a virtual environment. This basic qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of nursing faculty in the state who have incorporated education activities into their virtual learning classroom to improve nursing students' non-technical skills.

Relationship Of Vulnerability To Coercive Control And Intimate Partner Violence (Ipv) Among Latinas, Susan D. Watson

Dissertations

IPV is the most common cause of violence-related injury to women in the United States and greater than one-third of all female homicide victims in the U.S. were killed by the victims' husband or partner. Nationally, intimate partner violence (IPV) has been identified as a public health issue, and internationally gender inequality is the number one human rights issue. In addition to risk factors identified among multicultural samples, characteristics that increase Latina vulnerability to IPV may relate to the specific cultural scripts between partners that are expected and supported within Latino culture.

Adolescent Females' Perceptions Of The Dating Experience, Sharyl E. Toscano

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature and characteristics of adolescent females' dating relationships, including any experiences of abuse. The research question to be answered was what are the characteristics of adolescent dating relationships? Answering this research question, using grounded theory methods, contributes to nursing knowledge about adolescent women's perceptions of factors and influences that foster non-abusive relationships and those factors and influences that support abusive relationships. The many health problems existing as the result of violence are of concern to nursing. Knowledge about dating violence in the adolescent population is limited and based mostly on findings …

A Correlational Study On Spiritual And Religious Well-Being, Social Determinants Of Health, And Self-Efficacy For Appropriate Medication Use Among African American Women With Hypertension, Tracie L. Augusta

Dissertations

African American (AA) women are disproportionately affected by hypertension and are less likely to adhere to their medication regimen when compared to White and Hispanic women. Very little is known about social factors associated with medication adherence among AA women. Spiritual well-being (SWB), religious well-being (RWB), and social determinants of health (SDOH) may be associated with self-efficacy for appropriate medication use (SEAM).

The purpose of the study is to: (1) examine the relationships among SDOH, namely age, education level, household income, and marital and insurance status, and SWB and RWB; (2) examine the relationships between SDOH and SEAM; and (3) …

Voices From The Frontier: Stories Of Nurse Practitioners Working In Remote Settings, Lynn Jakobs

Dissertations

Frontier communities are the most sparsely populated and geographically remote areas in the United States. Residents of these communities often lack access to healthcare resources of any kind. Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are more likely than physicians to practice in these areas and provide a vital link in the frontier healthcare safety net.

This narrative inquiry into the practice experiences of frontier NPs informs the discipline of nursing regarding the significant contribution frontier NP practice makes to the delivery of frontier healthcare. This inquiry creates a repository of stories upon which nurse leaders, health care policy makers, and nurse educators interested …

A Quantitative And Qualitative Inquiry Into Moral Distress, Compassion Fatigue, Medication Error, And Critical Care Nursing, Jeanne Maiden

Dissertations

A correlational embedded mixed method design was used for this study. A purposive sample of 205 critical care nurses (CCNs) provided quantitative data for the study. A focus group interview of five CCNs provided the qualitative data. The Moral Distress Scale (MDS), Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL), and Medication Administration Error (MAE) Scale and demographics form were used to measure quantitative data.

Professional Identity Of Japanese Nurses: Bonding Into Nursing, Misuzu F. Gregg

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the process of establishing the professional identity of Japanese nurses. Professional identity was defined as self-identification with the nursing profession in Japan. Following a grounded theory design, data were generated by interviews, multi site participant observations, and theoretical memos. Eighteen Japanese nurses who were selected by theoretical sampling were formally interviewed. All tape-recorded interviews were transcribed in Japanese. Data were analyzed using methods of constant comparative analysis. Throughout the analysis both Japanese and English were used to avoid losing the subtle nuances of the Japanese language.

Family Lifestyles, Timing Of Sleep, And Sleep Problems In One-Year-Old Infants, Therese B. Mianecki

Dissertations

Studies demonstrate that 10 to 74% of young children experience nocturnal sleep problems, specifically difficulty initiating sleep and waking and signaling. Many factors had been correlated with sleep problems in young children. However, family lifestyle factors and the timing and duration of sleep have not been explored as related factors in this age group. A descriptive correlational research design, framed in circadian theory, was used to describe sleep-wake schedules and sleep problems of one-year-old infants, using a convenience sample of 80 participants recruited from suburban medical practices.

From Childhood Through Adulthood To Godhood: Trodding The African Ancestral Path To Become A Shining Star Of Ourstory, Salim Kenyatta

Dissertations

This autoethnographic narrative examines the importance of conceiving and sharing liberating stories, and participating in independent communal training processes that advance young African American males' psychosocial and mental development. To bring my analyses to light, I applied the foundational frameworks of African Worldview and Critical Race Theory to my research to uncover many of the influences that helped me evolve from boyhood (nescient) to manhood (laborer) and later to Godhood (master who is in union with all).

Employing the autoethnographic methodology enabled me to share key points in my educational journey, which propelled my transformation. This contemplative engagement was a …

The Relationships Among Unit Culture, Work Stress, Compassion Fatigue And Sense Of Wellbeing In Operating Room Nurses In Level One Or Two Trauma Centers, Evelyn A. Dogbey

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among unit culture, work stress, compassion fatigue, and sense of wellbeing in operating room (OR) nurses employed in level one and two trauma centers. Wellbeing was measured by two components, mental and physical. Several studies (Coeling, 1992; Hawkins & Kratsch, 2004; Seago, 1996; Waters, 2004; Wesorick, 2002) have documented the characteristics of organizational culture or organizational subcultures (nursing units) and the negative impact the culture has on individual wellbeing of nurses and the quality of patient care. This descriptive correlational study was guided by the Culture-Work-Health model (Peterson & Wilson, …

Promoting Ecological Behavior In Nurses Through Action Research, Gary R. Laustsen

Dissertations

The study sought to promote ecological behavior in nurses through action research. Research addressing specific ecological behaviors by nurses is limited. Aims included (1) Involve nurses in research using Community Based Action Research (CBAR). (2) Pursue a CBAR project addressing nursing behaviors with negative environmental consequences. (3) Evaluate participants' general ecological behaviors and attitudes about CBAR. (4) Analyze the CBAR project.

Growth Mindset: Exploration Of Career Development, Employee Engagement, And Disparity Among Working Professionals, Dillon Harper

Dissertations

A large body of literature has explored the beneficial impact of adopting a growth mindset and its relationship with academic performance. While the literature has provided many valuable findings as it pertains to academic settings, there is a gap in understanding growth mindset’s influence in the workplace as well as understanding if growth mindset’s effect is different for individuals who come from marginalized communities. This study aimed to close the gap by investigating if growth mindset is a predictor of higher work engagement in working professionals. Findings indicated that growth mindset is not a predictor of work engagement among working …

High Leverage Professional Development Topics That Support The Retention Of Special Educators, Meggan Lokken

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine how experienced special education teachers rate and describe the importance of professional development topics identified as high leverage practices in special education by Council for Exceptional Children and CEEDAR Center at helping them perform their teaching jobs, and to determine how the ratings of the different groups (preschool, elementary, middle, high school, and adult transition grade level ranges) compare to one another.

Methodology: The current study is a mixed-method descriptive comparative design, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative survey methodology. A quantitative approach will be used to rate experienced special educator’s …