Digital Commons Network^™

The Cost Of Compassion: Mixed Methods Insights Into Healthcare Chaplains’ Experiences Of Workplace Violence, Dana Fachner

Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare workers’ exposure to workplace violence has been well documented, with research emphasizing both its frequency and severity among clinical staff like physicians and nurses. Still, one group remains markedly overlooked: healthcare chaplains. Despite their frequent presence in high-stress, unpredictable, and emotionally charged situations, chaplains have never before been included in research regarding healthcare workers’ exposure to workplace violence. Healthcare chaplains provide spiritual and emotional care to patients, families, and staff by offering support that is culturally sensitive and appropriate to patients’ religious traditions. Chaplains collaborate with medical teams to deliver holistic care and are involved in a wide range …

Heirloomed: An Italian-American Daughter Weaving Past And Present, Catherine Santino

Theses and Dissertations

Amid a string of family deaths, writer and journalist Catherine Santino found herself preoccupied by the idea of lineage and inheritance. As she digs into her Sicilian heritage, she explores how the traditions and values set forth by her family’s matriarchs have shaped the woman she’s still becoming. From grappling with the shame caused by the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings of purity to examining how Italian food customs impacted her body image, Santino interrogates the complicated truth that the belief systems she was raised with offer both comfort and torment.

The Effect Of Medical Aid In Dying On Health Outcomes And Risky Behavior Of The Elderly, Jacky Wu

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effects of Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) legalization on health outcomes and behavior among elderly U.S. adults using BRFSS data from 2005-2022. Using staggered difference-in-differences, this paper finds that MAiD increases exercise, lowers BMI, and reduces blood pressure medication use.

Hold It Against Your Bones: On Love, Duty, And Letting Go, Lisa Pilar Cowan

Theses and Dissertations

Hold it Against Your Bones is a series of eight linked essays on grief, duty, and letting go. They cover the author's experience of being in the care-taking role for both her mother and her children, the journey of accompanying someone as they die, and the space that is left after care taking duties subside.

Evaluating Registered Dietitians Nutritionists' (Rdn) Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors And Practices Of Social Media Best Practices And The Role Of The Rdn Social Media Influencer, Ciera Burback

Theses and Dissertations

The growing use of social media has expanded the potential for RDNs to work with brands to promote products, as other health professionals have done for many years. However, scrutiny of the profession of nutrition and dietetics brought RDN influencers under fire due to disclosure practices and the perception of conflicts of interest in the social media sphere. This survey examined the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of current RDNs and social media best practices. With 163 respondents over the age of 18 and currently an RDN, part one of the survey included demographic questions, multiple choice and Likert scale questions …

Nani, Aji, & My Memory: Poems From A Guyaneseamerican Granddaughter, Tina Gurcharan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an autoethnography reflecting the generations who came before me from Guyana, as well as my own identity as a Guyanese-American writer in the present day, contributing to the growing creative scholarship available on our Motherland and the descendants of its broader diaspora. Alongside the knowledge that can only derive out of lived experience, I begin with a Critical Preface that draws from imaginative literature of enslavement before exploring indenture literature, queer poetry, and, finally, Guyanese poetry, in my Critical Preface. A Poetic Statement follows thereafter, sharing insight into my mindset during my writing process. The next section …

A Parting Repast, Debra D. Dowden-Crockett

Theses and Dissertations

Both the thesis document and exhibition comprise the story of my journey through grief, examination of loss, contemplation of death, and transformation through acceptance and relinquishment. I conflate art and emotion to put form to the complex human experience of watching a loved one die, having to say a last goodbye, and the mourning that ultimately follows.

I examine the rituals surrounding death, the role of memory, and the symbolic presence of food as a shared experience of both mourning and nourishment, the intimate moments of mourning, and the gradual process of finding peace and closure.

Featuring works from a …

An Exploration Of Compassion Fatigue In Organization Development Practitioners, Ciara Henschke

Theses and Dissertations

Compassion fatigue is well-documented in helping professions but remains underexplored in the field of organization development (OD). This qualitative study examines the contributing factors, manifestations, and mitigation strategies of compassion fatigue among OD practitioners. Findings from interviews with experienced practitioners reveal that leadership dysfunction, large-scale change, role-based emotional labor, and personal vulnerability contribute to fatigue. Manifestations span emotional, cognitive, physical, and relational domains, sometimes spilling into practitioners’ personal lives and diminishing professional effectiveness. Common coping strategies include physical regulation, boundary-setting, peer support, and reframing — similar to those in other helping fields, yet uniquely adapted in the absence of formal …

Association Between Autoimmune Diseases And Lymphoma Risk Using The Uk Biobank, Hannah Grace Dice

Theses and Dissertations

Background. Lymphoma is a blood cancer that develops when white blood cells multiply in an abnormal way and collect in the lymph nodes. Autoimmune diseases result when the immune system is overactive, causing it to attack and damage the body’s own tissues. Limited studies have been conducted to investigate the association between autoimmune diseases and lymphoma risk.

Literature review. Based on prior research, six autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis (RA), lupus, Sjögren’s syndrome, sarcoidosis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis (UC)) were examined to better understand their association with lymphoma risk. Prior research has concluded that certain aspects of these autoimmune diseases …

Caring Until It Hurts: A Survey Of Compassion Fatigue And Moral Injury Among Wild Animal Caregivers And Its Implications For Animal Welfare In Zoos, Aquariums, Rehabilitation Centers, And Sanctuaries, Nadiya L. Delgado

Theses and Dissertations

Caregivers for captive wild animals are fundamental to the overall care, welfare, and conservation of animals in their charge, fulfilling diverse and critical roles. Caring for others, whether humans or animals, exposes caregivers to compassion fatigue – a state of emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from prolonged empathetic engagement with those they assist, and moral injury – psychological distress that arises from actions, or the lack of them, which violate one's moral or ethical code. This distress can manifest as intense feelings of guilt, shame, or a sense of betrayal by oneself or others. These phenomena are pertinent in environments …

Proud Men, Jacob Appet

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is the beginning of a novel about a disturbed leftist podcaster that goes missing. His co-host and childhood best friend reflects on their complex relationship before deciding to go search for him. It is a literary mystery with noir elements, that explores themes of political morality, toxic masculinity, and Jewish identity.

Commodifying The American Funeral: Impacts On Our Rituals, Grief And Values, Reilly Card

Theses and Dissertations

COMMODIFYING THE AMERICAN FUNERAL: IMPACTS ON OUR RITUALS, GRIEF, AND VALUES

REILLY CARD

63 Pages

Death is a universal experience. Everyone will die. With death comes the need to care for the deceased, and the modern solution to caring for the dead is to outsource the work. Today in America the dead are cared for by funeral homes and funeral directors. This study looks at the role commodification plays in the American funeral experiences and, in turn, how that process of commodification impacts the cultural values of the funeral. This study first examines the literature around funerals, rituals, grief and …

The Impact Of Online Orientation Activities In A Blended New-Student Orientation Modality On Social Connectedness, Pamela Potoma Smalley

Theses and Dissertations

Transitioning from high school to college has been a challenge for most students. The inability to make successful transitions has affected students' ability to integrate and graduate from college. Higher educational institutions look to programs such as new-student orientations to support students as they learn to navigate their new academic (and for many, new living) environments. The COVID-19 pandemic changed how new-student orientation worked as all traditional institutions switched completely to online orientation activities from completely in-person activities. As institutions emerged from the aftermath of the pandemic, they implemented blended new-student orientation modalities consisting of both online and in-person activities. …

The Effect Of The Gocomm Educational Intervention On Physician Distress Surrounding Goc Conversations Using The Physician Distress Inventory (Pdi), Thomas Anthony Bozzo

Theses and Dissertations

End-of-life (EOL) care refers to the medical, emotional, and practical support provided to individuals who are nearing the end of their lives. Goals of care (GOC) discussions involve physician exploration of patient beliefs and values, though they do not need to be primarily focused on end-of-life health-care decisions. Engaging in EOL/GOC conversations has been linked to increased quality of life, decreased healthcare costs, and more frequently receiving care in line with patient preferences. Barriers to these discussions occurring exist at both the clinician-level (e.g., inadequate communications training) and the patient-level (e.g., heightened death anxiety). This study aimed to determine if …

Determination Of Genetic Variation In Opioid-Resistant Hospice Patients Using A Pharmacogenomics Approach, Daniel Bianculli

Theses and Dissertations

Managing pain requires a delicate balance between the advantages of opioid analgesia and the possible adverse effects. This balance becomes even more difficult in hospice and palliative care environments where dosage regimens are frequently ambiguous. Some hospice patients experience opioid resistance, in which opioids no longer produce an analgesic effect on a patient. Evidence-based analyses frequently omit this vulnerable population, resulting in a need for concrete procedures. The emergence of pharmacogenomic analysis and personalized treatment presents a solution to this problem by using each patient's genomic data to interpret opiate dosing. This pharmacogenomic study aimed to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) …

Clinicians’ Attitudes Towards Using Cognitive Restructuring With Individuals At The End-Of-Life, Daniel H. Lydon

Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional study involving 156 clinicians explores the influence of personal factors on psychotherapy interventions and clinicians’ decisions to engage with individuals at the end-of-life (EOL) in psychotherapy. Extending qualitative research on perceived barriers to applying CBT in cancer care, this quantitative investigation delves into death anxiety, attitudes toward Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and clinician distress tolerance in predicting the use, comfort, and confidence in applying cognitive restructuring (CR) with individuals at the EOL. Clinicians read a vignette of a terminally ill patient who is presenting as distressed and reporting several different irrational beliefs. Clinicians were then asked about their …

Latent Profiles Of Child Coping And Perception Of Experience Processes To Predict Long-Term Symptoms Of Depression, Intrusive Grief, And Suicidality Outcomes In Parentally Bereaved Children, Rebecca Hoppe

Theses and Dissertations

Childhood bereavement is a significant public health issue and the most distressing form of childhood trauma. The death of a parent can disrupt the course of a children's development and potentially predispose them to enduring adverse mental health outcomes, such as depression, intrusive grief, and suicidality. Recognizing grief as a dynamic process, theories have suggested that children’s unique coping and perceptions of experience can contribute to variations in individual adaptations to the death and the onset of mental health problems. The goals of this study were to (a) use latent profile analysis to empirically group recently bereaved children into distinct …

Invisibility, Confusion, And Adjustment:Exploring The Grief Experience Of Grandmothers Supporting Their Bereaved Grandchildren, Jordan Robertson

Theses and Dissertations

Bereavement is painful at any time of life. For young children experiencing bereavement, grandmothers are often the first line of defense. Grandmothers are frequently called upon when their family members experience an out-of-order death, and while they are willing to provide care, grandmothers don't always know the best way forward. This qualitative study sought to learn more about the grief experiences of 22 grandmothers who had lost a family member prematurely through semi-structured interviews and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Findings suggest (a) grandmothers experience layered grief in that they grieve the loss of the family member, experience the pain of the …

The Quiet And Other Fantastical Tales, Emily Nicole Cerda

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis briefly discusses the genres and subgenres of speculative fiction—focusing on fantasy, horror, and science fiction—and is primarily a short story collection that also includes a few novel chapters. The critical introduction delves into the present and overly complex subgenre categorization methods, how and why new subgenres are created, and provides simple definitions for the main genres of speculative fiction and fantasy subgenres.

The subgenres that will be discussed through either a short story, novel chapter(s), or definition include, but are not limited to: fairytales, portal fantasy, paranormal romance, dark fantasy, historical fantasy, magical realism, epic fantasy, mythic fiction, …

Mother’S Coping While Caring For A Child With Cancer And Its Relationship With Mother-Child Relationship, Alaa Nasr

Theses and Dissertations

Having a child with cancer is one of the most stressful situations families can experience. This study sheds light on mothers’ stress and coping with pediatric cancer in the Arab world, with a specific focus on Kuwait. The first aim of this study was to examine mothers’ stress and how it related to the quality of mother-child relationship, and subsequently the child’s behavioral problems. The second aim was to explore mothers’ main stressors, resources and services that help or could help with alleviating the stress experienced from having a child with cancer. A total of 102 mothers living in Kuwait …

To Love, And To Be Loved: The Art And Relationships Of Gwen John (1876-1939), Karina Grady

Theses and Dissertations

Extremely close kinships that lasted decades, love affairs with other artists, a patron who fulfilled both her financial and cerebral needs, and a lifelong creative curiosity: these are the distinct relationships Gwen John carried throughout her life and, I maintain, that her art should be viewed as their reflection.

The Melody Of Memory: Exploring The Effect Of Music Therapy On Language And Memory Recall In Adults With Alzheimer’S Disease, Ariel Nicole Furgat

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Music is an important part of life for the lives of many seniors. Priorresearch has indicated that music is beneficial to adults with Alzheimer’s disease. Purpose: With the intent to advocate for music therapists working in memory care, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of music therapy intervention on language and memory in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Three research questions were addressed in this study: (1) Of the three conditions (music therapy, recorded music, control), which appear to result the most change in MMSE scores in adults with moderate Alzheimer’s disease? What differences are observed …

Targeting Macrophages In Cancer Models Using Natural Compounds, Sierra Jordan Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide. More specifically, breast cancer (BrCa) and colorectal cancer (CRC) continue to be the most diagnosed cancers and leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Given that surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy is only effective in 20% of CRC patients, and that there are no preventive agents for BrCa metastasis for hormone receptor negative patients, more effective agents and strategies are needed in both the prevention and treatment of these cancers. As one of the most abundant immune cells in the tumor microenvironment, macrophages help regulate primary tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis in many …

Examination Of Volunteer Motivations In A Civilian Auxiliary Of A Military Branch, Diane T. Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was developed to expand the understanding of the motivations of long-term volunteers in a civilian auxiliary of a military branch. The organization examined was the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force known as the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). The organization found that it was retaining only about two thirds of its members beyond their first year. The study was conducted to gain insight into the motivations of volunteers, their satisfaction levels, and length of service with the hope that such understanding may help improve recruiting and retention efforts.

A survey employing functional analysis to assess …

Utilization Of Occupational Therapy Services For Patients With Cancer In Acute Care Settings, Christine Mcnichols

Theses and Dissertations

For patients with cancer diagnoses, effects from the disease or as a result of cancer treatments can cause profound impairments impeding patient functioning and independence. These assaults to the independent achievement of activities have far reaching implications and linkages to a patient’s length of stay and their likelihood of a hospital readmission. Unfortunately, occupational therapy services have frequently been found not to be ordered for patients with cancer, even when there have been demonstrated functional deficits and needs. Through the analysis of patient records from a National Cancer Institute hospital over 5 years, the current study investigated occupational therapy services …

Trauma Education In Social Work Curricula: An Innovative Approach To The Teaching Of Trauma-Informed Care, Jennifer M. Schlinger

Theses and Dissertations

Many professionals, especially social workers, work with individuals who have a history of or are experiencing trauma. If students understand the trauma their clients have experienced, they are better suited to meet the individual where they are and help them work towards their goals. Social work professors must prepare their students by instructing them about different types of traumatic experiences, the impacts, assessment tools, and various intervention strategies. I used a qualitative research approach and document analysis to understand how social work programs incorporate education related to trauma and trauma-informed practice into their curricula. This method allowed me to gain …

Schizophrenia, Expressed Emotion, And Relapse: A Systematic Review Across Cultures, Colin Meng

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this review was to systematically identify and evaluate quantitative research on familial expressed emotion (EE) in schizophrenia patients from different cultural backgrounds. This adds to the findings of previous reviews of EE by including data from cultural individualism vs. collectivism perspectives using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. Using specific search criteria, 10 research papers were identified and evaluated. Findings indicated that the lowest percentage of high EE relatives were found in samples from countries associated with moderate individualism scores. A similar pattern was also found in high-critical comment (CC) relatives. Results of hostility and Emotional Over-involvement (EOI) are …

Effectiveness Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Versus Therapeutic Play For Hospitalized Children Diagnosed With Cancer: An Integrative Systematic Review, Dianne Kong

Theses and Dissertations

Psychotherapy provides essential coping mechanisms and strategies for children who are diagnosed with cancer, as they experience the extraordinary burden of physical, emotional, and mental strains. While many medical advancements have been made within the past few decades, progress related to psychotherapy for pediatric cancer patients has not been commensurate, evidenced by the limited current literature. Given the sparsity of relevant research, it is presently difficult to compare and evaluate the various psychotherapeutic interventions available for pediatric oncology patients. Additionally, there are significant challenges in providing psychotherapeutic care for patients and their families, including lack of consistency, disruption of care, …

African American Family Members’ Needs And Experiences During A Loved One’S End-Of-Life, Kelley Obringer

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to explore African American family members’ needs and experiences during their loved one’s end-of-life. In Chapter 1, a literature review was conducted to review the current state of the literature regarding African American family members’ needs and experiences during their loved one’s end-of-life. Chapter 2 includes a qualitative exploratory study of African American family members’ needs and experiences during their loved one’s end-of-life. The study sample consisted of family members of African Americans being cared for through services provided by an outpatient palliative care facility in the Southeastern United States. Family members answered five open-ended interview questions …

An Applied Dissertation Submitted To The Abraham S. Fischler College Of Education And School Of Criminal Justice In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Doctor Of Education, Harpinder K. Chima

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to follow the role that vendors of academic, instructional, educational, and communications technologies play in exchanges with their purchasing partners to promote the sale of educational technologies for medical academics. This study used a qualitative methodology through an Interpretative phenomenological (IP) approach. An IP approach explores vendor knowledge, background, and experiences related to the commercial exchanges of telehealth and telemedicine technology sellers in the United States. Interviews were conducted with sixteen vendors involved in telemedicine\telehealth sales throughout the United States. Data obtained from interviews provided the findings for this study.