Digital Commons Network^™

Supporting Elementary Teachers In Effective Writing Instruction Through Professional Development, Whitney Nash Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing have created a challenge for teachers at an urban elementary school as they struggled to provide effective writing instruction to support the rigorous expectations of the standards. The purpose of this study was to explore elementary teachers' lived experiences of instruction and better understand instructional writing procedures and strategies. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Dennick's work for incorporating educational theory into teaching practices, which combined elements of constructivist, experiential, and humanist learning theories. Research questions investigated how teachers perceived the impact of the CCSS writing standards on their practice …

The Effects Of A Concept-Based Curriculum On Nursing Students' Nclex-Rn Exam Scores, Patricia Allen Edwards

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Institute of Medicine and the National League of Nursing have called for curricular reform that promotes high first-time pass rates on the National Counsel of Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). A campus in the southeastern region of the United States implemented a concept-based curriculum; however, the effect on the first-time NCLEX-RN pass rates was unknown. The purpose of this comparative study was to determine if the concept-based curriculum improved student scores on the NCLEX-RN. Dreyfus' model of learning guided this study because of the andragogy tenets, which in turn supported the concept-based curricula. The research questions examined the …

Speech-Language Pathologists On Multicultural Counseling Competency, Denise Moore Revel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite reports of speech-language pathology graduate-level programs focusing on multicultural competence, the literature suggests speech-language pathologists are not adequately educated and trained to be culturally competent. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of public school-based speech-language pathologists' graduate-level academic instruction and the clinical practicum experiences in multicultural competence, specifically in the area of multicultural counseling. Guided by the theory of multicultural counseling and therapy, this study used a phenomenological approach, employing semistructured, in-person interviews with 7 participants. The inclusion criteria used for selecting study participants included: having a master's degree in speech-language pathology, graduation from an …

Implementing An Evidence-Based Educational Module On Nurses' Role On Management Of Postpartum Hemorrhage, Stella Motanya

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Postpartum hemorrhage is the second leading cause of maternal death in the United States. According to American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, postpartum hemorrhage is an obstetric emergency. Between 2012 and 2013, a medical facility reported 369 postpartum hemorrhages, a 4.7% increase from previous years. It is important to address this practice issue because postpartum hemorrhage can lead to maternal mortality. The purpose of this project was to increase staff nurses' awareness and knowledge of their role on the management of postpartum hemorrhage. The outcome of the project paper was implementation of an educational module on postpartum hemorrhage at this …

Alarm Safety In A Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Piper Probst

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alarm fatigue is a practice problem that applies to hospitalized patients and the nurses who care for them. Addressing alarm fatigue is important to promote alarm safety and to decrease the risk of patient harm or death. The purpose of this study was to decrease alarm fatigue and improve alarm safety in a regional neonatal intensive care unit (RNICU). Guided by the conceptual model for alarm fatigue and alarm safety, this study addressed whether or not alarm management protocols designed to decrease false and nuisance alarms in the physiological monitoring of neonates improve alarm safety via decreased alarm burden and …

Strategies To Prevent The Unintentional Retention Of Foreign Objects In Surgical Patients, Leonard Harichand Ramdas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Institute of Medicine's report in 2000, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health

System, highlighted the seriousness of medical errors in the U.S. health care system. The unintentional retention of foreign objects in surgical patients is one of those errors. At the time of this study, there was no standardized counting policy and process across operating rooms in the United States. The purpose of this project was to develop a best practice educational counting program to help prevent the unintentional retention of foreign objects in surgical patients. The Logic Model was used to guide the design of the …

Social Media Strategies Used In Marketing Custom Bicycle Framebuilding Companies, Angela Au

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social media is a cost-effective marketing tool, and in a 2014 survey, 75% of small business owners reported that they used social media to market. However, many of these businesses merely set up social media profiles and do not use social media to its full potential. Microenterprise owners face barriers such as lack of time, financial resources, and marketing knowledge, preventing them from adopting social media as a marketing tool. This multiple case study explored what strategies microenterprise owners in the artisan economy need to market using social media. Data were collected from 5 custom bicycle framebuilders in a Southwestern …

Increasing Knowledge About Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency In The Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Population, Maureen Ann Wentink Barta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of the project was to increase awareness about alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly among those with a familial history of genetic factor AATD; an additional goal was to understand its relationship to COPD. COPD is the third leading cause of death in the United States, with more than half of COPD patients experiencing significant disabilities. Major causes for COPD include smoking, air pollution, secondary smoke, upper respiratory infections, hereditary factors, occupational factors, environmental factors, and socioeconomic factors. Genetic factors, however, also play a significant role in early onset COPD and in those …

Concordance Of Genotyping And Phenotyping In The Classification Of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, Ali M. Bazzi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains have spread in Saudi Arabia, increasing morbidity, mortality, and financial burdens. Recent studies have suggested the phenotyping methods typically used to classify MRSA as either health care MRSA (HA-MRSA) or community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) cases are unreliable, because they lack concordance with the results of genotyping. Yet the expense associated with genotyping precludes its use in the Saudi Aramco population in Saudi Arabia. The absence of a standardized and affordable method to classify MRSA into CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA has been a challenge for infection control programs in Saudi Arabia. The objective of this quantitative, secondary data …

Educators' Perceptions Of High-Stakes Testing In Low And High Poverty Schools, Natasha Marie Domond

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the development and implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002, educators have received pressure from local, state, and federal policyholders for students to achieve academically and for schools to make adequate yearly progress to avoid state and federal sanctions. The purpose of this study was to examine educators' perceptions of the effects of high-stakes testing and the accountability policies in high poverty and low poverty schools. The theoretical frameworks were conservation of resources theory, jobs demands-resources model, and job autonomy and control theory. Research questions focused on understanding educators' perception of high-stakes testing regarding curricula, …

The Effects Of Buddhist Psychological Practices On The Mental Health And Social Attitudes Of Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual People, Jessica Lynn Fritzges

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This non-experimental, quantitative study explored the effects of the Buddhist-derived practices of mindfulness and loving-kindness meditations on the wellness of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people. LGB people are at higher risk of mental illness and increased social isolation due to minority stress; Buddhist-derived mindfulness practices mediate these effects in other groups. Lazarus and Folkman's transactional model of stress and coping was the theoretical model explaining how positive cognitive appraisal induced by meditation can mediate effects of stress. This study examined whether mental health scores on the Emotional Symptoms Checklist (ESC), social attitudes measured on the Unjust World Views Scale, …

The Impact Of Crisis Alleviation Lessons And Methods Program On Injuries In Healthcare, Andra Lynn Ferguson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine whether Crisis Alleviation Lessons and Methods -© (CALM), as a behavioral crisis management program, was effective in reducing patient and healthcare professional injuries in a long-term residential care setting. This research was needed due to the lack of peer-reviewed scholarly literature on the effectiveness of behavioral crisis management programs, especially on programs using both nonphysical and physical de-escalation techniques, such as CALM. An auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) time series analysis was performed to examine the effect the implementation of the CALM program (independent variable) had on the rate of injuries to …

An Examination Of The Differential Impact Of University/College Research Emphasis On Levels Of Counselors' Resilience, Erica Ann Handon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Counselor resilience is the ability to transform adversity into growth opportunities that become part of the professional's identity and the core values of a counselor. However, researchers have yet to identify why some counselors exhibit higher levels of resilience while others exhibit less. Counselor resilience can be learned and nurtured at any point of an individual's development. The purpose of this study was to examine how differences within the foundational edification of a research-embedded curriculum impact a counselor's level of resilience. Participants included practicing counselors who received their counseling degrees from a 2014 U.S News and World Report (USNWR) Nationally …

Impact Of Pretreatment Self-Perceived Quality Of Life On Chronic Pain Patients, Michelle Laird

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers and practitioners have developed new treatment options for chronic pain management based on biopsychosocial models of pain known as interdisciplinary pain management programs (IPMP), which involve interdisciplinary care that integrates physical treatment with emotional, environmental, behavioral, and cognitive interventions. Despite literature documenting the effectiveness of IPMPs, patients find it difficult to obtain authorization for these programs from third party insurance payers. The purpose of this quantitative causal comparative study was to explore whether a patient's perceived quality of life after injury but prior to treatment will affect his or her success in an IPMP. This study was based in …

Increasing School Commitment By Listening To Veteran Teachers' Needs And Concerns, Carrie Mcatee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The role that support systems play in new teachers' levels of school commitment has been widely documented. However, veteran teachers' levels of commitment have not been as closely studied. According to the department of education in a Southeastern state, the veteran teacher attrition rate at a Title I school in an urban school district was in the double digits for several years. High veteran teacher attrition rates and low levels of commitment can cause problems such as loss of continuity of instruction for students. The purpose of this study was to identify veteran teachers' perceptions of their levels of school …

Narrowing The Mathematical Achievement Gap Among African American And Latino Students, Muriel Eileen Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study focused on the continued mathematical achievement gap between African American and Latino students in an urban elementary school. An illustrative case study design was used to examine the teachers' perception of factors contributing to this gap in mathematical performance, and what instructional math strategies can narrow the achievement gap. Socioconstructivism and culturally relevant pedagogy were the learning theories used to form the conceptual framework in this study. Qualitative data were obtained from 6 individual interviews with 4th grade math educators, classroom observations, and teacher artifacts. Data analysis in this study included data triangulation and coding, as well as …

Impact Of A California Community College's General Education Information Literacy Requirement, Phyllis Usina

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Budget cuts at a California community college prompted stakeholders to consider dropping the college's general education information literacy (IL) requirement. Broad institutional outcomes data showed learning gains, but no targeted assessment existed regarding the IL requirement's impact on those gains. This quantitative study used Astin and Antonio's Inputs-Environment-Outcomes (I-E-O) assessment model to address relationships among student characteristics of demographic and prior preparation (Inputs), the IL requirement (Environment), and student reports of information critical analysis behavior and confidence (Outcomes). Study participants were 525 students aged 18 years and older who had completed the IL course with a grade of 2.0 or …

The Effect Of Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy On Breastfeeding Initiation, Exclusivity, And Duration, Adria Vincent

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Breastfeeding self-efficacy is considered one of the key components of a successful breastfeeding experience. The benefits of breastfeeding are well established in the literature and have been widely communicated to the public, resulting in an increasing trend of breastfeeding initiation. However, the United States still falls short of Healthy People 2020 breastfeeding goals. The purpose of this project was to examine the effects of a standardized hospital-based prenatal breastfeeding class on breastfeeding self-efficacy. Dennis's breastfeeding self-efficacy theory was the foundation for the breastfeeding self-efficacy tool used in this project. A quasi-experimental design used a convenience sample of 30 breastfeeding class …

The Severity Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea And Hypertension Among Middle Aged Asians, Michel Juson Benin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined the prevalence rate of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as an independent variable in association with hypertension as an outcome. Studies conducted outside of the United States suggest that differences in craniofacial features among middle-aged Asians increase the prevalence of OSA in comparison to Caucasians with similar age and lower BMI. No similar study had been conducted in the United States. The sufficient component cause theory guided this study and was able to describe the association between OSA and hypertension among middle-aged Asians. The objective of this cross sectional retrospective study was to determine the prevalence rate of …

A Case Study Of A University's Remedial Program For Passing The Praxis I, Tassi Fite Brinkley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Underprepared students desiring to enter teacher education programs struggle to achieve minimum state-required Praxis I exam scores. This problem affects teacher education programs, student success, and university enrollment and retention. With proper resources and support, these students may experience personal and academic success that may be transferred to their own students once they are certified teachers. At the participating mid-South university, the effectiveness of the existing remedial program was unknown. The study's purpose, rooted in the constructivist learning principles of Dewey and Bruner, was to address the effectiveness of the local university's existing remedial program in assisting the teacher education …

Chlamydia Trachomatis And Neisseria Gonorrhoeae: Impact Of Health Literacy On Prevalence, Patricia Alice Abshier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Millions of dollars are spent each year on preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), yet the rates of chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) and neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonorrhea) infection continue to be high. Health literacy and its impact have been recognized in diabetes maintenance, control of hypertension, medical adherence, and reproductive health outcomes, yet no research has been conducted regarding the relationship between health literacy and chlamydia and gonorrhea prevalence. This study examined the relationship between health literacy scores and chlamydia and gonorrhea prevalence health literacy scores and reproductive health/STD knowledge, and reproductive health/STD knowledge and chlamydia and gonorrhea prevalence. Participants included 114 women …

Implications Of Maternal Perpetrated Interparent Violence For The Behavior Of Female Adolescents: A Phenomenological Study, Georgette Merlena Percy Hinds

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Interparent violence (IPV) is a global family issue. Witnessing IPV confuses children and adolescents about the parental relationship. Adolescent females often perceived fathers as strong and depend on them for safety, security, and support. It is unclear how witnessing maternal perpetrated IPV (MPIPV) affects adolescent females' socialization and development, the perception they have of their fathers, and the meaning they ascribe to father abuse. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to contribute to the literature, provide an understanding of MPIPV implications for adolescent females' social development, and bring more awareness to the lived experiences of witnessing MPIPV. Social learning, …

Psychosocial Factors And The Persistence Of Underprepared, African American Community College Students, Denise Michelle Mccory

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined a problem at a large community college in the Midwest United States, where African American students experienced poor developmental education outcomes and low degree completion. Those outcomes had negative effects on the institution and the surrounding community. This qualitative case study was framed in Astin's theory of involvement, which attributes students' behaviors, whether productive or unproductive, to their levels of motivation. Purposeful sampling was used to select 20 African American students who successfully completed the developmental education sequence. The participants were interviewed to determine how psychosocial factors impacted their decisions to persist through their courses. The data …

Health Literacy And Health Decision Making Attitudes In People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Christine Miranda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Health literacy has been recognized as a vital issue in the self-care management of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of functional, communicative, and critical health literacy dimensions on positive and negative attitudes toward health decision making. The transtheoretical model of health behavior change (TTM) provided the theoretical framework to explain this association. A culturally-adapted survey was used in this cross-sectional study to measure health literacy dimensions, positive and negatives attitudes toward health decision making, and other factors in 100 Puerto Ricans living with HIV/AIDS. Demographic factors and clinical and immunological …

Acculturation In Marital Satisfaction Among Mixed Caucasian And Asian American Heterosexual Couples, Lotes Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The growing population of the United States is linked to the increasing migration of individuals from other countries. With migration comes the development of cross-cultural and interracial romantic relationships, many leading to marriages. This qualitative grounded theory study sought to understand how a migrant partner's adjustment process, acculturation, contributes to cross-cultural marriages. The main research question and purpose of this study was to investigate the role of acculturation in marital satisfaction among mixed Caucasian and Asian American heterosexual couples. This study utilized multiple data sources and a purposive sampling of 11 mixed Asian and Caucasian heterosexual married couples, with one …

Implementing Change: How, Why, And When Teachers Change Their Classroom Practices, Diane Beth Van Bodegraven

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teacher implementation of school reforms varies widely and often results in inconsistent student outcomes. Teachers adopt or resist change for complex reasons that are not fully understood. This qualitative study explored how veteran teachers described their experiences with school reform and changes in classroom practices that occurred over the course of their careers; it also examined factors that teachers identified as having positive and negative influences on their adoptions of change. The conceptual framework was based on Senge's systems theory as applied to learning organizations and Goleman's emotional intelligence theory. The research questions focused on: (a) How veteran teachers described …

Parents' Perceptions Of Academic Progress Information Access And Dual Enrollment Student Success, Terrill L. Nickerson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

To comply with The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations, parents of high school students taking college classes as part of a dual enrollment program have to employ alternative monitoring practices to remain informed about their students' academic progress. This quantitative research study explored how parents' perceptions of access to student academic progress information correlated with their students' academic performance based on cumulative grade point average (GPA) in college classes. Credit-based transition programs (CBTP) and parent monitoring theory provided the framework. All 867 parents of students under age 18 enrolled in the dual enrollment program at an urban …

Improving Instruction For English Language Learners Through The Development Of Coteaching, Anna Parrish

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have described how a missing element in instructional services for English language learners is effective collaboration between general education and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) teachers. This collaboration is vital to the success of English language learners. This multisite case study was designed to gain insight into current practices and how to improve collaboration between educators in a way that improves instructional services for English language learners. Knowles' theory of andragogy, the transfer of learning theory, and constructivism were used as a basis for analyzing educators' perspectives and instructional practices. Two sites were selected for the study-one …

The Impact Of Implementing Bedside Report To Transition Patients Across Units, Tonya Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Evidence supports bedside report as a mechanism to improve communication, patient safety, quality of report, and nurse and patient satisfaction when implemented in a closed unit. The purpose of this project was to examine the impact of implementing a bedside report process to transition patients from the emergency department to a medical-surgical unit. Specifically, the goal was to analyze the impact of a bedside- reporting process on patient progression and on nurse and patient satisfaction. Lewin's change model provided the theoretical framework for this quasi-experimental study. Patient progression data consisted of 706 patient transitions from the emergency department to the …

Clinical Significance Of Response Shift In A Spine Interventional Clinical Trial, Robin Carlson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The effectiveness of treatments for degenerative spine conditions, where the primary symptom is back pain, is typically determined using patient-reported quality of life (QoL) measures. However, patients may adjust their internal standards when scoring QoL based on factors other than their health. This response shift phenomenon could confound the interpretation of study data and impact effectiveness conclusions. In the current study, response shift was examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) and previously collected clinical trial data comparing 2 minimally invasive medical devices in lumbar spinal stenosis patients through 1 year postintervention. In subject QoL results, reprioritization shift between 3 months …