Digital Commons Network^™

Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness, And Personal Growth Initiative Among Postpartum Women, Tamar Mary Boyd

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prior research on maternal postpartum care, the transition to motherhood, pelvic floor dysfunction, and pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) has revealed that postpartum women are often denied the basic information, instruction, and preventive strategies necessary for optimal postbirth rehabilitation and psychological well-being. Employing a dual framework of self-determination theory and personal growth initiative (PGI) theory, this quantitative study utilized a cross-sectional design to investigate if autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction predicted PGI in postpartum women. Differences in autonomy, competence, relatedness, and PGI between PFMT practicing and nonpracticing postpartum women were also examined. A web-based survey method was employed to collect …

Self-Evaluative Salience And Motivational Salience As Predictors Of Depressive Affect And Appearance Based Rejection Sensitivity., Mandana Toosi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although the psychological effects of appearance schemas have been studied in the general population, we know little about the relation of these schemas to appearance-based rejection sensitivity. This study examined the relations among predictive variables of appearance-invested self-schemas (self-evaluative salience [SES] and motivational salience [MS]), appearance-based rejection sensitivity, and depressive affect. Self-discrepancy theory was used to theorize that when individuals experience discrepancies with self, conflict arises in self-schemas, and that this conflict relates to an increase in depressive affect and appearance-based rejection sensitivity. The sample consisted of 131 adult female college students participating in a continuing education program. Multiple regression …

Improving Pain Management For Hospitalized Patients, Ronda Sweet

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Uncontrolled pain has proven effects on both physiological and psychological responses of hospitalized patients. These incapacitating sequelae most often negatively impact patient outcomes resulting in unnecessary suffering and prolong hospitalizations. First line nurses often have preconceived notions about a patient's pain without developing an individualized patient context that considers appropriate pain management knowledge translated from best practice standards. Guided by Bandura's social learning theory and Lippitt's change theory, the purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine if use of the Curriculum Outline on Pain for Nursing from the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) improved nursing …

The Effects Of Participative Leadership Practices On Job Satisfaction For Highly Skilled Virtual Teams, Funda Sinani

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Virtual-team professionals have reported experiencing low job satisfaction due to lack of face-to-face interaction leading to stress, miscommunication, and role-confusion. Dissatisfaction among virtual teams has increased turnover and management costs for organizations. Despite these known associations, there was a gap in the literature investigating efficient leadership practices to improve job satisfaction for highly skilled virtual teams. Participative leadership offers an effective approach to increase job satisfaction among face-to-face teams and innovative teams. This study explored the relationship between participative leadership and job satisfaction among highly skilled virtual teams within the global software industry. A quantitative study with a correlational design …

Mitigating The Effects Of Withdrawal Behavior On Organizations, James Fitzgerald Alexander

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Withdrawal behaviors such as absenteeism, tardiness, turnover intention, and employee disengagement adversely affect organizations, costing billions of dollars annually. However, there is limited research on the best practices for minimizing the effects of employee withdrawal. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore best practices leaders need to mitigate the effects of withdrawal behaviors on organizations. The social learning theory (SLT) served as the conceptual framework for this study. Ten participants were interviewed, including 4 healthcare leaders and 6 health service workers from a correctional facility nursing department in the Southeastern United States. Scholars have indicated that correctional …

Assessing Nurse Manager Competencies In A Military Hospital, Ruby O. Anderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Military health care organizations need competent frontline managers with knowledge and skills to manage health care complexity and ensure evidence-based practice. With systematic, planned turn over of military managers, more civilian managers are needed to fill permanent positions in military hospitals. The purpose of this project was to provide a better understanding of the competencies perceived by nurse managers at a military medical center and whether they differed by military or civilian status. The American Organization of Nurse Executives competency model and framework provided the theoretical framework for the project. The design was nonexperimental, with an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional approach. …

The Role Of Strategic Leadership In Banking Profitability, Joseph Ochien'g Witts

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A study on corporate leadership failure in America by Vugt and Ronay has shown that the failure rate of business leadership in meeting profitability targets is as high as 60%. Most organizations fail to attain profitability targets due to limited experience and exposure to strategic leadership. The aim of this single case study design was to explore the role of strategic leadership in banking profitability. Twelve purposively selected senior bankers and members of the board of directors with over 10 years of experience in banking and profitability and 3 years in the top management team participated in the study in …

Preventive Health Education Media And Older Worker Health Literacy, Lori Michelle Williams-Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States has experienced an increase in older workers as individuals born between 1946 and 1964 have remained in the labor force. Preventive health screening education, such as an immunization flyer, is necessary to avert preventable illness among older workers. Based on previous research, there is a gap regarding age-specific methods for educating the older worker about preventive health. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between various media providing preventive health screening information and the assessed health literacy of the older worker. Based on the health belief model, a quantitative, cross-sectional method was used. …

A Case Study For Georgia Southwestern State University: The Discrepancies' Of Financial Aid Services That Impact Student Enrollment, Angela V. Bryant

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At many traditional universities, the federal timelines for determining financial aid eligibility is based on releasing of the Free Application of Federal Student Aid each January, and the subsequent financial aid processing cycle July 1- June 30th. These federally established dates can conflict with traditional August class starts and creates a backlog and delayed processing of information that, in turn, hinders students from receiving timely information in order to make informed decisions based on financial aid awards. The purpose of this case study of a traditional university in Georgia was to apply net price theory and rational choice theory to …

Effectiveness Of Early Childhood Programs On The Literacy Achievement Of Kindergarten Children, Lashia Cox

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Early childhood development programs enhance children's development of knowledge, skills, and processes. Despite efforts to improve early childhood education in the United States, poor student performance in early literacy and kindergarten achievement is still occurring, and questions remain unanswered about the utility of early childhood education programs. Drawing from the theory of constructivism, the purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental, retrospective study was to determine the effectiveness of early childhood programs on the literacy achievement of kindergarten children. The research question addressed the differences in literacy achievement of kindergarten children based on the early childhood programs they attended. Using repeated measures …

Characteristics Of The Informal Caregiver: An Integrative Literature Review, Jonanna R. Bryant

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The needs of the informal caregiver can be difficult to determine apart from those related to caring for the terminally ill loved one. Often, informal caregivers' individual needs are lost because of their day-to-day responsibility and care of their terminally ill loved one. The purpose of this project was to discover the characteristics of informal caregivers of the terminally ill. An integrated literature review was conducted using the Fineout-Overhalt, Melnyk, Stillwell, and Williamson's (2010) analytical approach to reviewing the evidence. The approach consisted of 7 levels for evaluating the hierachy of evidence. Inclusion criteria were studies limited from January 2004 …

How Grant Recipients Can Satisfy Compliance Requirements For U.S. Federal Awards, Thomas Edward Drabczyk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Improper grants payments stemming from weaknesses in business processes have been a focus of the U.S. president, Congress, and federal and state governments since 2009. Researchers have demonstrated that the internal control weakness at the federal, state, and local government level has contributed to the problem of compliance. The Office of Management and Budget issued federal rules effective in December 2014 to address the problem of federal award compliance. Despite these measures, there is a gap in the literature on strategies for recipients of federal grants to meet compliance requirements. The purpose of the qualitative descriptive study was to explore …

Quality Of Life Of People With Profound Developmental Disabilities Based Upon Residential Settings, Kristin Jill Korinko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is much research literature on quality of life with people with varying mild to moderate levels of developmental and intellectual disabilities. A gap remained in the current literature regarding differences between the severe to profound levels of intellectual and developmental disability across residential settings. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of support of people with severe to profound levels of developmental disabilities who resided and received services either in an institution and those who receive services within the community. The theoretical foundation for this study was Maslow's theory of humanism along with the contemporary theory …

Exploring U.S. Business Leaders' Strategies For Enhancing Team Communication, Susan Kuehn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many senior project managers (PMs) and other business leaders lack effective strategies for enhancing communication among their team members, thereby reducing profitability and organizational cohesion. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore communication strategies used by 22 PMs who were members of a project manager professional (PMP) association in Colorado, with 5 or more years of relevant experience and who worked at a leading technology company recognized for its effective PM communication strategy for enhancing business-team communication. The conceptual framework for this study was built on interpersonal, mass communication and profound leadership theories. PMs were interviewed, and …

Perceived Impact Of Prevention And Relationship Enhancement Program (Prep) On Marital Satisfaction, Angel Shantella Pierce

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Married couples often face serious issues that require them to make difficult decisions in their relationships. Many couples turn to marital counseling as a means to improve the marriage. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe the experiences of heterosexual married individuals who participated in the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) and how they felt their participation had influenced their perceived satisfaction in their marriages. The theoretical framework that guided this study was social exchange theory, which is a basis for thinking about the influence individuals have on each other in personal relationships. The research …

African American Single Mothers' Perceptions Of Physical Activity, Sheryl Lynn Richard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Insufficient physical activity detracts from healthy living and has a disparate impact on African American women and their female children. The extensive body of prior research addressing preventable chronic disease and other consequences of insufficient physical activity includes limited information specific to African American single mothers. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of African American single mothers' perceptions of physical activity. Specifically investigated were African American women's familial influences and potential effects of these influences on their children's health behaviors. The health belief model served as the theoretical framework for this study and provided …

Combining The Sonday System And The Developmental Reading Assessment To Improve Struggling Readers' Standardized Test Scores, Daphne Tinglin-Jarrett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Struggling students' poor reading and comprehension skills have continued to be a national problem. A New Jersey Department of Education report showed that of 311,628 middle school students tested in language arts, 26.2% scored at the partial proficiency level and 58.5% scored at the proficiency level. Further review of the middle schools in a local school district revealed that 57% of the students struggled to read and were unable to pass the Benchmark and New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) tests. The purpose of this study was to compare the NJASK test scores when the Developmental Reading Assessment …

Role Of Outsourcing In Stress And Job Satisfaction Of Information Technology Professionals, Janell Renee Robinson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Information technology (IT) outsourcing poses a potential job loss threat to IT professionals, which can decrease job security, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The problem that this study addressed was the perceived role of IT outsourcing in the job stress, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intention of IT professionals. The purpose of this study was to explore how job-related stress, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intention within the IT profession are influenced by outsourcing as perceived by IT workers themselves. Phenomenology was the methodology used, and the person-environment fit theory formed the theoretical framework for this study. The research questions addressed outsourcing …

African American Entrepreneurial Sustainability, Edward Turner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African Americans are among the fastest growing entrepreneurial minority group in the United States, but they continue to struggle with sustaining these new business ventures. Evidence suggests that African American business entrepreneurs experience an increased failure rate with a 4-year business survival rate of 39%. Reducing the failure rate would significantly add to the U.S. economy (an estimated $2.5 trillion) and create nearly 12 million more jobs. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies and behaviors of an award-winning African American entrepreneur in Miami Dade County who has remained in business over 20 years. The …

How Social Presence On Twitter Impacts Student Engagement And Learning In A Grade 8 Mathematics Classroom, Shelly Vohra

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social media for personal use has evolved rapidly among adolescents, changing the way they communicate with each other. However, little research has been conducted about how teachers use social media in the classroom to improve student learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe how social presence on Twitter impacts student engagement and learning when a mathematics teacher integrates this social media tool into an instructional unit. The conceptual framework was based on social presence theory developed by Short, Williams, and Christie. This qualitative study used a single case study design. Participants included 6 students and 1 classroom …

The Aftermath Of Violence: The Lived Experience Phenomena Of Assault In Nursing, Kathleen Clark

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the high incidence of violence directed at registered nurses while on duty, there is limited qualitative data that explores the lived experience of returning to the workplace after an assaultive incident. This phenomenological study sought to explore and analyze the phenomena of registered nurses who are employed in high-risk settings. The research questions considered the detailed descriptions of the experiences of nurses returning to the workplace. The conceptual framework was resiliency, as these participants continued to survive and thrive after the adverse assaultive events. Data were collected using in-depth interviews from purposeful sampling. Registered nurses working in the high …

Perceptions Of Leader Emotional Intelligence And Subordinate Turnover Intentions In Substance Abuse Treatment Centers, Suzanne L. Jafferian

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Substance abuse is a persistent social problem contributing to family disruption; domestic abuse; school failure; and financial costs relating to criminal prosecution, incarceration, treatment, and lost productivity and wages. Substance abuse is amenable to treatment, including psychotherapy. A client-therapist relationship is broken if the therapist leaves the organization; therefore, employee retention is especially important in treatment centers. Employee retention has been studied, but how it is affected by supervisees' perceptions of their managers' emotional intelligence has been a neglected area. The purpose of this nonexperimental, correlational study was to determine the relationship between employee turnover intention and perceived emotional intelligence …

Cognitive Processes And Memory Differences In Recall And Recognition In Adults, Laura Elaine Fitzgerald

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Eyewitness testimony is critical in both criminal court and civil court, so determining the most reliable method to gain information from witnesses is imperative. Past research in this area has focused on false memory, assisted recall, stress, and event perception. A gap exists in the current literature regarding the best method to gain the most accuracy in recall. The purpose of this study was to evaluate free recall, cued recall, and recognition, in an attempt to examine the accuracy of eyewitness memory. The study utilized a quantitative design to assess the accuracy of eyewitness memory as measured by results on …

An Investigation Of Patterns Of Adolescent Driving Behaviors Resulting In Fatal Crashes And Their Implications On Policy, Cheryl May Leonard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate whether there is a statistical relationship between accident-related factors including use of drugs or alcohol, speeding, driver distractions, gender, driver drowsiness, practice of dysfunctional driving maneuvers, and use of occupant protection devices, and fatal vehicle crashes among young teen drivers. Secondary archival data from 84 North Carolina crashes occurring between 2009 and 2013 and involving young teen drivers between the ages of 15 and 18 years were obtained from North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles Form 349 crash reports. These data were analyzed using chi-square tests for goodness-of-fit, chi-square tests for …

Case Study Of An African American Community's Perspectives On Closing The Achievement Gap, Cleopatra Lacewell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The disparity in test scores, known as the achievement gap, between African American and European American students has persisted despite research and reforms. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine what African American community members in a North Carolina school district perceived as the causes of the local achievement gap and what support they believed they could offer to close the gap. The theories of cultural-historical psychology, social cognition, learned helplessness, social disorganization, and the funds of knowledge concept, guided the data collection from the 3 focus groups from the local community. Each focus group contained 6 …

Relationship Between Firm Performance And Ceo's Stock Options In U.S. Pharmaceutical Companies, George Mwangi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The CEO's compensation policy is one of the most important factors in an organization's success. CEO's stock options are awarded to align the interests of the CEO with the interests of the firms' stakeholders. However, lack of understanding of the relationship between firm performance and a CEO's stock options could threaten the alignment of a CEO's interests with those of the stakeholders. Grounded in agency theory, the purpose of this correlation study was to examine the relationship between return on equity, return on investment, total annual revenues, and CEOs' stock options awards, while controlling for firm size, age of CEO, …

A Qualitative Examination Of The Perception Of Risk In Warnings For Severe Weather, Teresa Simmons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the past decade, weather disasters have claimed thousands of lives and resulted in billions of dollars in damages. Awareness of a storm threats can occur hours or days in advance, but disaster assessments indicate many people do not heed storm warnings. This problem is old. Despite 50 years of research, and new technologies and training to improve responsiveness, the basic issue– understanding how people interpret and respond to weather warnings–persists. An exploratory study that incorporated human behavior theories and communication models not traditionally associated with severe weather analysis was conducted to learn how weather risks are perceived by nonscientists. …

Effect Of Violent And Nonviolent Risk Factors On Depression In Postpartum Mothers, Brandi Reliance Spaulding

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to analyze and explore the predictors for postpartum depression (PPD) and the strength of these predictors using a secondary data set from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study from Princeton, Pennsylvania State, and Columbia Universities. By incorporating the biopsychosocial model and feminist theory as the theoretical frameworks for this research, PPD was conceptualized as a serious, multidimensional psychological condition. Using logistic regression, many predictors were identified as etiological for PPD, including subjective attitudes about ideal and introjected characteristics ascribed to women as primary caretakers. These beliefs prevent the extension and acceptance …

Creating And Establishing Content Validity Of A Tool Kit To Educate Mothers Of Premature Babies, Lilian Chinyere Ofoegbu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Delivering a preterm baby who is admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit can be an enormous hardship for parents and families, and especially for mothers. The consequences of prematurity alter the parental role, affect their confidence in caring for the baby, and subsequently may impact infant outcomes. Adequately educating mothers of premature babies using an evidence-based practice approach may help them gain the confidence and skills needed to care for their infants. The purpose of this project was to create a tool kit to educate mothers of premature babies about the essential components of caring for their babies, …

Examining Cognitive Presence And Assessment For Learning In An Asynchronous History Discussion, Gregory Sucre

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Online learning, which began in the area of tertiary and adult learning and professional development, has been spreading rapidly as an alternative way for students to pursue learning in the K-12 sector. While adult learners may be expected to be more experienced students and cope with the variations in the implementation of online learning, younger K-12 students need a more structured approach to organize their online learning experiences. Formative assessment has been promoted as a means of enhancing all learning, including online learning. This study explored the use of the formative assessment process in the design and facilitation of an …