Digital Commons Network^™

Wildlife Finds Its Way Back To Polluted Newtown Creek, Suzanna Masih

Capstones

The Newtown Creek in New York is one of the most polluted water bodies in the United States. Scores of chemical factories and industries lined its banks in the 1800s up until the 1950s. Toxic contaminants from these sites and sewage discharges from the city left the creek a barren wasteland. But now, decades of water conservation efforts in New York City have begun to revive the health of the waterway and are making it habitable for wildlife again. Yet, the fight for even cleaner waters continues.

How A New York Native American Community Was Polluted For Decades, Tola Brennan

Capstones

General Motors came to the upstate New York's North Country a savior, the bringer of much needed jobs. But after decades of using PCBs, a chemical much later revealed to be highly toxic, it's become the story of one the largest Superfund sites in the country. And the the hardest hit have been the Saint Regis Mohawk whose small reservation is right next door to the now demolished plant. Today, after decades of cleanup, General Motors has capped its liability through a 2009 bankruptcy. With the cleanup set to be completed next year, many Mohawk feel justice was never served. …

Shepherds, Wolves And Lizards: Exploring The Truck Stop Sex Trade During The Last Days Of The American Trucker, Joshua Keefe

Capstones

This is a longform piece on the sex trade at American truck stops.

https://app-social.shorthand.com/preview/gYMjJD4CpenyTqnbro2mTn2nEjbD5Cme3CtEjbr4yze3gKM3Wr7gv6nCOEnJH5gv

Broken Promesa: Puerto Rico Sinks, But The Life Rafts Can’T Save Everyone, Nico A. Grant

Capstones

Puerto Rico is in the midst of an economic calamity. The U.S. Territory faces a $73 billion debt, an economy on a downward spiral and hemorrhaging population numbers. In response, the U.S. Congress passed the PROMESA Act, which includes an oversight board to control Puerto Rico’s finances. But this purported pathway to prosperity won’t revitalize the Caribbean island.

As the board’s austerity measures fail to turn the economy around, ordinary Puerto Ricans are peddling to resurrect the island’s private sector. These stories from Puerto Rico illustrate the pain of economic decay and the hope that new technology can make a …

Reducing Mortality From Severe Sepsis And Septic Shock: A Macro System Approach, Scott D. Baker

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Healthcare organizations must be able to provide quality patient care from arrival to disposition that is both expedient and safe. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ranks septicemia as the number one most expensive condition treated in U.S. hospitals, resulting in aggregate costs of $20.3 billion or 5.2% of the total aggregate cost for all hospitalizations. Starting October 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began tying financial reimbursement to improvement of sepsis outcomes. For success to be achieved, organizations should partner with prehospital providers to improve sepsis care, similar to partnerships which have historically improved acute myocardial …

Optimizing Engagement In The Acute Care Setting: A Nurse Driven Staffing Model, Denise D. Fall

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Health care is on the threshold of major reform. Central to this reform will be the ability to maximize patient outcomes and resource allocation. The delivery of nursing care is essential to these concepts. Nursing care delivery impacts both patient outcomes and labor costs. Every aspect of care delivery has changed over time: length of stay, acuity, payment methodologies, documentation, technology, and regulatory requirements. Yet the model by which we allocate resources to the bedside is based on an archaic notion and forecasting model around one variable. The development of effective nurse staffing strategies will ensure those delivering care are …

Transforming Self And Systems Through Implementation Of A Caring Coach Leader Program, Priscilla Javed

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Assistant nurse managers and nurse managers, often referred to as middle managers, have a direct impact on daily hospital operations, clinical work environments, delivery of high quality safe patient care, and patient outcomes. The stressful demands of this role have caused turnover rates to soar above the national average on some of the inpatient hospital units. Instability of nursing management oversight negatively effects staff job satisfaction and delivery of high quality safe patient care. In reviewing the organizations initial orientation program for transitioning middle managers into their new role, it was missing the supportive guidance of a coach. A Caring …

The Effects Of A Preceptor Coaching Intervention On Use Of Clinical Judgment By New Graduate Nurses, Sue A. Schuelke

Theses & Dissertations

This work attempts to evaluate a preceptor intervention on the development of critical thinking/clinical judgment from the new graduate’s point of view as well as from the preceptor’s point of view. Manuscript 1 is a systematic review of the literature related to preceptor’s interventions and its effect on clinical judgment. Manuscript 2 describes the results of focus group interviews of preceptors and the viewpoint on clinical judgment and related concepts. Results of a pilot study: The effects of a preceptors coaching on new graduates clinical judgement, is reported in Manuscript 3. Each section includes an overview of each manuscript, a …

How U.S. Executive Expatriates Work In Environments Of Pervasive Corruption, Carl H. Greppin

Student Scholarship

How do U.S. expatriate executives who live and work in countries with pervasive corruption make choices about the degree to which they participate in corruption? To answer this question, I interviewed 30 U.S. executives who worked in such countries. Some refused to participate in corrupt practices, others chose to reluctantly succumb to extortion, while others willingly participated in corruption. I illustrate costs the executives incur from making the decisions and reasons for why they make the decisions. I found that social norms played a significant role in their decisions. There are four social norms - personal norms (individuals' standards for …

Nonpharmacological Approaches In Dementia Care, Gay Lynn Warren

Master's Projects and Capstones

The 6A acute care unit has been seeing a higher number of patients that are afflicted with dementia. Often times, these patients display challenging dementia-related behaviors. It is commonplace for these patients to be medicated with a psychotropic medication in order to halt the challenging behavior. The global aim of this project is to improve dementia care on the 6A acute care unit. The specific aim, educating staff members about the benefits of nonpharmacological approaches in the management of challenging dementia-related behaviors and to encourage their use, is relative as the education is necessary before improvement can be expected to …

Education Through Simulation, Melody A. Padilla-Collings

Master's Projects and Capstones

SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/Mac/Desktop/653Abstract.docx

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if education through simulation was effective in an undergraduate ADN nursing program to improve nursing confidence, knowledge, skill competency, and nursing care. Two groups of second year RN students were selected in their fall semester to participate in a before and after survey to compare traditional learning (required course readings, assignments, and lectures) with the PROMPT Birthing Simulator that allows hands on, interactive learning, and feedback in preparation for the Mother-Baby clinical setting. The first PDSA cycle with Group A revealed 21% were confident in their knowledge with the traditional …

Geographical Incidence Of Antimicrobial Resistant Gonorrhea, Christofer A. Rodriguez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Evolving throughout the last century, Gonorrhea has become a superbug, becoming difficult to treat. As the second most commonly reported notifiable disease, gonorrhea rates have been increasing, despite efforts in prevention and treatment. Populations at risk are mainly MSM and FSW. In 2015, men’s gonorrhea rates in the United States were higher compared to women, at 140.9 and 107.2 per 100,000 population, respectively. Illinois has consecutively had higher rates of infection compared to the US, at 133.5 per 100,000 population compared to the US rate of 123.9 per 100,000 population. The surveillance of gonococcal isolate resistance to current antimicrobials began …

An Interactive Environmental Approach To Teaching English As A Second Language, Jennifer L. Young

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project offers lessons related to ecoliteracy and environmental understanding for intermediate to advanced English Language Learners. It contains an ESL Ecoliteracy Student Handbook and an ESL Ecoliteracy Teacher Guide. There are two comprehensive units focused on understanding and acknowledging ecosystems in urban areas and foraging. The lessons formed in these units stem from Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and the pedagogical theories of place based and experiential learning. Each unit has an outdoor activity build into the language learning framework, and the lessons are focused on building communicative, reading, vocabulary and grammar skills within an authentic learning …

Merrimack College Record, Merrimack College

Merrimack College Record

No abstract provided.

Doctoring Undercover: Updating The Educational Tradition Of Shadowing, Claire D. Clark

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Background: Premedical students are educated in basic biological and health sciences. As a complement to traditional premedical coursework, medical school applicants are encouraged to shadow practitioners, with the hope that observation will introduce students to the culture and practice of healthcare. Yet the shadowing experience varies widely across practitioners and institutions; resources that guide students’ critical reflection and structure the experience are scarce.

Development: A pilot experiential learning course, Doctoring Undercover: Shadowing and the Culture of Medicine, was developed to fill this gap. The course consisted of three parts: an introduction to medical culture through the disciplines of medical sociology, …

Ms 014 Guide To William Fields, Md Papers (1930-1987), William Fields (1913-2004)

Manuscript Finding Aids

The William Fields, MD papers contain scientific meeting booklets, academic books, binders containing case histories, research, symposium notes, and correspondence relating to the publication of his research of materials related to his career in Neurology. The collection consists of five boxes and equals 2.5 cubic feet. See more at MS 014.

The Application Of The Literature Review Appraisal Toolkit On Environmental Health Systematic Reviews, Kristen M. Davis

Master's Projects and Capstones

Environmental health systematic reviews have long been of poor quality when comparing them to clinical health systematic reviews. The main reason for the poor quality of environmental health systematic reviews is the lack of a specific protocol. The University of California-San Francisco’s Program for Reproductive Health and the Environment has, because of the discrepancy, created a protocol specific to conducting environmental health systematic reviews. The protocols efforts would be futile without a nonbiased way to evaluate systematic reviews and therefore the protocol used. The Literature Review Appraisal Toolkit is a valuable tool created to navigate and evaluate the credibility of …

The Effects Orthostatic Hypotension Has On Falls: A Study Done In San Francisco With The Patient Population Of The Veterans Affairs Hospital, Sherry A. Ballard Ms.

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Effects Orthostatic Hypotension has on Falls: A Study Done in San Francisco Represented

Population of the Veterans Affairs Hoapital

The global AIM of this project is to Identify patients that are at risk for Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) with in the first 24 hours of addmission. It was identified that 50% of the falls over the last 4 quarters at the VA were OH related. The patients were not identified as a fall risk and over half of them had fallen multiple times. After performing a nursing survey online, a SWOT analysis, and a Root Cause Analysis using a fishbone …

Comparison Of Outcomes Following A Switch From A Brand To An Authorized Vs. Independent Generic Drug, Richard Hansen, Jingjing Qian, Richard L. Berg, James G. Linneman, Enrique Seoane-Vazquez, Sarah Dutcher, Saeid Raofi, C. David Page, Peggy L. Peissig

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Authorized generics are identical in formulation to brand drugs, manufactured by the brand company but marketed as a generic. Generics, marketed by generic manufacturers, are required to demonstrate pharmaceutical and bioequivalence to the brand drug, but repetition of clinical trials is not required. This retrospective cohort study compared outcomes for generics and authorized generics, which serves as a generic vs. brand proxy that minimizes bias against generics. For the seven drugs studied between 1999-2014, 5,234 unique patients were on brand drug prior to generic entry and 4,900 (93.6%) switched to a generic. During the 12-months following the brand-to-generic switch, patients …

Anywhere And Everywhere: Third Cultured Kids And Their ‘Stabilizing Factors’, Aman D. Singh Mr.

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this research is to explore the significance of the Third Culture Kid (TCK) and the impact their ‘stabilizing factors’ or ‘constants’ have on their occupation outcome. Third Culture Kid is a term used for people who have travelled and lived in many different countries during their development years. Within that definition there are other subgroups such as: Bi/multi-cultural and/or bi/multi-racial families, immigrants, international adoptees, refugees and Domestic TCKs or CCKs. Ever since the term was first coined by Ruth Hill Useem, a sociologist, in the early 50s, there have been more and more families having the TCK …

Target Validation And Pharmacological Characterization Of Novel Nmdar Modulators, Kiran Sapkota

Theses & Dissertations

The N-methyl-D aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are ligand-gated ion channels, which play important roles in learning and memory. Excessive activity of NMDARs is implicated in damage due to stroke and neurodegenerative diseases, whereas hypoactivity of NMDARs contributes to schizophrenia. The initial goal of my dissertation is to evaluate the potential role of the GluN2D-containing NMDARs in neuropathological, behavioral and cognitive alterations associated with schizophrenia and characterize the pharmacology and mechanisms of action of NMDAR modulators which could potentially be used to modulate these receptors in schizophrenia.

A subanesthetic dose of the NMDAR antagonist ketamine elicits symptoms of schizophrenia. This property led …

Lactation Clinic: Improving Patient Lactation Support, Iana Johnson

Master's Projects and Capstones

Despite the numerous health benefits and recommendations that breastfeeding is the optimal method for nourishing infants, many still choose other ways to feed their babies during the first year of life. This project considers the initiation and future implementation of a Lactation Clinic as an additional patient support service provided in the inpatient and outpatient settings. A Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was conducted in an effort to evaluate and eliminate “what could go wrong” before such an establishment becomes operational. The Risk Priority Numbers (RPNs) from the analysis reveal the lack of use (RPN 50) and streamlining (RPN …

Through The Eyes Of Our Neighbors: A Collaborative Model For Cultural, Educational, And Community Organizations To Meaningfully Address Homelessness In San Francisco, Lauren Kingsley

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

The following paper proposes a collaborative model in which an arts institution, a community organization, and a university come together to present a dual photography and architecture/ design exhibition, along with a series of public programs and education initiatives, to raise awareness regarding the issue of homelessness, empower members of the homeless community, and encourage museum-goers to take action. Furthermore, the project aims to partner with the City of San Francisco to implement design solutions to homelessness. The project, while large in scope, was inspired by a rather simple idea: that the museum should respond more effectively to its …

The Relationship Between Perceived Multicultural Disability Competence, Multicultural Counseling Coursework, And Disability-Related Life Experience, Melissa D. Deroche

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to explore the perceived multicultural disability competence of master’s-level counseling students in CACREP-accredited programs given their disability-related life experience(s) and multicultural counseling course completion and to assess the extent to which the topic of ability/disability is addressed in multicultural counseling coursework. Participants (n = 285) were electronically surveyed using the Counseling Clientswith Disabilities Survey (CCDS; Strike, 2001) and a researcher developed biographical questionnaire. Collectively, study results indicated that both disability-related life experience(s) and multicultural counseling course completion positively impacted participant perceived multicultural disability competence. However, disability-related life experience(s) seemed to have a greater …

Creating Healthy Urban Environments: Commercial Landscaping, Preference And Public Health, Mary Leibe

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Landscape development[1] can provide many benefits, including the reduction of stormwater runoff and the creation of habitats for wildlife. It can also provide health benefits. Researchers, such as Roger Ulrich and Rita Berto have demonstrated that views of trees and other vegetation are associated with lower blood pressure and reduced recovery times in hospitals and that environments with more natural elements may lessen mental fatigue (R. Ulrich 1984) and (Berto 2005).

As rebuilding in New Orleans continues 11 years after Hurricane Katrina, landscape development has been limited or lacking, especially in the redevelopment of commercial properties. Two prominent reasons …

Electrical Power: Its Advent And Role In Revitalizing And Expanding New Orleans 1880-1915, John Schneller Iii

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

New Orleans in 1900 was an endangered city clinging to a narrow strip of relatively high ground along the lower Mississippi river. Frequent flooding occurred from the river in the spring and from the lake in the June to October hurricane season. No reliable source of drinking water and no systems for removal of sewerage and rain water existed. Disease mortality was very high especially from frequent outbreaks of yellow fever.

The fortuitous appearance of new alternating current (AC) technologies, emerging engineering specialties, and a more progressive form of governance willing to support and finance large scale engineering projects …

Financial Crisis, Inclusion And Economic Development In The Us And Oic Countries, Shadiya T. Hossain

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The following dissertation contains two distinct empirical essays which contribute to the overall field of Financial Economics. Chapter 1, entitled “Financial Inclusion and Economic Development in OIC Member Countries,” examines whether the presence of Islamic finance promotes development and alleviates poverty. To do so, we estimate the influence of financial inclusion variables on development and poverty variables for OIC countries. Using data from the World Bank, we use dynamic panel analysis using methodology similar to Beck et al (2000) to study the effects of financial inclusion on economic development and use simple cross-sectional analysis similar to Beck et al (2004) …

Premium Brawn, Spencer E. Silverthorne

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Minimizing The Inappropriate Use Of Physical Restraint, Shiela Marie C. Telmo

Master's Projects and Capstones

The aim of this project is to be able to improve patient safety by minimizing the inappropriate use of physical restraints from 45% to about 20% in the acute respiratory unit which caters to patients with acute respiratory issues, such as exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), patients with new or old tracheostomy, needing bipap, rigorous nebulizer treatment, and other respiratory-related devices, not to mention the multiple comorbidities that oftentimes very difficult to stabilize which makes the hospital stay longer than usual. The Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) as an educator and an outcome manager is an agent to empower …

Exploration Of Factors Affecting Nurse Faculty Use Or Resistance To Online Education, Lisa M. Harless

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

The substantial increase in online nursing program enrollment demands that nurse educators be adept in the delivery of online education; however, a significant challenge exists in how to deliver practice-based nursing education in the online environment. Teaching online requires a change in the traditional role of the educator accompanied by the effective use of online learning technologies. Some studies suggest that faculties remain pessimistic to online delivery of education and do not participate, yet few objectively examine variables that influence resistance or use. Included in this dissertation are two manuscripts. The first manuscript defines resistance and addresses prominent concerns associated …