Digital Commons Network^™

Suicidal Ideation Among American Indian And Alaska Natives In The United States, Lacie Lashawn Tillman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suicidal ideation is a silent public health issue across the United States. Evidence suggests that suicidal ideation is a predictor of suicide attempt and completion. Suicide is a leading cause of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIs/ANs) in the United States, especially among younger people. Alcohol and illicit drug use, coupled with poor social conditions, can lead to suicidal ideations—and sometimes suicide completion. Using social cognitive theory, this quantitative cross-sectional study compared variables within the 2017, 2018, and 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to determine the effect that alcohol and/or illicit drug use has on …

Trinidad And Tobago Secondary School Principals' Perspectives Of Implementing A Laptop Initiative, Vida Iante Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The eConnect and Learn (eCAL) program was a government-led, one laptop per child initiative launched in the country of Trinidad and Tobago. However, after investing large sums of money in the program, the initiative was abandoned as unsuccessful. Addressing this problem, the study aimed to explore which factors affected the implementation of the eCAL initiative. The conceptual framework for this basic qualitative study was Hall and Hord’s six functions of change facilitators for effective implementation of change. The research question addressed the factors affecting the eCAL initiative from principals’ perspective. Interview data were collected from three secondary school principals via …

Alarm Fatigue On Medical-Surgical Units, Jody S. Destigter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technology use in the medical-surgical acute care setting has increased and leads to alarm, alert, and notification overload, also known as alarm fatigue, which is one of the top 10 health technology hazards leading to patient harm. Alarm fatigue is a new phenomenon within the acute care health care setting and impacts patients, families, staff, leadership, organizations, and the profession of nursing. The purpose of this descriptive, comparative, quantitative study was to examine the difference in the level of alarm fatigue and its impact on performance for nurses who work on a technology-dedicated, inpatient, medical-surgical unit versus a traditional inpatient …

Talent Management Practices Of Small And Medium-Size Businesses In The Cayman Islands, Annette Murphy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Talent management strategies to acquire, develop, and retain employees are essential, as 73% of business leaders in the United States identified that good human resources practices favorably impact the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations. Based on the people capability maturity model and transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies that small and medium-size business (SMB) leaders used to acquire, develop, and retain employees in the Cayman Islands. The participants comprised five SMB leaders in the Cayman Islands who successfully used talent management strategies to acquire, develop, and retain employees for …

Contaminated Raw Produce As A Major Source Of Foodborne Salmonellosis, Barisua C. Ikpe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Foodborne pathogens continue to threaten the food supply chain. Salmonellosis is a persistent foodborne pathogen responsible for gastroenteritis, leading to severe illness in children below 5 years of age, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems. Maryland has rising cases of salmonellosis linked to outbreaks due to consumption of raw or fresh fruits and produce. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the association between the development of salmonellosis and the consumption of raw (fresh) produce, demographic and geographic characteristics, type of produce, and seasonal variation in Maryland. The study is based on the theory …

The Long-Term Impact Of Intimate Partner Violence On Survivors’ Employment Outcomes, Heather Stark

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

When women experience intimate partner violence (IPV), subsequent effects could impact their performance in the workplace, including physical illness, absenteeism, lack of focus, financial hardship, and other problems. Little information is available, however, as to whether there are long-term negative effects on the victims’ employment. The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare long-term job success as measured by the dependent variables of job satisfaction, unemployment, underemployment, and job stability among women who have experienced IPV in the past and those who have not. Trauma theory provided the framework for this study. Participants were recruited from women’s organizations and …

Succession Planning Strategies For Small Family-Owned Businesses, Samuel Buckner Jr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some business owners lose young, skillful midlevel leaders to competitors because of limited training to prepare a potential successor for senior leadership roles. Family business owners lack succession strategies to transfer business operations to a junior leader that can lead to business closure and increased community unemployment. Using the transformational leadership framework, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the succession planning strategies that small family-owned business owners use to train the next generation of leaders in the southeastern region of the United States. The data sources included a semistructured interview with two business owners and leadership …

The Viability Of Venture Philanthropy In A Nonprofit Organization, Melissa Lindsey Perkins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This case study addressed the viability of a venture philanthropy approach to augment revenue at a youth-serving nonprofit organization in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Venture philanthropy as different from an outright financial donation in that the purpose of this donation is to allow the organization to start a mission-related business. The purpose of the study was to explore the perspectives of individual donors capable of making a venture-level investment to inform organizational leaders about this revenue generation strategy. The practice-focused questions concerned what a donor may want to know prior to making a venture-level investment, to what degree donors …

Juvenile Justice And The Criminalization Of Mentally Ill Individuals, Michael Collins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile justice systems in the United States are using incarceration as a solution to the problem of youths with mental health disorders who commit violent crimes. Juvenile justice systems across the United States have a revolving door effect that arrests, adjudicates, and incarcerates youth offenders but fail to address the factors that contribute to recidivism. The purpose of the qualitative case study was to identify which treatment procedures were most appropriate for juvenile offenders who committed violent offenses in an effort to reduce recidivism for this offender population. For this study, an ecological psychology theory was used as a lens …

Detroit Community Violence And Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviors Of African American Men, Rebekah D. Montgomery

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community violence is a type of trauma commonly experienced in inner cities. Qualitative methods and hermeneutic phenomenology were used to identify connections of low use of professional mental health services by African American men in inner-city settings to chronic exposure to trauma. Sotero’s historical trauma theory was used to explain how minority men process trauma in present-day circumstances. Purposeful sampling was used to select seven African American men in Detroit, Michigan who self-reported exposure to community violence. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed using three steps: transcribing; listening, reading, and analyzing; and coding using inductive and deductive analysis. …

The Patient Dignity Project, Jennifer Kepler Flick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The delivery of patient-centered care is central to many healthcare initiatives. However, the national nursing shortage and the task-oriented nature of the nursing process can make the delivery of this type of care difficult. Nursing as a caring science requires nurses to have an in-depth understanding of how the care they provide impacts patient dignity. Although the Patient Dignity Question is effective as a dignity-preserving intervention, the project facility offered no orientation or educational opportunities that specifically related to patient dignity. This project was a multimodal educational intervention on protecting patient dignity with pre- and posteducation survey assessments. The practice-focused …

The Efficacy Of Interpersonal Skills On Sales Production Among Pharmaceutical Salespeople, John Todd White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The pharmaceutical industry relies heavily on sales to stimulate growth, support research and development, and remain solvent. A review of the literature revealed there is limited insight on the impact of interpersonal skills on sales performance. This study addressed the role of interpersonal skills in a pharmaceutical salesperson’s performance in terms of total sales income, which includes salary, bonuses, and commissions. Gardner’s (1983) multiple intelligences theory, specifically interpersonal skills, served as the study’s framework. The Conversational Skills Rating Scale (CSRS) was used to assess interpersonal skill level. Additionally, the relationship between salesperson tenure and the number of sales meetings attended …

James Macmillan’S Miserere: History, Compositional Elements, And A Conductor’S Guide, Ryan A. Keeling

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Scottish composer James MacMillan, born in 1959, composed choral music throughout his life but initially rose to prominence as a composer of instrumental works in the early 1990s. In the first decade of the 2000s primarily with The Strathclyde Motets MacMillan solidified his position as a preeminent composer in both choral and instrumental genres with international notoriety.

MacMillan’s Roman Catholic upbringing and continuing faith have had a profound effect on his compositional style which is evident in both his instrumental and choral works. His skill in text-setting coupled with his deep faith provide a rich foundation for choral composition.

This …

Selected Principles Of Practicing For Security In Performance, Hsing-Yi Tsai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research focuses on extending the imagination for the purposes of activating our brain to strengthen memorization of music for a stronger and more secure performance. This research explores the concept of self-awareness in the sense of having a conversation with ourselves in order to understand the primary reasons we pianists spend hours in the practice room. I introduce selected strategies for learning pieces through a meticulous process of memorization which impacts not only new pieces, but also the resurrecting of old repertoire. Along with including the concept of the Memory Palace, I explore different methods of memorizing music to …

Reframing: A Grounded Theory Study Of Postmenopausal Women Following Osteoporotic Fracture, Ashley D. Barber

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is a chronic disease resulting in low bone mass and increased bone fragility. Most often seen in women age 65 and older, osteoporosis is usually diagnosed following osteoporotic fracture. Despite numerous treatment options many women continue to remain untreated for osteoporosis and are at increased risk for subsequent fractures and complications. PURPOSE: The initial purpose of this classic grounded theory study was to explore the decision-making process women aged 65 and older experience when considering osteoporosis treatment following osteoporotic fracture. Following the tenth participant interview the researcher discovered a new main concern that emerged from participant interviews. Participants …

“The Entire Army Says Hello”: Common Soldiers’ Experiences, Localism, And Army Reform In Britain And Prussia, 1739-1789, Alexander S. Burns

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation fundamentally questions the state of the field regarding militaries, state building, and narratives of modernity in the Kingdoms of Britain and Prussia. An examination of military stereotyping, common soldiers’ correspondence, religion, localism, and army reform all suggests that the British and Prussian militaries were mutually-intelligible and similar, not radically different. This similarity has broad implications for the modern history of these two European states. Britain was not on a straight road to whiggish parliamentary progress, and Prussia was not on a straight road to militarism and authoritarian rule. Rather, in second half of the eighteenth century, both of …

Comparing Spanish L2 Use Of Regional Phonemes After Study Abroad In Spain And Mexico, Katherine R. Lindley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The present study analyzed the use of regional phonemes by native-English speakers before and after spending a year abroad in either Spain or Mexico. The variables selected were the interdental voiceless fricative [θ] and the uvular voiceless fricative [χ], along with their variations. Semi-structured oral interviews were used to elicit data before their sojourn and at the end of their stay. Results show that many participants used [θ] and [χ] more after spending a year in Spain and participants preferred [s] and [h] after spending a year in Mexico. Data on social networks were collected throughout the study for the …

Doctors, Miners, And Black Lung: A Transatlantic Comparison Of Organized Medicine's Role In The Fight For Black Lung Recognition In West Virginia And Wales, Mollie M. Cecil Md

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Black lung disease is a crippling occupational lung disease experienced by coal miners throughout the world. However, this disease was not always recognized by the medical profession and required significant efforts on the part of miners’ unions to force mainstream recognition. The historiography on the subject is limited, especially with respect to the relationship between organized medicine and organized labor. This work further explores this relationship, particularly how this relationship differed between the parties in Wales and in West Virginia. In doing so, it portrays a more detailed picture of the fight for black lung recognition as well as highlights …

From Inner Segment To Outer Segment: Palmitoylation Of Photoreceptor Na+, K+-Atpase And The Importance Of Prcd In Photoreceptor Outer Segment Morphogenesis, Emily R. Sechrest

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Photoreceptors are specialized neuroepithelial cells which are optimized for efficient capture of light and initiation of visual transduction. These cells have several compartments which are very important for proper visual function and segregation of cellular processes, including the outer segment (OS), inner segment (IS), nucleus, and synapse. The IS houses all of the cellular organelles and biosynthetic molecular machinery the cell requires and is the site of protein synthesis. The light-sensing OS is a highly modified, primary cilium, which contains many stacks of double membranous discs which house proteins required for formation and maintenance of OS structure, as well as …

A Foundation For Collaboration: An Analysis Of Robert Schumann’S Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Kailang Zhan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper provides an analysis of Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe offering historical information and insights into each of the sixteen songs. The analysis includes the English translation of the texts and discussion of the form of each song as well as highlights of the special moments of harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic structure in relation to Schumann’s setting of each poem. The analysis provides a foundation for collaborative skills for the singer and pianist for the study and performance of Dichterliebe. In addition, the paper includes brief biographies of Robert Schumann and Heinrich Heine and background information on the poetry and …

[K], [G] And [ʔ] In Amman: Social Associations And Identity Perception In Young Rural [Fallahin] Palestinian Speech, Shahd Abu Nahel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Built after several immigration waves, Amman developed its own dialect. Previous studies investigated the stylistic and social reallocation process (Britain & Trudgill, 2005) that happened to some major phonemes. The three phonemes [k], [ʔ] and [g] are dialectal reflexes of the Arabic modern standard uvular phoneme [q], and they correlate with social aspects like gender, identity and social class. This study has two parts the first investigates the distribution of the phonemes of the first generation of rural Palestinians hypothesizing that they will follow the generalizations found in Al-Wer (2011). The second part is a large-scale questionnaire targeting the social …

Gendered Use Of Language In Facebook Status Updates Among Jordanian And American Youths: A Sociopragmatic Study, Ashraf Wenas Al Sad

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The study examines the types of speech acts of Facebook status updates that are posted by Jordanian and American youth. The participants were from Yarmouk University which is located in northern Jordan and from West Virginia University which is located in the US. The data was elicited from 50 American males, 50 American females, 50 Jordanian males, and 50 Jordanian females. Searle’s taxonomy was used to do the content analysis of the data. Searle’s taxonomy and additional speech acts were found: directive, expressive, assertive, God’s invocation, humor, and quotation. The findings of the study indicate that the religious and cultural …

Imagined Communities: The British Planter In Nyasaland, 1890 - 1940, Benjamin Marnell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis examines concepts of British settler identity and how it developed across trans-national bounds. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, the rise of industrialisation and developments in transportation, mass communication and print media fuelled a new wave of settler movements from Britain. As settlers spread to different continents, their identity as Britons was challenged in new ways. From this, a unique subgroup of settlers developed, known as planters. In this thesis, I examine the planter community that developed in the small South Central African country of Nyasaland, now Malawi. By examining Nyasaland’s settler community as a case study, I …

Topic Modeling And Cultural Nature Of Citations, Marie Coraline Dumaz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Ever since the beginning of research journals, the number of academic publications has been increasing steadily. Nowadays, especially, with the new importance of online open-access journals and databases, research papers are more easily available to read and share. It also becomes harder to keep up with novelties and grasp an idea of the general impact of a given researcher, institution, journal, or field. For this reason, different bibliometric indicators are now routinely used to classify and evaluate the impact or significance of individual researchers, conferences, journals, or entire scientific communities. In this thesis, we provide tools to study trends in …

Examining The Effects Of Background Noise On Contextualized Word Learning, Caitlin Alyssa Ross

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Despite redundancy in the acoustic speech signal, both children and adults demonstrate difficulty listening and learning in noise. Research has shown that the acoustic parameters of classrooms and common study places, such as libraries and coffee shops, are often exposing students daily to unhealthy levels of background noise and distraction as they attempt to access and retain new information. While younger children may encounter new words via deliberate instruction in a classroom setting, older students are more likely to access new vocabulary indirectly via reading or self-study in noisy environments often of their own choosing. In both scenarios, accurate perception …

“Sir, We Have The Honour Most Respectfully To Submit Our Humble Petition”: Voices In Ink And The Politics Of Petitions In Colonial Igboland, Nigeria, 1892-1960, Bright Chiazam Alozie

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With limited access to the traditional sources that historians typically use to document their work, it has become necessary to find new ways to explore the voices of local peoples who have been historically “denied a voice.” One way is through the study of petitions. Indeed, scholars of history have sparingly used petitions in some way while few have made systematic use of them. Even so, historians of colonial Africa have largely overlooked petitions in their studies, despite the important role that these sources played in negotiating African-European relations. This dissertation revolves around the hundreds of selected petitions, dubbed “voices …

Optimizing A Pediatric Dka Protocol In A Tertiary Care Hospital System In Northern West Virginia, Jennifer L. Burky

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious complication of diabetes that occurs when the body compensates for insufficient insulin, producing dangerously high levels of ketones. Without proper treatment, DKA can be fatal. For that reason, staff in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at a tertiary care hospital in northern West Virginia expressed concerns about the complexity of and lack of adherence to a poorly referenced and dated DKA treatment protocol.

Objective: The purpose of this project was to assess the feasibility and sustainability of optimizing the DKA protocol in the PICU. The primary objective was to implement an updated, …

Differences In Smoking Behaviors And Readiness To Change For Patients With Copd And Differing Categories Of Depression, Jessica M. Floyd

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the world. Depression is a common comorbidity of COPD and affects patient outcomes and smoking cessation. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe factors influencing smoking behaviors and readiness to change in patients with comorbid COPD and depression.

Aims: The research question that guided this study was, “What are the relationships among smoking, COPD, and depression?” The following aims stemmed from the research question: to describe the characteristics of a convenience sample of people living with COPD and differing categories of depression who …

Improving Delirium Assessment In Critical Care, Michelle Reed

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

The objective of this project was to identify barriers that impact nurses completing delirium assessments and to improve compliance rates with delirium assessments. The design was an observational, single group pretest-post-test. The preliminary results demonstrated an educational intervention, using the Knowledge-to-Action theory, improved nurses’ compliance with delirium assessments.

Enhanced Breastfeeding Support Using Video Education To Improve Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates In A Baby-Friendly Acute Care Facility, Carol Mayernik

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) provides health benefits and is recommended by professional health organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, The World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthcare facilities support families to achieve EBF by educating clinicians and patients about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, providing prenatal education and hospital support to patients, and by achieving Baby-Friendly Designation through the Baby-Friendly USA, as endorsed by the World Health Organization/UNICEF. Most pregnant patients desire to exclusively breastfeed yet multiple barriers exist to achieve this goal. Evidence supports the use of video learning as an effective way to …