Digital Commons Network^™

Caring Science And A Magnet Culture Positively Influence Patient Experience: A Theoretical Framework, Mary E. Lough, Grissel Hernandez, Kathleen Bradley, Alice Yan, Cassendra Munro, Rachyl Pines

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

BACKGROUND: An academic hospital implemented both Watson Caring Science and a Magnet® culture to support nurse wellbeing and optimize patient outcomes.^1-3 The goal was to create a culture of caring. The research challenge was how to measure culture, which is complex, intangible and often difficult to quantify. Few healthcare organizations deploy theory-driven quantitative evaluations. Most rely on atheoretical data mining rather than conceptually grounded frameworks.

PURPOSE: To develop a theoretical framework to test the hypothesis that: (1) Human Caring Culture directly influences Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS); (2) Human Caring Culture indirectly influences HCAHPS’ outcomes …

Generative Ai In Nursing Education: Opportunities, Challenges And Educator Preparedness, Elizabeth L. Woods, Desiree Mullis Clement, Kandice Pampuri, Maggie Pustinger, Quyen Phan

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Generative AI is transforming clinical nursing education, highlighting the urgent need to train nurse educators with the knowledge, tools, and confidence for practical use. AI tools are quickly impacting content, student preparation, and teaching methods, creating both opportunities and challenges. AI offers both advantages and obstacles in clinical content creation; however, advantages do not replace nursing experience. Due to its rapid integration into education, many educators remain cautious about responsible implementation because of ethical concerns.

Purpose: This study examines changes in participant knowledge and confidence in the use of AI tools in clinical education among clinical nurse educators from …

Shape: A Photovoice Study Exploring Student And Educator Perceptions Of School Built Environments, Megan L. Jester, Dawn Loraas, Cian L. Brown, Madelynn Henderson

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: School buildings shape daily experiences, well-being, and professional satisfaction for those who work and learn within them. Schools are increasingly primary access points for student health services.¹ Teaching in public schools ranks among the most stressful occupations, driving burnout and turnover.² As these groups spend most days in schools, the built environment serves as a crucial social determinant of health.³ Factors like extreme temperatures, poor air quality, and noise pollution impact health outcomes^4-6, creating barriers to learning.⁷ Limited nurse-driven research exists on how building attributes impact well-being. Spatial Habits Advance Personal Excellence examines …

Life Of Patients After Laryngectomy Before Hospital Discharge, Kaori Haba, Kumiko Kotake, Mami Kurita, Kazuyo Iwanaga, Ichiro Kai, Yoshimi Suzukamo, Aya Takahashi, Yoko Ishibashi, Yoriko Hara, Ichiro Ota, Hirokazu Uemura

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: This study aims to identify how patients after laryngectomy (PaL) feel about their lives before discharge.

Methods: The participants received total laryngectomy for peri-laryngeal cancer. They were interviewed for physical condition and concerns in daily lives, and how they coped with them before discharge. Qualitative induction was used to analyze. This study was conducted by obtaining the approval of the Ethical Review Committee of the university the researcher belongs to.

Results: All 9 participants were male, and the mean age was 68.2 years.
They “felt their bodies were recuperating” from the surgical invasion with free from respiratory distress and …

Opioid Overdose Simulation Training For Staff: An Educational Development Project, Brooke Van Buskirk, Tyler Langley, Nancy S. Goldstein

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Outpatient medical facilities have become more likely to encounter in-office emergencies related to opioid overdoses. Literature analysis found gaps in health team response capability in outpatient healthcare settings.¹

Our aim was to design and implement an opioid overdose simulation at an outpatient substance use disorder clinic. Literature reviewed found 4 essential themes to guide our curriculum development: simulation training, emergency action protocols, response training and equipment readiness.^2,3,4,5 These themes were used to create an algorithm on best-practice for overdose response and guided our simulation development.

A four-step simulation was designed including pre-brief education, low-fidelity mannequin simulation, high-fidelity simulation …

Staff Education To Integrate The Cdc Prediabetes Risk Test Into Primary Care Intake, Helen Ndangam

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This staff education project involves addressing the gap in using a standardized prediabetes screening protocol at an outpatient primary care clinic in Maryland, which leads to missed early interventions. Standardizing this process is vital for nursing practice to promote preventive care and optimize workflows. The practice-focused question was for medical support assistants (MSAs) at an outpatient primary care clinic: How does implementing a competency-based education program on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prediabetes Risk Test (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.) affect staff knowledge, workflow confidence, and screening compliance over a 7-week period? The purpose …

Staff Education To Reduce Burnout Among Psychiatric Nurses Caring For Patients With Schizophrenia, Gloria Laizer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This Doctor of Nursing Practice staff education project addressed occupational burnout among psychiatric registered nurses caring for patients with schizophrenia. Workplace violence, compassion fatigue, emotional exhaustion, and staffing shortages place psychiatric nurses at high risk for burnout, threatening nurse well-being, workforce retention, and patient safety. The practice site lacked a standardized resilience education program. The practice-focused question was, In psychiatric nurses caring for patients with schizophrenia, does implementation of an evidence-based resilience education program, compared with current practice, reduce occupational burnout? The purpose was to implement and evaluate such a program, informed by the Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice (JHEBP) Model …

Improving Nurses’ Knowledge Of Barcode Medication Administration Using Structured Education In Group Homes, Bernadette Beleho Woueko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) educational project evaluated the effectiveness of a structured Barcode Medication Administration (BCMA) education program in enhancing nurses’ knowledge of BCMA and promoting medication safety. Because local BCMA compliance rates were 15 percentage points below the organizational benchmark, an educational intervention was implemented using the Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice Model and the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework. Fifteen staff members, including Registered Nurses, Leaders, and Managers, participated in two educational sessions focused on BCMA use, medication safety, case studies, and role-play activities. Findings demonstrated a significant increase in BCMA knowledge, with scores improving from 68.4% to 86.7% (p < .001). These results support the continuation of BCMA education, competency validation, and training programs to reduce medication errors and enhance patient safety. Keywords: Barcode Medication Administration, BCMA, medication administration errors, nursing education, patient safety, evidence-based practice, educational project.

Effective Strategies To Implement Equitable And Transparent Artificial Intelligence Technologies To Improve Employee Productivity, Ijeoma Appolonia Chukwunyelu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective artificial intelligence (AI) implementation strategies can undermine transparency and ethics in AI technology use for organizational performance and diminish employee productivity. Without these strategies, information technology (IT) leaders risk reduced employee productivity, lower organizational adoption of AI technologies, and inequitable outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to identify and explore effective strategies IT leaders use to implement transparent, ethical AI technologies to improve employee productivity. The conceptual framework that grounded this project was transformational leadership theory. The project participants were six IT business leaders in the United States with experience implementing AI technologies within their organizations. …

Implementation Of A Standardized Antibiotic Order Set To Improve Evidence-Based Antibiotic Prescribing In Oral Surgery, Lashundra Miles

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inconsistent antibiotic prescribing practices in an oral surgery clinic contributed to variation in antibiotic selection, timing, dosing, redosing when indicated, and duration. This variation limited adherence to evidence-based prescribing recommendations and highlighted the need for a workflow-based strategy to support antibiotic stewardship. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase use of a standardized antibiotic order set through reminder-based reinforcement and to improve evidence-based prescribing practices. The practice-focused question examined whether implementing the standardized antibiotic order set, supported by workflow-integrated reminders and ongoing performance feedback, would improve order-set utilization during a 6-week implementation period. The project was guided …

Improving Rsv Vaccination Uptake Through Nurse-Led Educational Intervention, Lawrence Onuorah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In this quality improvement project, the DNP scholar explored the impact of a nurse-led staff education approach on improving respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine uptake. RSV disease results in negative health outcomes and even death among vulnerable individuals. Despite the availability of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved vaccines, uptake remains low due to limited provider knowledge and inconsistent vaccine recommendations. Therefore, the project question addressed whether a staff education program would increase providers’ perceived knowledge of RSV vaccine recommendation and confidence to engage in patient education. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement a nurse-led staff …

Stewardship In Action: Reducing Unnecessary Antimicrobial Use In Long-Term Care, Mariatu Sulaiman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Antimicrobial overuse in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) contributes to antimicrobial resistance, avoidable healthcare costs, and adverse drug events, particularly when antibiotics are prescribed for asymptomatic bacteriuria rather than symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTIs). Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, including the McGeer Criteria, provide standardized approaches for differentiating true UTIs from asymptomatic bacteriuria and supporting appropriate antimicrobial prescribing. The purpose of this evidence-based practice project was to evaluate the development and implementation of a clinical practice guideline incorporating the McGeer Criteria into an antibiotic stewardship program in an LTCF. The practice-focused question examined what evidence supports strategies for reducing unnecessary antimicrobial use …

Operating Room Scheduling And Workflow Optimization In Acute Care Hospitals, Waleed Tawfik

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Operating room scheduling inefficiencies in acute care hospitals contribute to delays, prolonged turnover times, cancellations, underused capacity, overtime, higher costs, and reduced timely access to surgery. This integrative review examined evidence-based, systems-oriented scheduling and workflow strategies to improve operating room utilization, reduce delays, and enhance operational efficiency. Guided by general systems theory, a structured search identified 196 database-level records; 28 articles underwent full-text review, and 20 sources were retained for thematic synthesis after critical appraisal using the Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice criteria. The thematic analysis revealed four main themes: standardized workflow coordination, data-driven scheduling and decision support, integrated resource and …

Changes In Psychological Adjustment Among Laryngectomized Patients Through Nursing Intervention: Rct, Kumiko Kotake, Kaori Haba, Mami Kurita, Ichiro Ota, Kazuyo Iwanaga, Yoshimi Suzukamo, Ichiro Kai, Aya Takahashi, Yoko Ishibashi, Yoriko Hara, Hirokazu Uemura

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine changes in psychological adjustment among laryngectomized patients through nursing interventions and to verify the effectiveness of these interventions.

Methods: Of the 76 hospitalized laryngectomy patients who received the study explanation and provided consent, 74 were included. The intervention involved providing information through interviews and a guidebook. The study method involved conducting follow-up surveys at preoperative, pre-discharge, and three months, six months, and one year post-discharge to examine the temporal changes in psychological adjustment. This study used the Nottingham Psychological Adjustment Scale for laryngectomized patients. The higher the subscale score, the greater …

The Gap Kalamazoo Instrument To Evaluate Therapeutic Communication Of Pre-Licensure Nursing Students, Tracy J. Perron, Mary Thomas, Chelsea Lebo, Romy Zemer

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Effective communication among healthcare teams is essential for patient safety and satisfaction. Communication is a core competency for students in nursing education.

Purpose: This study aims to adapt the Gap-Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment for nursing students to enhance their communication skills and align with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials competencies.

Methods: This tool was tested with junior and senior nursing students at two institutions, with data collected through self-evaluations, peer evaluations, and faculty evaluations during clinical and simulation experiences.

Results: The results showed a high reliability of the tool (Cronbach’s Alpha 0.832 for seniors, 0.880 for …

Silver Linings Among Youth Living With Hiv: An Integrated Mixed Methods Analysis, Emily Anne Barr, Mary Catherine Lingwall, Himabindu Reddy Basani, Joanna S. Vennekotter, Alyssa Goldsmith, Joseph Crane, Leah Jane Anthony, Re'undre Malone, Veronica Brady

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: Youth living with HIV experience stigma, mental health challenges, and barriers to engagement in care. Silver linings are positive shifts in perception, connection, or opportunity that arise from adversity. This project examined silver linings across two studies of youth living with HIV and explored associations with stigma, trust, mental health, and viral suppression.

Methods: An integrated mixed methods design was used. The first study (Colorado, USA) was a cross-sectional survey of 109 youth that assessed stigma, mental health, trust in the healthcare relationship, viral load, and one open-ended item on silver linings. The second study (Texas, USA) included semi-structured …

Pre-Implementation Factors For Active Music Engagement (Ame): Barriers And Facilitators To Integrating An Evidence-Based Dyadic Intervention Into Pediatric Oncology Care., Kristin M. Story, Elizabeth Harman, Kristin Stegenga, Jelena Golubovic, Sheri L. Robb

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Pediatric cancer treatment is a difficult and distressing experience that often results in sustained, interrelated distress in young children and parents, and traumatic stress symptoms for some parents. Few evidence-based interventions address this dyadic distress. Active Music Engagement (AME) is a manualized, evidence-based music play intervention that significantly reduces distress in child/parent dyads and mitigates traumatic stress and improves well-being among highly distressed parents and those experiencing sociodemographic risk. Successfully integrating AME into standard care requires a systematic understanding of implementation factors. This study aimed to identify site-specific barriers and facilitators that influenced successful AME delivery during a recently …

Peritoneal Ovarian Cancer Growth In The Omentum Proceeds Independently Of Mature Adipocytes, Rachel L Mintz, Jichang Han, Emily G Butka, Alexandre Gallerand, Shuai Gao, Ayoung Kim, Sarah Ning, Nicole K H Yiew, Mary Wohltmann, Galina Fedotova, Wei Zou, Nan Zhang, Samantha A Morris, Bernd H Zinselmeyer, Gwendalyn J Randolph

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The omentum, a specialized adipose tissue within the peritoneum, is a primary niche of ovarian cancer dissemination. Omental adipocytes are widely thought to promote tumor growth by supplying lipids, supported in part by studies using global FABP4 deficiency. Here, we directly test whether mature adipocytes are required for peritoneal ovarian cancer growth using mice congenitally lacking mature adipocytes within the peritoneal cavity, including the omentum. Across several ovarian cancer models (ID8p53

Listening, Learning, Accommodating: A Critical Look At Inclusive Research Help, Michelle Lee, Laura Beane, Kristina Lang, Jillian Speck, Kristina Clement

Faculty Articles

Research consultations continue to be a valuable means of connecting with users and supporting their research needs. As we’ve received an increasing number of research consultations where one or more accommodations have been requested, the Kennesaw State University Libraries have been exploring ways to provide accommodations in research consultations. Since there is a lack of research on this specific facet of research consultations, this literature review focuses on the related topics of assistive technology in libraries, accommodations in library services and spaces, and library anxiety to show how these topics relate to providing accommodations in research consultations. The objective of …

"Tithing Is An Insurance Premium": A Framing Analysis Of Speaker Innovation And Diachronic Trends In Latter-Day Saint Religious Discourse, Reid Empey

Theses and Dissertations

Religious language relies on shared metaphor and frames that contextualize religious experience and practice. Current approaches to frame semantics (Fillmore 1982) and cognitive metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson 1980) lend important insight into religious language, particularly in describing the role that figurative language serves in a religious speech community. However, a vital component of many religious speech communities is the presence of and engagement with a scriptural canon, which often contains metaphorical and framing language that religious speakers can directly reference. Yet, past conceptualizations of speech communities have not accounted for this engagement with a shared canon. To illustrate the role …

Synthetic Strategies For Bioactive Peptides: From Aggregation Inhibitors To The Total Synthesis Of Tunicyclin C, Stephanie Graciela Garcia Morin

Theses and Dissertations

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), a brain protein called "tau" abnormally clumps and forms neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), causing damage to brain cells. Ac-PHF6-NH2 is a hexapeptide segment of tau protein that plays a dominant role in tau aggregation and is used as a model to design tau protein aggregation inhibitors. In this research we synthesized four dehydroamino acid (□AA) containing PHF6 analogues with △Abu (derived from L-threonine) and △Val (derived from □-OH-Valine) at position 2 or 3 via dehydrations or azlactone ring-openings as key reactions. We evaluated their proteolytic resistance, ability to inhibit aggregation of PHF6, and impact on the morphology …

Measuring Proteostasis Changes In Apolipoprotein E Mouse Models Using Quantitative And Kinetic Proteomic Methods, Ariel E.A. Denos

Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurological disorder associated with brain mass loss and cognitive decline. It affects millions of elderly people and is currently uncurable. Since 1906, when the disease was first described, researchers have uncovered many components of AD pathology. However, it is now evident that curing Alzheimer's Disease will require intervention before the pathological onset of amyloid beta plaque deposition, tau neurofibrillary tangles, and associated neuronal loss. Studying AD from the perspective of early intervention requires special attention to small changes that may disrupt the normal processing of cells. Cells undergo a natural cycle of creation and destruction …

Standardizing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Education To Improve Patient Knowledge And Care Consistency In A Prenatal Clinic Setting, Wynn Zara

Master's Projects and Capstones

The gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) group visit framework aims to improve consistency of GDM education by standardizing referral processes, educational materials, staff workflows, and patient communication. Although evidence-based GDM education supports patient self-management and improved maternal-fetal outcomes, variability in education delivery contributed to inconsistent care within the outpatient maternal-fetal medicine setting. This quality improvement project was conducted in an outpatient maternal-fetal medicine clinic in Santa Clara County serving pregnant patients diagnosed with GDM. To address this gap, a standardized GDM group visit framework was developed and implemented using structured educational resources, referral criteria, and communication workflows. The intervention was evaluated …

Children Second Dialect Acquisition In North America, Iqbal Nurul Azhar, Mohammad Halili

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This article aims to examine the causes, social contributing factors, and the linguistic consequences of Second Dialect Acquisition (SDA henceforth) in children in North America, drawing on relevant articles. For children growing up in a monolingual region but then must live in a new space, acquiring second dialect can pave them to improve their communication skills, adjust their social and identity belonging. Yet why, how, and the linguistic consequence of SDA require further studies. We used the thematic synthesis in reviewing the existing related literature based on three steps: article identification, selection, and analysis. Six causes of SDA were found: …

Development And Validation Of The Global Impact Of Chronic Illness Scale – Universal, Abigail Kukay

Theses and Dissertations

The current manuscript presents the development and validation of the Global Impact of Chronic Illness Scale – Universal (GICIS-U), a novel measure of chronic illness impact through three separate studies. The pilot study aimed at measure development, which included item selection and two rounds of item refinement using feedback gained through four focus groups. Study 1 consisted of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to determine factor structure of the measure. Participants were 183 individuals recruited from an online participant pool and social media outlets who completed the refined GICIS-U online. Results of the EFA suggested a six-factor structure, of which …

Engineering Education Beyond The Engineering Classroom: Three Studies On Behavioral Nudges, General Education Completion, And Honors Program Participation, Andrew Harrison Volk

Theses and Dissertations

Engineering education extends well beyond the engineering classroom. Engineering undergraduates progress through general education courses, institutional support structures, and enrichment opportunities operating outside their major. The administrative offices that shape these non-engineering experiences typically operate independently of engineering departments, and the structural decisions they make can shape the engineering student's experience without engineering's input. This dissertation examines three settings in which decisions outside engineering matter for engineering students. Study 1 reports a PRISMA-format systematic review of nudge interventions in higher education, developing a four-category typology of nudge types (informational, environmental, process-oriented, and in-name-only) and a six-category typology of application domains. …

Scan Statistics For Nonhomogeneous Poisson Processes: A Method For Cnv Detection, Asanka Rathnayaka Duwage

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies scan statistics for detecting localized changes in non-homogeneous Poisson processes. The motivating problem arises from genomic sequencing data, where tumor and normal read locations may differ over short regions due to copy number variation, while the underlying event intensity varies across the domain. In this setting, methods based on homogeneous Poisson process assumptions are not appropriate. The dissertation develops and studies scan-based methods for detecting local differences while accounting for non-homogeneous structure. Three related approaches are considered. The first develops a scan statistic for a nonhomogeneous Poisson process and uses extreme value calibration after transformation under the …

Simulating Wind-Induced Temporal Variability In Gnss Transmissometry Via Coherent Bistatic Scattering, Brantley Allen Forrest

Theses and Dissertations

Global Navigation Satellite System Transmissometry is a technique for forest remote sensing. Interpreting these measurements requires physically based models to relate observed signal behavior to underlying biophysical parameters. A limitation of current electromagnetic modeling approaches is the assumption that vegetation optical depth is static. In practice, forest canopies, and therefore vegetation optical depth, are dynamic systems continuously influenced by wind. These geometric changes alter the scattering environment and introduce temporal variability in the received signal, particularly through phase-sensitive multipath interactions. This thesis presents a methodology for simulating wind dynamics for first-order scattering. The approach integrates a procedural, stochastic aeroelastic wind …

How Family Functioning Impacts Adolescent Outcomes: The Roles Of Cohesion, Flexibility, Communication, Satisfaction, And The Family Environment On Well-Being Across Levels Of Family Complexity, Emily E. Shaw

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research is a combination of two studies. The overarching and guiding focus for this study involved how family functioning and environments influence adolescent psychological well-being, and do these associations vary based on levels of family complexity. Study 1 examined family complexity and family environments as potential predictors of family functioning, while Study 2 examined family functioning and family complexity as potential predictors of adolescent negative (i.e., anxiety and depression) and positive (i.e., engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness) well-being. In Study 1, family complexity was not predictive of family functioning, but the family environment was a strong predictor. …

Exploring Rural Ap Stem Motivation, Interests, And Aspirations: A Self-Determination Theory Lens, Erin Seger Mcguire

Theses and Dissertations

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have become the focal point of many countries around the world, with the intention of strengthening national renown by being the first to make advancements in STEM domains. The United States has recognized the importance of STEM and STEM education, though these efforts are lacking in rural areas, like Mississippi. These schools often serve underrepresented populations and may be unable to financially support learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. Additionally, the national teacher shortage disproportionately affects science and mathematics classes; in rural schools, teachers in these areas may be underqualified, as the schools …