Digital Commons Network^™

Legislating Loss: Bereavement And State Level Statutes Across The 50 United States, Julio Montanez

Marquette Benefits and Social Welfare Law Review

Bereavement is an effectively inescapable experience. As such, many interventions (e.g., counseling) exist to support adaptation to life without a loved one. There are also legal interventions—such as laws—that carve out space, time, and resources for dealing with bereavement. Using an approach that blends three methodological techniques (i.e., evidence synthesis, policy surveillance, and grounded theory method), the current study explores the characteristics of bereavement statutes across the United States. Several thematic categories were constructed through exhaustive engagement with the qualitative statutory data: Health (e.g., Hospice), Responding (i.e., First Responding and Final Responding), Work Leave, Education, Observance/Commemoration, Government, and Miscellaneous. The …

Examining The Impact Of Area Deprivation On Endovascular Stroke Therapy Access, Joseph N Samaha, Ngoc Mai Le, Emmanuel C Ebirim, Rania Abdelkhaleq, Sergio A Salazar Marioni, Muhammad Bilal Tariq, Ananya Iyyangar, Anjan Nagesh, Hussain Azeem, Arash Niktabe, Sunil A Sheth

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Equitable access to health care is heavily affected by socioeconomic factors. However, the effects of such disparities in accessing life-saving treatments remain incompletely characterized. Here we explore the impact of disparities on access to endovascular treatments for large vessel occlusion acute ischemic stroke.

Methods: From our prospectively maintained multihospital registry, we identified patients with large vessel occlusion acute ischemic stroke from January 2019-June 2020. Patient addresses and zip codes were matched to census-tract level area deprivation index (ADI) scores that were obtained from Neighborhood Atlas. ADI is a validated neighborhood-level measure that uses variables such as income, education, and …

Comparative Effectiveness Of Less Vs More Frequent Hydrocortisone Dosing In Septic Shock, Alan Hao, Tianshi David Wu, Keegan Collins, Danielle Guffey, Rebecca Kessinger, Meghna Vallabh, Ali Omranian

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives: Guidelines recommend hydrocortisone as an adjunctive treatment in septic shock, but the optimal dosing regimen is unknown. A national shortage of hydrocortisone in 2023 prompted a change in institutional practice for hydrocortisone administration from 50 mg every 6 hours to 100 mg every 12 hours in an effort to reduce waste and conserve vials, creating an opportunity to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of these two regimens. The primary efficacy outcome was time to shock resolution, and secondary outcomes evaluated in this study were mortality, renal replacement therapy (RRT), medication costs, and maximum vasopressor dose attained.

Design: Single-center, retrospective cohort …

Ot 520.01: Occupation Across Life Stages And Diverse Populations, Kimberly A. Mckearnan

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2021-2025

No abstract provided.

Natural Health Community Program And Well-Being: An Uncontrolled Study Of Women Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Madeline M. Glawe, Lee Za Ong, Karisse A. Callender, Barbara Wesson, Erin C. Schubert

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a local natural healing service program and to explore how engagement in natural healing services related to the well-being of survivors of domestic violence. Using longitudinal secondary data, we conducted t-tests, regression, and correlation analysis on three measures (hope, distress, and empowerment) that were completed by the participants (N = 31). We provided evidence of the positive impact of a community-based natural healing services program on the well-being of survivors of domestic violence, specifically their sense of hope. This research represents the potential for natural healing services provided at the …

Improving Hospital 30-Day Readmission Rates Through Post-Discharge Follow-Up Phone Calls, Maureen R. Wright

DNP and Student Works

Background: Thirty-day hospital readmissions compromise patient safety, increase mortality risk, and impose financial penalties on hospitals. Ineffective discharge education and care transitions leave patients vulnerable after discharge. Evidence shows that post-discharge follow-up calls within 24–72 hours can identify risks early and reduce preventable readmissions.

Purpose: This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project aimed to reduce 30-day hospital readmission rates by implementing post-discharge follow-up telephone calls guided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Re-Engineered Discharge (RED) Toolkit.

Methods: Registered nurses conducted structured follow-up calls within 24–72 hours of discharge from the medical-surgical unit, reviewing health status, medications, appointments, …

Psychometric Properties Of The Turkish Version Of The Palliative Care Attitude Scale (T-Pcas-9) In Cancer Patients, Sevgi Demir Çam, Neşe İşcan Ayyildiz, Hasan Evcimen, Timüçin Çil, Berna Bozkurt Duman

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: A reliable, validated Turkish measurement tool will allow researchers to measure the impact of attitudes towards palliative care on other health outcomes in individuals with chronic and critical illness. This study aimed to examine the Turkish psychometric properties of the Palliative Care Attitude Scale (PCAS-9) for individuals with cancer.

Methods: The Turkish adaptation of the PCAS-9 (T-PCAS-9) included 505 cancer patients, who were aged >18 years, had a diagnosis of cancer, and no mental problems. The factor structure of the T-PCAS-9 was examined using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, convergent-divergent validity, and measurement invariance analysis.

Results: The three-factor …

Evaluation Of Palliative Care Awareness Among Hospitalized Patients And Their Relatives In Türkiye, Füsun Uzgör, Ayşe Özkaraman, Hülya Özen

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: Today, with the advances in medical knowledge and technology, chronic diseases have increased worldwide in parallel with the prolonging life expectancy and the aging of the population. This has increased the need for palliative care in the delivery of medical services. This study aimed to evaluate the palliative care awareness and level of knowledge of inpatients receiving health services in a university hospital and their relatives in Türkiye.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with 360 patients and their relatives who volunteered to participate in the research. The study data were collected in face-to-face interviews using …

Educational Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Discovers Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma, A Case Report: Clinical Implications And Review Of The Literature, Minh Q. Nguyen, Moshe Bengio, Vu H. Tran

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Introduction

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become an indispensable tool for emergency physicians in assessing intra-abdominal pathology due to its real-time visualization, portability, and cost-effectiveness. While POCUS is not traditionally focused on adrenal gland assessment, incidental findings of adrenal masses during examinations have been reported. Our patient presented with a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation and was found to have a large adrenal mass, discovered incidentally, during thoracic ultrasound.

Case Presentation

This case report presents the discovery of an adrenal mass in a patient with respiratory distress due to a COPD exacerbation, emphasizing the importance of sonographers’ ability to identify …

An Evaluative Study On The Relationship Between Caregiver Stress Of Adult Caregivers For Aging Parents With Chronic Medical Conditions And Life Satisfaction Moderated By Self-Compassion, Cristal Byrd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As of 2015, in the United States alone, approximately 34.2 million Americans have provided unpaid (informal) care to an adult age fifty or older in the past twelve months Forty-two percent of these individuals are caring for a parent including 31% for a mother, and 11% for a father (Jones, 2015). Frequently, the impending challenges correlated with the aging process are discovered in concordance with each other; to which obligation or onus for caregiving of this demographic falls on the shoulders of their adult children. According to recent studies, approximately 1 in 3 adult children in the United States provide …

Enhancing Collaborative Care: A Training Manual For Improving Veterans Affairs Mental Health Chaplaincy, Eddie L. Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) launched a study to investigate the integration of chaplains in mental health care. This research expands on that study by focusing on the critical need for enhanced collaboration between chaplaincy and mental health services at local VA facilities. While existing literature affirms the integral role of chaplains in addressing the spiritual and emotional needs of individuals, significant gaps in awareness and effective collaboration practices were identified at the Marion, IL VA Health Care System (VHCS). This study aimed to assess and address the specific training …

Child Protective Service Workers And Burnout: A Phenomenological Study Exploring Various Types Of Factors That Contribute To Burnout In Rural Virginia, Laurel A. Parks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological study aimed to describe the job difficulties that contribute to burnout for child protective service (CPS) workers at social service centers in Virginia. The theory guiding this study was the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, proposed by Arnold Bakker and Evangelia Demerouti. The JD-R model states that the more demands one has on the job and the fewer resources available to fulfill those demands, the more likely one is to experience burnout. This study utilized semi-structured interviews to answer the three research questions. Ten child protective service workers from three of the five regions of Virginia participated in …

A Chaplain-Specific Care Plan For Addressing Moral Injury And Promoting Holistic Well-Being In Nurses That Have Transitioned From Hospital Care To Hospice Care, Franklin Hicks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project, “A Chaplain-Specific Care Plan for Addressing Moral Injury and Promoting Holistic Well-Being in Nurses That Have Transitioned from Hospital Care to Hospice Care,” addresses the lack of chaplain-led interventions for nurses suffering from moral injury. Many nurses who transitioned from hospital to hospice care reported ongoing moral residue from ethically distressing events in acute settings. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a spiritually grounded care plan, developed and facilitated by a board-certified chaplain, to address these moral wounds and promote holistic well-being among hospice nurses.

Twelve hospice nurses in West Tennessee participated …

New Faculty Guide, 2025, University Of Mississippi. Provost

New Faculty

No abstract provided.

Palliative Inotropic Support In A Patient With End-Stage Systolic Heart Failure, Christiana King, Justin Hayes

Cardiovascular Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: June 13, 1979

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: September 20, 1978

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

Time Ticks Slowly For Kidney Transplant Reform: Eskd Patient Challenges And Opportunities, Gregory P. Hess

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Why: Patient, Parent, And Oncologist Perspectives On Prognostic Communication Preferences In Advanced Childhood Cancer, Erin Batchelor, Rachel A Kentor, Calliope Reeves, Harmony Farner, Shoshana Mehler, Caroline Christianson, Erica C Kaye

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background/objectives: High-quality prognostic communication in pediatric oncology is essential to support informed decision making, foster trust, and honor goals of care. While families differ in their preferences for how prognosis is discussed, clinicians often rely on assumptions rather than directly eliciting these preferences, risking misalignment and distress. To address this gap, we aimed to characterize patient, parent, and oncologist perspectives on key variables, experiences, and circumstances that influence their preferences for prognostic communication.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 85 participants (25 patients aged 12-25, 40 parents, and 20 oncologists) to elicit their preferences for prognostic communication and the reasons …

Thriving Through Transition: Innovative Resilience Training For New Nurses, Christene Annette Taylor

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

The transition from academic settings to professional nursing practice is a critical period marked by high stress and a heightened risk of burnout for newly licensed nurses. This study introduces an innovative Resilience Training Program designed to address these challenges and foster a healthier work environment. Uniquely grounded in Transition Shock Theory, the program focuses on building psychological resilience, providing newly licensed nurses with the skills necessary to navigate and thrive in high-pressure settings.

Employing a quantitative quasi-experimental one-group pre-and-post design, the study assessed resilience using the CD-RISC 10 scale. The results demonstrated a significant improvement in resilience scores post-intervention, …

Celebrate The Past Envision The Future, 2001 July, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, IL: Special bulletin to celebrate when Chicago Union Hospital opened 100 years ago in 1901. Illinois Masonic replaced this hospital in 1921. Included is a timeline of important events from 1901-2001, staff stories, and other milestones.

Mapping Expert-Endorsed Communication Skills With Surrogates To Uncertainty In Illness Theory, Jiayi Zhu, Jennifer Burgher Seaman

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Making medical decisions for patients with impaired decision-making capacity due to serious illness is a stressful experience for surrogate decision makers (SDMs), which can result in emotional and psychological distress^6,7 and delayed decision-making³. Uncertainty has been identified as a key contributor to the stress experienced by SDMs in decision-making¹. High-quality communication addressing uncertainty improves the decision-making experience for SDMs^2,3. Yet, there is a lack of targeted education to help healthcare providers effectively address uncertainty in communication with SDMs. Purpose statement: This study aims to identify techniques and strategies clinicians use to address …

Reminisce And Relive Joyful Memories Despite Dementia, Candice Cacal Nono

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Dementia is a progressive neurological disease that affects cognition and behavioral and mood impairments, such as depression, that must be addressed. The DNP Project implemented an evidence-based intervention to improve healthcare outcomes involving depression in patients with dementia in a long-term care setting.

Problem: Dementia is a progressive neurological disease affecting mood and conditions that can lead to depression, affecting a patient’s quality of life. A quality improvement project was implemented in a long term care facility in Chicago, Illinois.

Methods: Eight residents with mild to moderate dementia participated in an eight-week Group Reminiscence Therapy program to measure the …

Leveraging Meaningful Recognition To Create And Sustain Healthy Work Environments, Cindy Lefton

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Meaningful recognition, a form of feedback describing how one makes a difference in the life of another, also serves to illustrate the elements of a healthy work environment in action. Focusing on meaningful recognition as a catalyst to shape and drive healthy work environments, attendees will be introduced to evidence-based budget neutral practices they can utilize to positively impact team members, workplace culture, and patient experience.

Reshaping Workplace Well-Being: The Journey To Human Connection, Heike Doody, P. Ann Blaney

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

As healthcare continues to evolve in post-Covid environment, nurse leaders face increasing challenges with guiding teams, improving engagement, and promoting overall wellbeing. Increasing work engagement is an important indicator of workforce sustainability and wellbeing (Schaufeli, 2021). Leaders foster a culture of wellbeing, safety, and support for employees in healthcare organizations with a human connection. The purpose was to reengage direct care nurses to implement wellbeing standards and reestablish the human connection among staff by utilizing engaging leadership concepts.

Faced with lack of council engagement, leaders from the Healthy Work Environment Council (HWEC) shifted their leadership style from transitional to engaging …

Elder Burnice Johnson

African American Funeral Programs

Funeral program for Bernice Johnson

A Study Of Rural Health Care For Chronic Care Management Using Machine Learning To Determine Costs, Joanna Maria Keeling

Doctoral Dissertations

Management of diabetes or heart disease may be uniquely challenging for older individuals with multiple chronic conditions[1]. Chronic Care Management would target patients living with comorbidities in Louisiana, who are not receiving sufficient healthcare services and help them receive the care they deserve[2]. This study is aimed at comparing the results of rural Louisiana Medicaid recipients with comorbidities to the National Averages. We will also use Machine Learning to predict Churn and Medical Costs. To help us identify these patients with comorbidities, we decided to use NCQA Quality Measures. We identified several measures from NCQA that we wanted to use, …

A Phenomenological Study Of Caregivers For Sexual Minority Hospice Patients, Catherine H. Bianchi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals face disproportionate barriers in healthcare across the lifespan that persist and often intensify at the end of life. Despite hospice’s mission to provide comfort, dignity, and patient-centered support, it remains unclear whether these services equitably meet the needs of sexual minority patients. Seeking hospice care presents a unique conundrum for many LGB individuals: it necessitates inviting representatives of a historically exclusionary healthcare system into the privacy of their homes - spaces that often serve as sanctuaries of identity, safety, and autonomy. The already vulnerable experience of seeking care in one’s final days can be …

Linda Mercer Roberts

African American Funeral Programs

Funeral program for Linda Roberts. Service was held on August 23, 2025 in Nevils, Georgia

Trainee Countertransference And Competency In Bereavement Therapy: Strengths And Limitations Of The Wounded Healers, Meghan Paynter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Countertransference is a common experience in therapy, happening among clinicians of all stages of their career and the outcomes of this experience hinge largely on how countertransference is managed. Challenging topics, such as grief, only make countertransference harder to manage effectively and the management of this experience improves with practice and time—something trainees have not yet ascertained. Given the pervasiveness of grief as a human experience, also indiscriminate in nature, the experiences of trainees experiencing countertransference are important to understand, including what is experienced, how they experience it, and how it impacts their process and self-perception of confidence and competence …