Digital Commons Network^™

Educational Interventions To Improve Interpersonal Communication With Icu Family Members, Adriana Szaboova

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Family members of critically ill patients frequently experience significant psychological distress, often compounded by unclear communication and limited understanding of complex care processes in the intensive care unit (ICU). In the cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU), staff identified a gap in structured, procedure-specific education for families during the admission process following cardiac surgery.

Aims/Objectives: This quality improvement project aimed to develop and implement a one-page, procedure-specific family education tool for CVICU admissions. The goals were to integrate the materials into the admission workflow with staff education and to enhance HCAHPS communication scores during implementation.

Methods: This quality improvement project …

Improving Pain Assessments In The Medical Icu, Tyler J. Wiorek

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background 

Approximately half of intensive care unit (ICU) patients experience moderate-to-severe pain during admission, yet pain assessment in non-communicative patients remains inconsistent. Evidence-based behavioral tools such as the Critical Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) have been recommended to improve detection and management of pain in this population.

Aims/Objectives 

This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to implement the Critical Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) among registered nurses in a 29-bed medical ICU and evaluate its impact on nurse knowledge, acceptability, and documentation of pain assessments.

Methods 

A pre–post quality improvement design was used. A convenience sample of registered nurses in a …

How Does Education Regarding Stress Reduction Technique Activities Affect Phq9 And Gad7, Olu Akande

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD are prevalent among home care patients and significantly impact quality of life. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project aims to assess the impact of structured education on stress reduction techniques—such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), progressive muscle relaxation, cognitive reframing, and guided breathing—on PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores. A selected registered nurse at Human Touch Home Care (HTHC) will provide targeted education to eligible patients, using a teach-back method to ensure comprehension. PHQ-9 and GAD-7 assessments will be administered before and two weeks after the intervention. Data will be analyzed to …

Emotion Regulation As A Moderator Of The Association Between Stressful Life Events And Changes In Religiosity, Catharine Mann

Senior Theses

Previous research indicates that religion and spirituality can have a beneficial impact on the well-being of individuals, both promoting health and reducing poor mental and physical health outcomes. Religiosity often shifts across the lifespan, but some experiences can predict those changes. For example, stressful life events (SLEs; e.g., loss of a family member, serious illness) are often associated with a decrease in religiosity. Past research has shown that in adults, the experience of SLEs predicts less identification with previously held religious beliefs. This relation could be influenced by a number of factors, but many are likely related to the use …

Michael Z. Green, Michael Z. Green

Faculty CVs

No abstract provided.

Redbird Impact, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring 2026), Center For Civic Engagement, Illinois State University

Redbird Impact

No abstract provided.

Materialism: What Do We Lose By Focusing On Having More?, Traidan C. Hier

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

This paper seeks to grapple with how materialism impacts the world that we live in and the person holding that mindset. It also seeks a solution to materialism, offering a helpful perspective on how can we avoid a materialistic mindset.

Navigating End-Of-Life Decisions: Cultural Considerations For Latine Patients, Michelle Carbajal Hernandez

Honors Capstones

Healthcare professionals face many challenges when communicating terminal illness prognoses for individuals. This responsibility to address a terminal prognosis is further complicated when communicating with Latine patients who may face multiple barriers within the healthcare system and whose cultural preferences influence end-of-life care planning (Carrion, 2010). For example, Latines are less likely to enroll in end-of-life (EOL) care services (e.g., hospice) (Barragan-Carrillo et al., 2022). As well as engage in end-of-life care planning than White Non-Latines (Shen et al., 2016). To understand this hesitancy towards EOL care options, this literature review aims to explore how terminally ill Latine and …

Not Too Early, Not Too Late: A Framework For Career Guidance In Competency -Based Education (Cbe), Mercy Igoki

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

The aim of this study is to develop a framework for providing career guidance to learners in Kenyan schools within a competency-based education framework. The framework will give guidance from early childhood to senior schools. It will help learners select careers and develop relevant competencies. Learners are often introduced late to career guidance, mostly when they must make key academic and career decisions, such as subject selection. This timing may limit their ability to make informed decisions about their future career pathways. The study uses a conceptual research design, grounded in a review and synthesis of existing literature on career …

A Problem For Traditionalism, Marc O. Degirolami

Notre Dame JLEPP: In Limine

Prof. DeGirolami explains traditionalism and why it might pose a problem in the United States.

The Crime We Forget? White-Collar Crime: Problems In Defining Motive And Enforcement Of Followers, John Stillman

Notre Dame JLEPP: In Limine

John Stillman explains problems in defining and enforcing against white-collar crime, focusing on followers.

Heroes Of Medicine In The Rio Grande Valley: Documentary Interview With Dr. Cynthia Cavazos Gonzalez, Cynthia Cavazos Gonzalez, Raquel Elena Orellana

Heroes of Medicine in the Rio Grande Valley

Cynthia Cavazos Gonzalez PhD is an Associate Professor of Clinical Practice at UTRGV in Edinburg, Texas and she is the clinic director of the UTRGV Psychology training clinic. She completed a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from California School of Professional Psychology in Fresno, California. Her doctoral degree is in Clinical Psychology with a major specialization in Neuropsychology and minor specialization in Health Psychology. She completed an APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship at UTMB in Galveston with a major emphasis in hospital consultation, outpatient psychotherapy, and psychological and neuropsychological evaluations with diverse populations. She completed an informal neuropsychology post-doctoral residency in Texas …

Resilience Factors For Physical Activity After Completion Of Intensive Interdisciplinary Pain Treatment: A Qualitative Analysis., William R. Black, Lora L. Black, Jennifer Christofferson, Liesbet Goubert, Cara M. Hoffart, Dustin Wallace

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVES: This study explored potential resilience factors that facilitate engagement in physical activity (PA) among adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain after completing intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment.

METHODS: Ten adolescents aged 13 to 17 years with a history of chronic musculoskeletal pain from a mid-western pediatric hospital in the United States participated in this qualitative study. Participants provided demographic information and completed semistructured virtual interviews. The interviews focused on their pain experiences, resilience, and engagement in PA. Transcripts were analyzed using primarily directed content analysis based on a pain resilience framework.

RESULTS: Participants highlighted several key resilience factors that influenced their …

Proximal And Distal Factors Associated With Obesity In Childhood: An Exploratory Structural Equation Model., Joseph A. Skelton, Erinn T. Rhodes, Sarah Hampl, Ihuoma Eneli, Edward H. Ip, Sit Study Research Group

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Obesity in childhood is complex; structural equation modeling (SEM) offers an approach to ascertain complicated relationships between weight and proximal (health behaviors, child health) and distal (family/household, community) variables. The objective of the study was to use SEM to map the influence of different etiological clusters on obesity in childhood.

METHODS: Secondary analysis of baseline data from patients and parents enrolled in a multi-site study of pediatric weight management was conducted. The primary outcome was weight status (utilizing percentage above the 95th percentile BMI, %95BMI). SEM was used to evaluate the influences of variables proximal and distal to child …

Impacts Of Listening Practice On Work Performance While Wearing Hearing Protection., Patricia Mcclain, Matthew G. Wisniewski

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Individuals who work in loud environments often choose not to wear hearing protection devices (HPDs) while on the job. A prevailing justification for this decision involves potential performance impairments that come with HPD use. While previous research has been successful in characterizing the overwhelming prevalence of this issue, the question of how to go about improving HPD use still remains. In this study, we investigated the possibility that performance while wearing an HPD could improve if people are given listening training with a simulated HPD. Participants listened to podcasts in which the audio was filtered to simulate wearing an HPD …

Using Gloves Wisely: Rethinking Glove Use For Health, Safety, And Environmental Sustainability., M Lauren Lalakea, Radhika Sheth, Elizabeth Cerceo, Yvonne Huckleberry, Preeti Jaggi, Vidya Mony, Elizabeth Monsees

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Non-sterile gloves (NSG) are essential for reducing transmission of pathogens and for protecting patients and staff. Their overconsumption can lead not only to an increased risk of cross-contamination but also increased plastic waste and downstream environmental effects. Glove reduction campaigns worldwide have safely and successfully reduced their inappropriate use and associated waste. In this multidisciplinary commentary, we discuss the sweeping public health and environmental consequences of NSG overuse and strategies to implement a successful glove stewardship campaign.

Law School Record, Vol. 72, No. 2 (Spring 2026), Law School Record Editors

Law School Record

• Message from the Dean
• A new program launches for public interest leadership
• Law-themed children’s books and games in the D’Angelo Law Library
• The Path To Legal Academia
• Climate in the Balance
• Asked & Answered
• Theory in Practice
• Three faculty members received distinguished professorships
• Students reflect on what they learned in the inaugural AI Lab
• Scenes from around the Law School
• Development News
• Development News: Alumna receives prestigious fellowship
• Recent Books by Alumni
• In Memoriam
• Giving Back: Sean Carney, ’90, and Mimi Gilligan JD/MBA, ’91

Admissions Magazine Spring 2026, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Admissions Magazine

Altitude: Fueling the Future

• Flight Training Starts Here
• Opening Doors To Discovery, Access, and Opportunity
• Built for Pressure, Trained for Altitude
• Smarter Design, Stronger Performance
• Fueling the Future: Advancing Cryogenic Fuel Innovation for Safer, Smarter, Lunar Missions
• Planting the Seed for Smart Farming
• Out-Of-This-World Research in the Andes
• Inside a World of Science: Taking on Space, Systems, and Science
• Staying Ahead of the Herd: Student Innovation Reaches NASA
• Against the Current, Making History
• Transformative Technology
• Shadowing Success
• Where Passion Ignites Altitude: Embry-Riddle Rocket Team Overcomes Setbacks to Launch DENEB-2
• Cross Country to Crash Scenes: Running Toward Understanding
• Making an Impact: …

Deep Learning In Fetal, Infant, And Toddler Neuroimaging Research, Jenna H Chin, Madeleine K Wyburd, Vladislav Ayzenberg, Laurie Bayet, Berkin Bilgic, Emily M Chen, Yuting Chen, Áine Dineen, Shohei Fujita, Janelle Liu, Yohan Jun, M Catalina Camacho, Lilla Zöllei

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into everyday tasks and work environments. However, its adoption in medical image analysis has progressed more slowly due to high clinical stakes, limited availability of labeled data, and substantial variability in imaging protocols and population. These challenges are further pronounced in the field of fetal, infant, and toddler (FIT) neuroimaging, where datasets are especially scarce and subject to large amounts of anatomical variability. However, deep learning (DL), a specific method within machine learning, which is itself a subfield of AI, has emerged as a powerful framework to adapt to the challenges of medical …

Neurofibromatosis Type 1-Plexiform Neurofibromas: Integrating Treatment Across Pediatric And Adult Populations, Amy E Armstrong, Andrea M Gross, Laura J Klesse, Steven D Rhodes, Shivani Ahlawat, Verena Staedtke, Camilo A Molina, Angela C Hirbe

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Plexiform neurofibromas (PNs) are a hallmark of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), affecting ∼50% of individuals with the condition. Originating from Schwann cells and other peripheral nerve sheath components, these tumors can cause significant morbidity, including functional impairment, diminished health-related quality of life, chronic pain, and malignant transformation. Managing NF1-PNs is challenging because of disease variability, differing growth rates, and age-related differences in clinical presentation and treatment tolerability. This review examines current therapeutic strategies, including surgery, medical therapies, and emerging treatments, emphasizing individualized care. Highlighted here is the need for age-specific treatment planning, particularly as disease progression, comorbidities, and side-effect profiles …

Emote - A Modular Action Figure For Childhood Emotional Growth, Terrence Li

Theses

Emotional regulation and communication are one of the most important skills that we can learn. This skill allows us not only to recognize and effectively communicate our feelings to others but also allows us to recognize them in others. Although learning and recognizing these emotions may be a pursuit in which progress varies from person to person, this skill is especially invaluable to young children. Beginning as early as the age of 3, many children begin to show early awareness of their own emotions, such as reacting to discomfort or comfort, or starting to use words for feelings. This learning …

Wegmans School Of Health And Nutrition’S Culinary Kitchen Cart Manual Development, Neena Bhala

Theses

To facilitate the initiation of culinary medicine at RIT, a manual to guide the use of a mobile kitchen cart was developed and evaluated. This manual was developed to support faculty, staff, and students’ use of a Mobile Kitchen Cart to be able to support culinary medicine and nutrition education activities. The Manual was directed to RIT faculty, staff, and students who have experience with the cart or intend to have future use with the cart. A qualitative evaluation study was conducted with ten participants including RIT faculty (n=2), students (n=4), and staff (n=4). Feedback on the manual was obtained …

Phrases, Crystal Ching-Lam Tam

Theses

Motivational posters are widely used in educational environments to encourage perseverance, build confidence, and promote positive thinking. However, many of these visuals rely on cliché imagery, generic language, and overly decorative styles, making them feel inauthentic and easy to ignore. In visually saturated campus environments, they often fade into the background, acting as noise rather than as meaningful communication. How can motivation be communicated in a more engaging, intentional, and relevant way for college students? This thesis introduces Phrases, a visual communication system that reimagines motivational design through abstraction, clarity, and restraint. Rooted in Swiss design principles and Gestalt theory, …

Predicting Teacher Burnout Across Cultures: A Machine Learning Approach Using Talis 2018 Data, Fatma Fraishan Abdulla Hassan Alkhzaimi

Theses

Teacher burnout is a persistent global challenge with significant consequences for educator wellbeing, instructional quality, and school climate. Despite extensive research, most studies rely on small local samples, predefined burnout scales, and limited analytical techniques, leaving gaps in understanding the latent structure of burnout and the factors that predict it across diverse educational systems. This study addresses these gaps by applying a hybrid machine learning framework to the OECD TALIS 2018 teacher dataset (N = 38,081) to discover latent burnout profiles and build predictive models capable of identifying teachers at risk. Unsupervised k-means clustering was used to uncover naturally occurring …

Toward A Unified Framework For Open World Visual Learning, Yuansheng Zhu

Theses

Artificial intelligence systems have achieved remarkable performance across a wide range of visual tasks. However, most existing models operate under the unrealistic closed-world assumption, where training and test data are drawn from the same distribution. In real-world applications such as anomaly detection, autonomous driving, and medical diagnosis, learning systems frequently encounter novel or out-of-distribution scenarios. These settings require models that can recognize unknown inputs, adapt to new information over time, and maintain reliable performance under evolving conditions. This dissertation studies the problem of Open World Visual Learning, a paradigm that enables visual learning systems to operate robustly in dynamic and …

Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Among Sexually Active Individuals Toward Trichomoniasis In The Ashaiman Municipality, Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study, Christopher Yaw Dumevi, Percival Delali Agordoh, Yaw Osei Owusu, Josephine Afi Nukpedu Banini, Roberta Araba Amoquandoh, George Boateng Kyei, Patience B Tetteh-Quarcoo, Irene Ayi, Patrick F Ayeh-Kumi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Trichomoniasis is a significant public health concern due to its implications for reproductive health and HIV transmission. Despite its prevalence, there is limited understanding of community knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding trichomoniasis in Ghana. This study aimed to assess KAP toward trichomoniasis among sexually active individuals in the Ashaiman Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.

METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2024 among 397 sexually active individuals aged 15-65 years. Participants were selected via simple random sampling. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 and Stata version 17. Descriptive statistics summarized …

An Austrian Approach To Accounting Regulation: How Policy Intervention Distorts The Market For Assurance Services, Kyan Howe

Student Scholarship

This thesis applies the causal-realist method of the Austrian School of Economics to the market for assurance services in the United States. The central argument is that post-crisis accounting regulation has systematically distorted the incentive structures of independent public accounting firms in ways regulators do not predict and cannot fully control. Financial crises, properly understood through Austrian Business Cycle Theory, originate in monetary distortions rather than market failure. Post-crisis regulatory responses nonetheless target the profession rather than the underlying distortion, introducing rules that alter the institutional constraints within which auditors exercise professional judgment.

The thesis develops a judgment-based equation of …

The Relationship Between Academic Stress And Menstrual Health Among Undergraduate Students At The George Washington University, Vesna Pasetto, Leslie Davidson

GW Research Showcase 2021-2026

No abstract provided.

The Necessity Of U.S. Aid: The Russian-Ukrainian War, Lelin Spriggs

The Dialogue

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the conflict has emerged as a defining foreign-policy challenge of the twenty-first century. In the United States, the war dominates political discourse and continues to shape debates on national security and the appropriate scope of American global leadership. Although President Trump vowed during his campaign to end the war upon entering office, hostilities intensified following his inauguration, prompting renewed policy debates regarding the future and extent of U.S. military and economic support for Kyiv.

This paper argues that the United States must continue providing sustained military and economic …

A Historical Application Of Offshore Balancing: A Comparative Analysis Of The Napoleonic War And The South China Sea Strategy, Kati Quigg

The Dialogue

Through a historical analysis of Britain’s offshore balancing during the Napoleonic War, how does China’s economic and geographical expansionism threaten US interests and reinforce America’s Grand Strategy through offshore balancing? By employing Mearsheimer’s offshore balancing as a response by insular great powers to rising continental hegemony, I will explore how Britain’s Napoleonic Grand Strategy—non-continental intervention, reliance on subsidizing alliances, and maritime dominance—both informs and complicates the American Grand Strategy in the South China Sea. China’s Nine-Dashed Line of 1948, a map published by the People’s Republic of China, serves as the basis for its modern territorial claims—directly infringing upon the …