Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Investigating Infection Control Behaviors In Nurses, Elizabeth L. Beam

Theses & Dissertations

Nurses are trained in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and have access to policies and procedures to use in their daily work, but errors in technique during patient care are common. The purpose of this study was to better understand the infection control behaviors that nurses demonstrate in practice. The project described nursing behaviors related to basic airborne and contact precautions using personal protective equipment (PPE) in a simulated care environment. The specific aims were to 1) identify infection control behaviors by nurses which may or may not adhere to clinical standards for isolation practice while performing clinical …

Oncology Nurses' Suggestions For Improving Obstacles In End-Of-Life Care, Rosanne Johnson Oliver

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper was to determine the most important changes needed to improve the quality of end-of-life (EOL) care to terminal cancer patients as perceived by experienced oncology nurses. The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey, sampling 1,000 Oncology Nursing Society members from the United States with experience caring for inpatient cancer patients, who could read English, and had experience in EOL care. Eligible nurses responded to an open-ended item sent to them as part of a mailed questionnaire. Nurses were asked to respond to the following question: “If you had the ability to change just one …

"Nursing Contamination: Wearing Scrubs In Public", Kemble Green

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nurses are frequently seen in public in their “scrubs,” which could mean that contaminated clothing is being brought into the community, thereby posing an infection risk. The purpose of this study is to investigate if and which contaminants are present on the fabrics and the actions nurses are taking to eliminate contamination risks.

Eleven scrub tops were worn on hospital units over one twelve-hour shift. The contaminated scrubs and three control tops were then swabbed and used to inoculate agar plates. After incubation, colonies were counted, streaked onto nutrient and Mannitol-salt agar for isolation, and incubated. Using API Staph strips …

Retirement And The Registered Nurse: The Saver Study, Shanna Field Keele

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Sixty percent of U.S. registered nurses (RNs) age 45-60 have not participated in retirement planning. Further, in the next 10 to 15 years, this cohort of 1 million RNs will reach retirement age. Previous RN retirement studies have focused on RN retirement outlook, RN economic preparation for retirement, or retirement intent. However, no contemporary research explores the psychological influences in RN retirement preparation; a concern since retirement benefits have been suggested as a retention strategy to improve patient care outcomes, satisfaction, and safety by reducing RN turnover. The purpose of the SAVER study was to identify predictors of future time …

Assessing Pediatric Nurses' Knowledge And Comfort Level With Recognition And Reporting Of Child Abuse, Andrea Sebastian

DNP Projects

Child abuse is a serious, yet preventable problem in the United States. Child abuse is defined in The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act as “Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation or an act or failure to act, which presents an imminent risk of serious harm” (United States Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], Children’s Bureau, Child Maltreatment 2009, 2010).

In 2010, there were an estimated 3.3 million referrals to Child Protective Services for the suspected abuse …

A Study To Detect The Presence Of Racial/Ethnic Pay Disparities Among Registered Nurses (Rns) In U.S. Hospitals, Jean M. Moore

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

For this research study, a regression decomposition of hospital RN salaries was conducted to detect the presence of racial/ethnic pay disparities for hospital RNs working in the most populous metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. Regression

Advance Directives Educational Program For Nurses, Rose R. Pappas

Theses and Graduate Projects

Advance directives (AD) are legal documents outlining a patient's preferences for treatment at the end of life. AD allow people to communicate their end-of-life (EOL) decisions about medical care to family, friends, and health care professionals in the event that they are unable to make those decisions themselves. Many nurses observe patients and their families waiting until the patient is at the end of their life before they initiate an AD. With the current rate of aging baby boomers in the United States, AD would appear to be a phenomeron that should be encouraged. Assisting patients with completion of AD …