Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Lived Experience: Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension And Intravenous Prostaglandin Therapy, Phyllis D. Boone

Masters Theses

A descriptive phenomenological study was proposed to obtain a subjective description of the experience of living with intravenous prostaglandin treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. It was intended to determine what kinds of elements are common to the experience with study participants, to develop an aggregate structure of the experience from the individual descriptions of it, and add to what is now known about this phenomenon. It was anticipated that the stories told by the participants could help to determine how nurses can assist future patients to live optimally within the confines of a palliative treatment for this incurable illness.

Unfortunately, …

Examining The Effects Of Nurse Work Hours, Inter-Shift Recovery, Fatigue, And Sleep Debt On Intent To Leave, Amy M. Manderscheid

Masters Theses

The nursing profession contains dedicated professionals who work varying shifts with assorted time frames to recover before returning to work. The purpose of this study was to examine shift work, inter-shift recovery, fatigue, sleep debt and intent to leave among full-time nurses. Data were collected through the use of electronic questionnaires from a sample of 36 registered nurses from the Sigma Theta Tau Kappa Epsilon Chapterat- Large.

Findings revealed significant differences among nurses working 10 hour shifts and their accumulation of sleep debt in comparison to nurses working 8 or 12 hour shifts. Significant differences were not found between acute …

Attitudes Of Nurses Toward Research, Nancee Hofmeister

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of nurses toward research. Donabedian’s framework of structure, process and outcome is the conceptual model. A convenience sample (n=119) of registered nurses at a Midwest hospital answered Boothe’s Attitudes on Nursing Research Scale. The scale contains 84-items answered on a 5-point Likert scale. The scores were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA. Comparisons were made of the top and bottom quartile of item scores. The results indicate items that reflect structure and process are a subscale of the interest and environment scale. The most positive attitudes of the nurses …

Resilience And Depressive Symptoms In Midlife Women, Keverne L. Lehman

Masters Theses

Rates of depression are increasing throughout the world, with women experiencing depression twice as often as men. This study utilized the Neuman Systems Model to examine the relationship in midlife women between depressive symptoms and resilience. Women ages 35-55, selected from four health care settings, completed written surveys on demographic information, life events, depression, and resilience. Results supported depressive symptoms as a health concern for mid-life women: 32% reporting current or previous treatment for depression, and 24% screening positive for depression. Resilience, measured by the Polk Resilience Patterns Scale, was related to education, perceived health, conflict in the living situation, …

Investigation Of The Effects Of A Rapid Response Team On Nurse Satisfaction, Collaboration, And Communication, Jacob William Ainsworth

Masters Theses

The positive effects of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) on clinical outcomes are well known; however little is known about the effects of the RRT on the registered nurses (RNs) who utilize it. The purpose of this study was to a) examine the overall perceptions of nurses on satisfaction, collaboration, and communication and b) explore the differences in perceptions of satisfaction, collaboration, and communication between RNs who have utilized the RRT versus those who have not using a descriptive design. Data were collected by questionnaires from a sample of 340 RNs who worked at a midwestem institution. The results indicated a …

Perceived Barriers To Care Among Hispanic Women Who Delay Prenatal Care, Gustavo A. Moretta

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among selected demographic variables and the barriers to prenatal care perceived by English- Speaking, Hispanic women. The Health Belief Model was used as the theoretical framework to guide the development of this study.

The sample consisted of 20 participants aged 18 years to 38 years of age who had sought prenatal care at a primary care clinic in a midwest community. The participants had visited the provider for prenatal care after the twelfth week of gestation. Data were obtained using two instruments. Melnyk’s Perceived Barriers to Care Seale (1990) measured …

Gender Differences In The Self-Efficacy Of African Americans With Type Ii Diabetes: A Secondary Analysis Of A Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, Haley Erica Shead

Masters Theses

African Americans with type II diabetes must possess the self-efficacy to manage and cope with the chronic illness in order to prevent further decline in physical and psychosocial health. This secondary analysis of data examined gender differences in self-efficacy with the theoretical frameworks of Lazarus (1993), Bandura (1971), and Bandura and Bussey (1999). There were no significant differences found between the mean scores on the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease 6-Item Scale (Lorig, 1999) for the subgroups of males and females. Other variables such as years diagnosed with diabetes, family members with diabetes, and HbA_1c levels were not related …

Home: A Concept Analysis With Application Of The Concept To Experiences Of Individuals With Serious And Persistent Mental Illness, Corinne A. Overmyer

Masters Theses

The purpose of this paper was to explore and define the concept of home through an extensive review of the literature. The concept analysis framework of Walker and Avant (1995) was used to structure the paper and the theories of Johnson (1980) and Maslow (1954) were used for operationalization. The literature search examined characteristics of home applicable to all individuals. The concept’s defining attributes were discovered and applied to the home experiences of those living with serious and persistent mental illness. Homes were evaluated to assess for attribute presence and to determine if the homes were model, borderline, or contrary. …

The Role Of Dairy Products In The Calcium Intake Of Suburban Adolescents, Simie Bredeweg-Dejager

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine consumption of dairy products by suburban adolescents. This was a secondary analysis of data from a questionnaire administered in late fall of 2003. There were 255 adolescents who completed the questionnaire. Data were examined to estimate calcium intake from dairy products.

There was a significant difference in the amount of calcium adolescents consume from cheese, compared to that supplied by milk (t = -8.502, p = .000). Further analyzing by gender, there was a significant difference between boys and girls intake of milk and cheese. No significant difference was found between boys …

Responses Of Flight Nurses To Catastrophic Events, Gene L. Olsen

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine for the presence of symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of flight nurses. Also examined were the coping mechanisms used by the sample to ameliorate the stressors associated with performing the role of the flight nurse, as well as the relationship between the symptoms and the coping mechanisms identified by the sample. Data were collected by questionnaires sent to a randomly selected national sample of 350 flight nurses who belong to the Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association.

Of the 101 participants, intrusion was found to be most …

Perceived Benefits Of And Barriers To Continuing Education Among Hospital Employed Registered Nurses, Jacqueline A. Dean

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to expand on the body of knowledge related to the reasons far participation and non-participation in continuing education (CE). The study examined the relationship between Registered Nurses (RNs) perceived benefits of and perceived barriers to CE and their reported participation in CE programs. The Health Belief Model is the theoretical framework utilized for this study, with the variables of perceived benefits and perceived barriers in particular. This was a secondary analysis of data collected in a descriptive correlational study where RNs employed in two acute care hospitals in the Midwest were surveyed. Descriptive statistics …

Consumer Knowledge About Managed Care: A Comparison Of Lay-Consumers To Registered-Nurse Consumers, Elizabeth A. Byma

Masters Theses

Orem’s self-care and self-care deficit theories provided the framework for this pilot study that compared lay and registered nurse consumers’ problems with and knowledge about their managed care plans. A distributed questionnaire assessed commonly experienced problems, reasons for problems, and preferred methods of obtaining information about their plan.The only significant difference between the two groups was that lay consumers were more likely to go to the ER without prior authorization (corrected Chi-sq. = 3.7, p = .03). The most firequently chosen reason ofboth groups for difficulty obtaining health care services was they did not know the rules of their managed …

Effects Of A Supportive-Education Nursing Intervention On Quality Of Life In Patients With Heart Failure, Melodee L. Vanden Bosch

Masters Theses

The purpose of this secondary analysis was to examine the difference in quality of life (QOL) in home-care patients with heart failure (HF) receiving nursing intervention. The specific nursing intervention of interest was supportive-education (SE), based on Orem's (1995) self-care deficit theory. The second intervention of general health teaching acted as a placebo effect. The convenience sample of randomly assigned patients with HF was from two home-care agencies. The paired t-test was used to analyze the difference in QOL within the SE group and the placebo group from baseline to six months. The independent t-test was used to compare the …

Investigation Of The Role Of Self-Efficacy In Postoperative Outcomes In Spinal Fusion Patients, Karen Roberts Burritt

Masters Theses

A descriptive correlational design was utilized to explore the relationship between preoperative self-efficacy and the postoperative outcomes of distance ambulated, brace application, discharge disposition and length of stay in surgical spinal fusion patients. Social cognitive theory and the concept of self-efficacy were used to provide the theoretical framework. A novel self-efficacy questionnaire was developed to measure the independent variable, it was tested for reliability and validity in a 16 patient pilot study. The pilot study was followed by a study of 52 post-operative patients. Preoperative self-efficacy significantly correlated to distance ambulated in the entire sample. Females in this sample demonstrated …

Adolescents With Epilepsy: The Relationship Between Perceptions Of Parenting, Self-Concept, And Self-Assessment Scores Of Depression, Alison Z. D. Hofheinz

Masters Theses

Adolescents with chronic diseases must accomplish the management of their healthcare decisions and practices; those with epilepsy also deal with the uncertainty of seizure disorders and the stigma linked to this disease. This secondary analysis of data examined psychosocial variables for adolescents with epilepsy within the developmental-contextual framework proposed by Hohnbeck and Shapera (1999). No statistically significant differences were found between the mean Piers-Harris scores, self-assessment scores on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) or the Revised Family APGAR for the subgroups of males, females, younger (9 to 11.44 years) or older (11.45 to 14 years) adolescents. Perceptions of parenting, length …

Home-Care Nurses' Knowledge And Perceived Preparedness To Counsel Patients On Advance Directives, Mary Moran Barr

Masters Theses

This study examined home-care nurses’ knowledge and perceived preparedness to counsel patients on advance directives (ADs). Joyce Fitzpatrick’s “life perspective rhythm” model provided the framework for the thesis. Sixty-two registered nurses actively practicing in home-care in West Michigan were surveyed over a 4-week period. Each nurse completed a 16-question survey, which included an 11-question true-false test of knowledge of ADs. Survey results indicated that nurses who feel prepared to counsel patients are more knowledgeable than those who do not feel prepared to counsel (t=2.89, df=57, p=<0.05). Overall knowledge was high (87.4%) but only 40 nurses (64%) felt prepared to counsel patients on ADs. The study implies that factors other than knowledge may have an impact on preparedness to counsel. Possibilities for further study include more research on education of healthcare providers about ADs, patient education, and the need for mutual discussions on end-of-life care issues in relationship to completing ADs.

Examination Of Therapeutic Alliance And Dependent-Care Agency In The Context Of Complementary And Alternative Therapy Utilization By Mothers For Their Children With Asthma, Mary C. Vanderwal

Masters Theses

Complementary and alternative therapies (CAT) are being used by increasing numbers of individuals as both self-care and dependent-care strategies. Nursing leadership is needed to provide guidance and support to individuals using CAT Nurse-client relationships that center on therapeutic alliance may be a vehicle for supporting appropriate use of CAT as self-care and dependent care modalities. Eighty-seven mothers whose asthmatic children were involved in a 6-month glyconutritional supplementation trial were surveyed to evaluate their perceptions of therapeutic alliance using the Kim Alliance Scale (KAS). Greater that 90% of the sample perceived therapeutic alliance most of the time in relationship with the …

The Relationship Between Exercise Knowledge And Exercise Self-Efficacy For The Prevention Of Osteoporosis, Suzanne M. Leclaire

Masters Theses

The conceptual framework for this study was Self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), based on Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986). The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between exercise knowledge and exercise self-efficacy for the prevention of osteoporosis in young adults. Population selection was based on clinical research findings that bone health is affected by habits early in life, such as calcium intake and establishing regular exercise, which affect bone health in later years. The study was a secondary data analysis of 353 females and males 18 to 35 years of age, primarily Caucasian (92.9%). Results from …

The Effect Of Supportive Education, As A Tertiary Nursing Intervention, On The Quality Of Life Of Patients With Heart Failure, Julie A. Switek

Masters Theses

Quality of life in patients with heart failure is poor. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a supportive educational nursing intervention on quality of life. The quality of life of two groups of patients with heart failure were compared, the control group that received placebo interventions and the experimental group that received a supportive educational intervention. The instrument utilized in this study was the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index; Cardiac Version III. Betty Neuman’s systems model was the theoretical framework that guided this research. Independent and paired T-tests were utilized to analyze the …

Comparison Of Maternal Perception Of Birth: Labor Induced By Misoprostol Vs Spontaneous Labor, Kristine E. Barber

Masters Theses

This study was a comparison of the maternal perception of birth with spontaneous labor vs. labor induced by misoprostol. Perception of control, a primary factor linked with satisfaction in childbirth, was also evaluated.

Levine’s Conservation Principles guided this study. Many studies have evaluated misoprostol’s effectiveness and safety, but none have evaluated patients’ perception of their birth experience when receiving the drug. An awareness of this aspect is essential to evaluate the drug’s effect on the integrity of the whole individual.

A convenience sample of women who delivered at one regional hospital were given two questionnaires to complete before discharge. There …

Home Health Care Nurses' Knowledge Of Advance Directives, Jennifer L. Zoeteman

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe home health care nurses' knowledge of advance directives. Dorothea Orem's Theory of Self-Care guided this descriptive correlational study which investigated the relationship between knowledge of advance directives and the variables of nursing educational preparation and years of nursing experience. A convenience sample of 40 subjects employed by a Michigan home care agency completed a 39 item questionnaire adapted from Crego and Lipp (1998). The mean knowledge score was 84.68%. Analysis of the demographic profile showed no significant difference in knowledge levels by educational preparation. Years of nursing experience was found to have …

Does Mutual Goal Setting Make A Difference In Level Of Self-Efficacy For Patients With Congestive Heart Failure Receiving Home Care, Avis A. Rogers

Masters Theses

This secondary analysis evaluated the effect of a mutual goal setting nursing approach on the level of self-efficacy to manage disease in general in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). The conceptual frameworks utilized were King's theory of goal attainment and Bandura's theory of self-efficacy. The primary study used a convenience sample of 54 patients who had been admitted to two home healthcare agencies with the primary diagnosis of CHF. Data were collected at baseline, 3-months and 6-months. The data collection tool was the Self-Efficacy Tool, which was from Outcome Measures for Health Education and other Health Care Interventions (Lorig, …

Quality Of Life In A Heart Failure Population, Diane S. Rexford

Masters Theses

The purpose of this secondary analysis was to identify what impact nursing approaches had on quality of life over time in a heart failure population. The sample was those patients who were receiving home care for heart failure.

The theoretical framework was the King theory of goal attainment. This secondary analysis used data from the study by Dr. Kay Setter Kline, Home Care Outcomes for Heart Failure: A Test of Two Nursing Interventions. The specific tools utilized were a demographic tool and the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index: Cardiac Version III. The subjects received nursing approaches from graduate …

Study To Test Nursing Smoking Cessation Interventions On The Stage Of Behavior Change Of Smokers, Barbara J. Goudie

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to test the effect of smoking cessation interventions given by nurses on the stage of behavior change of smokers. Prochaska & Velicer’s (1997) trans-theoretical model of behavior change was used to provide direction for the study. The sample was a convenience sample of ten. The subjects were patients on the medical/surgical floors of a general hospital who met the selection criteria. Demographic information and smoking history were obtained from the patients, and an intervention based on a protocol developed from Prochaska’s health promotion model was given to each subject One month after the intervention …

Knowledge About Stroke In Adults From Rural Communities, Julie Billett

Masters Theses

Fifty middle to low-income adult clients of a rural family care center were surveyed in a descriptive correlational study in order to determine their abilities to identify the signs and symptoms of a stroke and their knowledge of stroke risk. Additionally, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient was used to ascertain whether the participants’ level of knowledge was related to their actual stroke risk, as identified by the American Heart Association’s Stroke Risk Tool Descriptive analysis of the item responses revealed that the percentage of the sample correctly identifying individual signs and symptoms ranged from 44 to 77%. When actual stroke risk was …

The Effect Of Supportive-Educative Nursing Interventions On The Hospital Readmission Rates Of Patients With Heart Failure, Patrice M. Whitaker

Masters Theses

The prevalence of heart failure (HF) is increasing and patients with HF are frequently readmitted to hospitals soon after discharge, at great cost. Improving self-care and reducing hospitalizations in this group is vital. This study, based on Dorothea Orem’s ( 1995) self-care deficit theory, evaluated supportive-educative vs. placebo nursing interventions. The study results were drawn from a larger longitudinal study done by Dr. Kay Setter-Kline, Ph.D., R.N.

The study sought to determine if supportive-educative nursing interventions reduced the rehospitalization rate for patients with HF. The Self-Management Tool was utilized for data collection, after being adapted from the Chronic Disease Self-Management …

Perceived Problem Areas For Adults Living With Diabetes, Valda Tolliver

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine the perceived problem areas for adults living with diabetes. A descriptive design using the Problem Areas in Diabetes Scale (PAID) among a convenience sample of 24 African Americans provided the data in this study. King’s (1971) conceptual framework for nursing provided the theoretical foundation.

Data indicated that 83% of the sample did not perceive living with diabetes as a serious problem. However, the majority of them identified food deprivation and coping with diabetes, in addition to worrying about the future and possible serious complications from the disease as problematic. These results suggest …

Exploring The Relationship Between Life Experiences And Quality Of Life In Patients With Heart Failure, Sharon Vanleeuwen

Masters Theses

This was a secondary analysis of data from 86 home care patients from a primary study by Kline (1999) of home care outcomes for persons with heart failure. Surveys were used to collect data on quality of life, energy/fatigue levels and functional abilities. In the secondary analysis, the relationships between functional abilities and energy/fatigue levels with quality of life in heart failure patients were examined using a Pearson’s r correlation. Parse’s theory of human becoming was used as the framework for this study.

The life experiences of persons with heart failure were examined in this study focusing specifically on functional …

Body Image Perception Of Adolescents With Diabetes, Cathleen E. Kessler

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare body image of adolescents with diabetes to adolescents without diabetes in order to increase the awareness of the psychological, emotional, and spiritual effects that diabetes may have on an adolescent’s consistently evolving body image. Neuman’s systems model was applied as the theoretical framework.

A Body Image Questionnaire was completed by two groups of adolescents, one group with diabetes and one group without diabetes. Both groups completed a 100 item Body Image Questionnaire (What I Think About Me). The questionnaire consisted of 45 physical traits and 55 Actors that influence or correlate to …

Faculty And Student Perceptions Of Effective Clinical Teachers, Sylvia A. Counts

Masters Theses

The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify which characteristics of clinical teachers were considered most important by associate degree nursing (ADN) students and Acuity, and to investigate whether the perception of effective clinical teacher characteristics (ECTC) change as the student advances toward graduation. Imogene King’s conceptual framework for nursing served as the framework for this study. Faculty and students were surveyed using the Clinical Teacher Characteristic Instrument (CTCl). The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to investigate if there were significant differences in perceptions between faculty and students. A Kruskal-Wallis test …