Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Integration And Impact Of Stress Management And Resiliency Training (Smart) In A Nurse Residency Program: A Feasibility Study, Sherry Chesak

Theses and Dissertations

Nursing is recognized widely as a highly stressful profession, and the time of orientation is identified as the most stressful time in a nurse's career. Innovative strategies are needed to assist new registered nurses in the management and prevention of stress as a result of transitioning into the complex and challenging healthcare environment. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and impact of integrating a Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) program within a nurse residency program for new nurses at an academic medical center. Additional aims were to assess the effects of the program on participants' …

Representing And Retrieving Patients' Falls Risk Factors And Risk For Falls Among Adults In Acute Care Through The Electronic Health Record, Jann Pfaff

Theses and Dissertations

Defining fall risk factors and predicting fall risk status among patients in acute care has been a topic of research for decades. With increasing pressure on hospitals to provide quality care and prevent hospital-acquired conditions, the search for effective fall prevention interventions continues. Hundreds of risk factors for falls in acute care have been described in the literature. However, due to variations in the terms utilized to represent each fall risk factor, an effort to compare findings across settings and replicate research is hampered. As the expectations for the effective use of electronic health records increase, an opportunity exists to …

The Experiences Of Women Entering Methadone Treatment For Opioid Use: An Interpretive Phenomenological Inquiry, Melissa Mae Rubio

Theses and Dissertations

The United States is facing a momentous public health problem of prescription and illicit opioid use among women. Traditionally in health literature women have received less attention than men and this is especially true with regard to drug use. In terms of recovery from opioid use, treatment centers that use methadone as a pharmaceutical replacement for illicit opioids have been present in the US for decades, and women have been enrolling in treatment since its inception. However, there is little in the literature about the characteristics of these women, why they choose methadone treatment, and what their experiences are while …

Trends In Work-Related Injury Rates And The Associated Incurred Costs In Long-Term Care Centers, Darcie Lange Olson

Theses and Dissertations

Background. Nursing assistants, working in long-term care facilities, have consistently been among the top occupational groups experiencing work-related musculoskeletal injuries. These injuries have been attributed the physical demands of lifting and moving the individuals in their care. Great strides in research have identified successful risk reduction strategies such as the implementation safe patient handling and mobility programs. The benefits of these programs have been advocated over the last two decades, but the rate of injuries among nursing assistants continues to be more than double the national average for all other industries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the …

New Graduate Nurses' Experiences Of Transition During Orientation Into Critical Care, Mari Beth St Clair

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of new graduate nurses working in critical care for some healthcare systems remains a fairly new concept. Often new graduate nurses begin their orientation in critical care with minimal to no critical care experience. Orientation for the new graduate nurses can be challenging as for years new graduate nurses were not allowed to work in critical care until they had a minimum of one year of nursing experience. Currently new graduate nurses beginning employment in critical care are faced with revisiting basic nursing and learning critical care nursing at the same time. In order for critical care units …

Simulation Design Characteristics: Perspectives Held By Nurse Educators And Nursing Students, Jane Brekke Paige

Theses and Dissertations

Simulation based learning (SBL) is pedagogical method poised to innovate nursing educational approaches. Yet, despite a growing body of research into SBL, limited investigation exists regarding assumptions and beliefs that underpin SBL pedagogy. Even though key simulation design characteristics exist, the particular methods nurse educators use to operationalize simulation design characteristics and how these choices are viewed from the perspective of nursing students is unknown. Without understanding what motivates educators to design simulations as they do, it is difficult to interpret the evidence that exists to support chosen methods. Through the exploration of perspectives (points-of-view), underlying beliefs can be uncovered. …

Communication During Palliative Care And End Of Life: Perceptions Of Experienced Pediatric Oncology Nurses, Kathleen Montgomery

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in cancer and supportive therapy have led to improved outcomes for children with cancer. Despite progress, children still die from complications of cancer therapy or their disease. Communication during palliative care and end of life is essential to successful navigation through the end of life continuum. Nurse communication during palliative care and end of life is a phenomenon with limited research, and it is unclear how the level of nursing experience influences the perspectives of nurses communicating during end of life. The purpose of this dissertation study was to describe the commonalities of nurses' experiences of communicating palliative care …

Perceived Needs And Coping Resources Of Newly Hired Nurses In Transition, Catherine A. Schmitt

Theses and Dissertations

Newly hired nurses who do not transition well often leave their first nursing position or nursing prematurely, at great cost to themselves, the profession, the hiring organization and patients. The purpose of this secondary analysis study was to better understand the experience of new graduate nurses (NGNs) and experienced nurses as each group transitions to a new setting in nursing practice and the contribution the preceptor role plays in that transition. Schlossberg's Transition Theory was the framework that guided the study. The original data were collected from 118 newly hired nurses who were predominantly female and Caucasian with the majority …

The Impact Of Cancer Caregiving On Cancer Caregivers: Stories Of Lives In Transition, Cynthia Marie Steinwedel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of cancer caregiving on primary caregivers, exploring their personal narratives looking back on the entire experience from diagnosis, through treatment, and beyond. Caregiving is associated with exacerbation of stress-related disorders such as hypertension and heart disease and may also be associated with increased mortality rates. Transitions theory served as the conceptual framework for the study. Eleven adult caregivers, pre-retirement age, each participated in two semi-structured interviews. Caregivers were recruited from a community cancer resource center and were purposively selected to achieve maximum variation in terms of outcome of cancer treatment. …

Reading Comprehension And Nursing Education: A Missing Variable Associated With Nursing Student Attrition?, Debra L. Lajoie

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

READING COMPREHENSION AND NURSING EDUCATION:

A MISSING VARIABLE ASSOCIATED WITH

STUDENT ATTRITION?

by

Debra L. Lajoie, MSN

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

December, 2013

Under the Supervision of Susan Dean-Baar, PhD, RN, FAAN

The goals of nursing faculty and administrators are to select students most capable of completing the nursing program and to provide academic support needed for program completion. However, despite stronger entrance requirements, educators are still baffled by the persistent attrition from nursing education programs. The purpose of this study was to describe and compare the level of reading comprehension of two groups of students, a pre-nursing student …

Predictors Of Mexican American Nursing Student Academic Success, Belva J. Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

The shortage of nurses in the United States has been an ongoing concern. The need to meet the overall demand for qualified nurses is compounded by the lack of minority representation in nursing. While there are disparities in the representation of all racial/ethnic groups in nursing the lack of Hispanic nurses is of special concern. Hispanic's in the United States, at 16 percent of the total population, constitutes the nation's largest racial/ethnic minority (U.S. Census 2010). Within the Hispanic population those of Mexican American ancestry account for 63 percent of the total population. To address the health needs of America's …

Gay Men And The Intentional Pursuit Of Hiv, Thomas James Loveless

Theses and Dissertations

Hidden deep within the gay male underground lives a small population of gay men who imagined the intentional pursuit of HIV as a means to some end. In terms of nursing care for such marginalized pockets of gay men, most nurses are unaware of their existence or lack sufficient knowledge and compassion to care for this population. Bug chaser is a metaphor used to describe the gay men who intentionally sought the bug--HIV infection. Essential to caring for these men is first discovering them, and then understanding them.

The purpose of this narrative study was to understand the life experiences …

Relationships Of Contextual Supports And Barriers In Choice Behavior For Associate Degree And Diploma Registered Nurses, Sandra Lynn Nash

Theses and Dissertations

Currently, the majority of practicing registered nurses (RN) are associate degree in nursing (ADN) or diploma prepared, and the majority of ADN and diploma RNs do not return to school to get a BSN. Yet, there is increasing evidence that the educational level of a RN makes a difference in patient outcomes; having BSN RNs in a facility improves patient outcomes. Very little is known about effective strategies for ADN and diploma RNs to return to school. The Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) contains a choice behavior model that could explain some of the supports or barriers for a RN …

The Historical Influence Of Politics And Society On Women's Experiences Of Abortion, Sandra Ruth Schumacher

Theses and Dissertations

One out of every three women in the United States will experience abortion (Guttmacher Institute, 2008). The purposes of this feminist qualitative research were to: 1) examine historically the context of legal abortion in the United States, 2) describe and explore women's experiences of abortion and 3) better understand the historical impact of the sociopolitical climate on women's perceptions of their abortion experiences. An historical review of political, legislative, and social contexts surrounding legal abortion revealed an increasingly hostile environment toward women seeking abortion since 1973. By challenging existing abortion laws in state and federal courts, anti-abortion legislators have removed …