Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Small Windows Of Hope: Understanding The Meaning Of Fatigue Experienced By Cancer Patients, Lois Starnes Doane

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to describe the experience of early stage breast cancer women who were living with cancer-related fatigue. Using a phenomenological approach based on the work of Merleau-Ponty, the researcher completed six interviews in which women described the experience of being tired each day.

Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a hermeneutical approach developed by Pollio and applied to nursing research by Thomas. Each interview was examined within the context of all the interviews to identify themes noted in all transcriptions. Dealing with the prevailing and profound fatigue that entrenched these women‟s lives was overwhelming. …

The Current Practice Of Nursing Clinical Simulation Debriefing: A Multiple Case Study, Maria L. Overstreet

Doctoral Dissertations

Experts have identified simulation debriefing as the crucial or pivotal point to learning (Baldwin, 2007; Gaba, Howard, Fish, Smith, & Sowb, 2001), and the “heart and soul” of simulation (Rall, Manser, & Howard, 2000, p. 517). No research studies exist that support how best to perform this crucial activity, particularly as it relates to nursing clinical simulation (NCS) debriefing.

My aim in this study was to explore and describe the current practice of NCS debriefing. I studied the phenomenon as it naturally occurred, a group exercise, and interaction between the educator, student, and environment. The research question was the following: …

Situational Awareness In Multi-Casualty Incidents: Theory Development From The Field, Steven T. Busby

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the process of situational awareness (SA) in multi-casualty incidents (MCI). This study is significant because SA provides information on which critical decisions are made during emergency events. The literature concerning SA is mostly drawn from the domains of aviation, military operations and business and not nursing. Current conceptual and theoretical development is insufficient for application to the domain of MCI. MCI occur daily across the United States, yet a literature review revealed no studies involving SA in MCI. Limited issues that are possibly related to SA in MCI have been researched such …

"I Am A Living History": A Qualitative Descriptive Study Of Atomic Bomb Survivors, Amy Knowles

Doctoral Dissertations

Never has the world experienced such extreme desecration as with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945. This magnitude of destruction serves as the foundation for this disaster research. Although significant quantitative research has been completed about medical effects following radiation, the literature lacks qualitative exploration from a holistic health perspective. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From ethnographic data and interviews with eight survivors who currently reside in the United States, a thematic structure was developed that depicts the essential elements of the …

The Use Of The Ethnonursing Qualitative Research Method To Study Culture Care, Sandra J. Mixer, Hiba Wehbe-Alamah, Marilyn R. Mcfarland, Renee Burke

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

Leininger developed the ethnonursing research method to study transcultural human care phenomena using her theory of culture care diversity and universality. The ethnonursing research methodology which uses an open, largely inductive process of discovery to document, describe, understand, and interpret people’s meanings and experiences will be presented. The ethnonursing researcher functions as co-participant with informants working together to discover how people experience and practice care in their daily lives. Systematic and reflective processes are used while focusing on the cultural context to explicate lifeways and understand their meaning for informants. The ethnonursing method embraces the importance of discovery from the …

Becoming A Reviewer, Sandra Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

No abstract provided.

Junior Nursing Students' Experiences Of Vertical Violence During Clinical Rotations, Sandra Thomas, R. Burk

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

Horizontal violence is a form of workplace violence, a phenomenon that is prevalent in the nursing profession. Research has revealed a variety of negative peer-to-peer behaviors that lower morale and lead to turnover. However, little research has been conducted on “eating our young” (violence occurring between individuals with unequal power, such as staff nurse and student). We propose “vertical violence” as the appropriate term when abusive registered nurse (RN) behavior is directed towards students. We report a content analysis of stories written by junior nursing students about incidents of injustice perpetrated by staff RNs during their clinical experiences. Four levels …

Mental Health Patients' Experiences Of Being Misunderstood, L.M. Gaillard, M.M. Shattell, Sandra Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

Mental health patients describe “being understood” as an experience that evokes feelings of importance, worthiness, and empowerment. However, the experience of “being misunderstood” is more prevalent in patients’ relationships with health care providers. Negative consequences such as vulnerability, dehumanization, and frustration reveal that being misunderstood has the potential to damage or destroy therapeutic relationships.

Embodied Work: Insider Perspectives On The Work Of Hiv/Aids Peer Counselors, D.K. Messias, L Moneyham, M. Vyavaharkar, C. Murdaugh, Kenneth D. Phillips

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

Our aim in this study was to explore HIV/AIDS peer counseling from the perspective of women actively engaged in this work within the context of a community-based program in rural areas of the southeastern United States. Based on this research we suggest that the embodied work of HIV/AIDS peer counselors is constructed around their personal identities and experiences. This work involves gaining entry to other HIV-positive women’s lives, building relationships, drawing on personal experiences, facing issues of fear and stigma, tailoring peer counseling for diversity, balancing risks and benefits, and terminating relationships. Peer counselors recognize the personal and collective value …

Nursing Faculty Care Expressions, Patterns, And Practices Related To Teaching Culture Care, Sandra J. Mixer

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

Introduction: Teaching culture care in nursing education is critical to ensuring a culturally competent workforce. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover faculty care that facilitates teaching students to provide culture care.

Research questions were:

1. In what ways do nursing faculty care expressions, patterns, and practices influence teaching culture care?

2. In what ways do worldview, culture and social structure, and environmental context influence nursing faculty teaching culture care?

3. Given the nature of the school of nursing/university culture, what influence does this have on nursing faculty teaching culture care?

4. In what ways does nursing faculty …

Motivating Persons With Schizophrenia To Exercise: Rationale And Design, Lora Humphrey Beebe Phd, P Mhnp-Bc, Renee Burk, Kelly B. Mcintyre, Kathlene Smith, Dawn Velligan, Barbara Resnick, Abbas Tavakoli, Cliff Tennison, Olivera Dessieux

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

Persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) are not only at risk because of disabling disease symptoms but because necessary medications create health risks associated with high rates of obesity. Despite the well-known benefits of exercise, persons with SSDs rarely adhere to such regimens; few interventions to motivate exercise behavior have been tested in this group.

The purpose of this study is to examine effects of the Walk, Address sensations, Learn about exercise, Cue exercise behavior for persons with SSDs (WALC-S) motivational intervention upon exercise behavior. We will recruit a total of eighty outpatients 18–68 years, meeting these criteria: 1) chart …