Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Enhancing Communication Through The Use Of Augmentative And Alternative Communication In Patients Status Post Traumatic Brain Injury, Reanna Greene

HIM 1990-2015

Patients who suffer from traumatic brain injury often face communication deficits during their hospital stay. This thesis intended to examine approaches the nurse can use to facilitate communication in collaboration with the speech-language pathologist. A review of literature was conducted to examine current research on the most effective devices used to facilitate communication in this patient population. Research revealed that low-technology devices were the most effective means of communicating in the hospital setting. Barriers to effective communication were identified as lack of time, education and access to the devices. Recommendations for future research include developing a documentation component that emphasizes …

Effectiveness Of Nonpharmacological Techniques For Procedural Analgesia In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Lauren E. Flaherty

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a critical analysis of research findings about nonpharmacological techniques used independently of pharmacological techniques to prevent or reduce procedural pain for infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A synthesis of the current research related to nonpharmacological pain relief techniques for infants was conducted for this thesis. Nonpharmacological interventions reviewed in this study include: Kangaroo Care, swaddling, facilitated tucking, positioning, music, non-nutritive sucking and sucrose. An interdisciplinary review of the research was performed using the interdisciplinary databases Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health, PubMED, and PsychINFO. Inclusion criteria for this …

The Effect Of Chemical Fragrances On Child Health And Development, Katie L. Gilton

HIM 1990-2015

The American public is bombarded with chemically fragranced products every day, typically in combination with each other. These products can include cosmetics, perfumes, detergents, air fresheners, soaps, and deodorants. Contained in these fragranced products are chemicals that can be harmful to child health and development. Many articles have been published examining the chemicals found in fragranced products and the effects that these chemicals can have on the human body. This integrated literature review examines empirical evidence related to the health and safety of particular chemicals used in these products. Nurses need to be aware of the actual and potential harms …

The Effects Of Preoperative Education On Stress In The Pediatric Population, Amy Y. Howard

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this research was to critically analyze relevant literature regarding the effects of preoperative education on levels of stress in the pediatric population. The goal of this research is to review and analyze the available literature to determine best practice as it relates to educating the pediatric preoperative patient in order to relieve stress. Research was retrieved from Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and MEDLINE-EBSCOhost databases using keywords pediatric, preoperative, anxiety, stress, fear, children, hospitalized child, education, play therapy, and surgery. Inclusion criteria included research that focused on relieving anxiety or stress in the …

An Investigation Of Self Care Modalities For The Effective Treatment Of Lymphedema, Amber Major

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the most effective forms of self-care that patients can perform to reduce swelling caused by lymphedema. Lymphedema may occur secondary to lymph node trauma, which makes it difficult for lymph fluid to leave an extremity. Even though lymphedema is more recognized as a side effect of breast cancer treatment, it can also be the result of many other ailments or treatments and can be present in any part of the body. By knowing which therapies are most effective, nurses and other health care professionals can educate patients to help ease the …

Factors Related To Stress In Nursing Students, Marie E. Shultz

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this review of literature was to explore and critically analyze relevant literature regarding stress factors and the consequences of stress in nursing students. Findings from this review of literature aimed to provide a better understanding of stress factors and the physical and psychological impact of stress on nursing students. Information was collected from the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and MEDLINE- EBSCOhost databases to explore what research has been conducted and to assess the current knowledge base. Analysis of the literature indicated that nursing students reported experiencing increased levels of stress during the …

Nursing Interventions In The Care Of Patients Undergoing Induced Hypothermia, Angela D. Zimmerman

HIM 1990-2015

Use of induced hypothermia for the purpose of lowering intracranial pressure and preserving neuronal function has increased as research data reveals a trend of positive outcomes in patients treated with this therapy. Recently induced hypothermia following cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation has been deemed successful. Current research has expanded to evaluate the effectiveness of induced hypothermia as a treatment modality for severe stroke and head trauma. In spite of its efficacy, complications exist with this treatment modality. The purpose of this literature review is to examine potential complications secondary to induced hypothermia and highlight the nurse's role in managing …

Lived Experiences Of Transitions In International Nursing Students, Shellye A. Vardaman

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

Throughout life, individuals are faced with various transitions, and how they manage these transitions impacts the transition outcomes and actual or potential alterations in health. It is imperative that nurses have knowledge of the conditions and processes of transitions as well as possible effects on well-being. From this perspective, nurses are able to intercede and assist individuals to positive transitional outcomes. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to describe the transition experience of international nursing students studying in the United States.

A Cross-National Analysis Of The Nutrition Habits Of Hispanic Mothers And Daughters, Monica N. Ramirez

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

The rates of obesity in Hispanic women increased significantly between 1994 and 2008 from 35.3% to 45.1% (National Center for Health Statistics, 2010). Poor nutritional habits and obesity have longterm negative health ramifications that warrant targeted efforts to stem this growing epidemic. Two articles are included in this portfolio. The first article discusses the state of the science in relation to cultural aspects of nutrition choices of Hispanic women. The aim of this article is to set the context for the cross-national study which is the focus of the second article. This study examines current eating habits, weight history, health …

Empowerment As A Hypertension Management Strategy For African American Women, E'Loria Simon Campbell

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

Successful health management strategies remain elusive for the 25 million African- American (AA) women afflicted with high blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to determine if a psychological empowerment coaching (PEC) intervention had an impact on health promotion outcomes. The primary research strategy measured the impact of a PEC intervention on health care empowerment, self-efficacy, intent to exercise, and health outcomes among hypertensive AA women. Pender's Revised Health Promotion Model (Figure 1) served as the theoretical model for this quasi-experimental study utilizing pretest-posttest measurement with subjects serving as their own controls. A convenience sample of 35 hypertensive women …

Mother-Son Connectedness, Substance Use, And Young Men's Criminal Justice System Involvement, Kim L. Moreno Phd

Dissertations

The relationship between a mother and her son and its influence on health and risk behaviors as a boy becomes a man has had little exploration. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between mother-son connectedness, substance use, serious delinquency, violent delinquency, and criminal justice system involvement in young men. This study uses data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (ADD Health), a school-based study of students in grades 7–12 in the United States. Multiple regression, ANOVA, and logistic regression were used to analyze independent and dependent variables. Results show a perception of connectedness, which …

It’S Time To Teach Back: An Inter-Professional Approach To Enhance Learning And Reduce Readmissions, Debra Peter Msn, Rn, Bc, Cmsrn, Paula Robinson Msn, Rn, Bc

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Lower Extremity Bone Mass And Body Mass Index In A Nhanes Adolescent Population, James Randall Post

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The effect of body mass index (BMI) on bone mineral content (BMC) among adolescents has been researched yielding mixed results. This study explored the relationship of left lower extremity (LLE) BMC on BMI across the spectrum of weight in a large nationally representative group of adolescents. This descriptive study used secondary data from the publically accessible, cross-sectional survey files of the 1999-2004 Continuous National Health Assessment and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) that contained whole body dual energy X‑ray absorptiometry (DXA) data as well as BMI calculations looking at the adolescent population 12- to19-year-olds at the time of the exam. The …

Pilot Evaluation Of An Internet-Based Natural Family Planning Education And Service Program, Richard J. Fehring, Mary Schneider, Kathleen Raviele

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy, knowledge of fertility, and acceptability of a web-based natural family planning (NFP) education and service program.

Design: A 6-month repeated measure longitudinal evaluation pilot study.

Setting: A university based online website.

Participants: The website was piloted with 468 volunteer women seeking NFP services. Of these participants, 222 used the automatic online fertility charting system to avoid pregnancy. The 222 charting participants had a mean age of 29.9 years (SD=5.6), 2.2 children (SD=1.9), 37% were postpartum, and 47% had regular menstrual cycle lengths.

Intervention: Nurse-managed web-based NFP education and service program.

Outcomes: …

Implementing A Virtual Journal Club In A Clinical Nursing Setting, Robert V. Topp

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Healthcare practice is increasingly focused on delivering care that is based on published research evidence. Staff development nurses can institute journal clubs to teach nursing staff critical appraisal of research articles and ways to translate research findings into clinical practice. Unfortunately, attending meetings regularly is often a challenge for nurses, and relatively few have the knowledge and expertise to adequately critique research articles. One way to bridge the limitations of accessibility and limited research expertise of journal club members is to establish a virtual journal club. This article describes one hospital's experience with developing a virtual journal club.

Creating A Therapeutic Milieu In Retirement Communities, Abir K. Bekhet, Jaclene A. Zauszniewski

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Elderly persons’ relocation to retirement communities is a stressful event that requires person-milieu adjustment. Research has shown differences in relocation adjustment for elders residing in different retirement communities. A secondary analysis used findings from a study of relocated elders in order to determine whether certain therapeutic factors were lacking in retirement communities where elders had difficulty in adjusting. Study participants were 104 elders who relocated to six retirement communities in Northeast Ohio. This study analyzed qualitative data from the researchers’ observations and field notes and narratives obtained from the elders who participated in the original study. The analysis focused on …

Multimethod Teaching Strategies To Integrate Selected Qsen Competencies In A Doctor Of Nursing Practice Distance Education Program, Mary Lou Manning, Phd, Crnp, Anthony J. Frisby, Phd

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative identified 6 competencies for the education of nurses (patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, safety, and informatics) and the related knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) for each competency. The initial QSEN focus was on competency development during prelicensure nursing education, with subsequent attention on adapting the KSAs for graduate programs that prepare advanced practice nurses for clinical roles. Description of successful QSEN competency integration in Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs is limited. Although the ultimate goal is executing DNP programs where quality and safety is thoroughly integrated …

Evaluation Of A Safe Patient Handling Program, Patricia A. Ryan

Nursing Masters

Purpose : The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a comprehensive Safe Patient Handling (SPH) Program system wide in a large healthcare organization relative to injury severity and organizational cost. Background : Extensive review of the literature reveals clear evidence that healthcare workers who participate in patient handling activities continue to be at a very high risk for occupational musculoskeletal injuries. Workers employed up to one year, and those employed greater than ten years within the institution studied were noted to have higher rates of injures that were more severe and more costly to the …

Health Care Providers’ Perception Of The Barriers In Practice In Addressing Childhood Obesity, Ernestine Iona Brown

Nursing Masters

Childhood obesity has been identified as a major health problem in America. It has been deemed a social and economical problem that has significantly impacted the health of American youth (Small, Anderson, & Melnyk, 2007). The prevalence of childhood obesity has been associated with the development of chronic illnesses in the pediatric population, such as diabetes type 2 and hypertension, which more commonly impacted adults. Health care providers are essential to intervening with obese children in an appropriate environment. Currently there are barriers in communication on this topic dilemma between parents and health care providers.

Examining Nursing Presence In The Acute Care Setting As An Indicator Of Patient Satisfaction With Nursing Care, Wendy Hansbrough Phd, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

Nursing presence is conceptualized as occurring within the nurse-patient relationship when the nurse acknowledges the uniqueness of the patient, within his or her context of being and chooses to intervene on the patient's behalf with a patient who allows the nurse into a reciprocal relationship. Nursing presence is described as occurring in varying levels and nurse expertise is suggested as one antecedent. Quantification of nursing presence would be useful in examination of nursing care outcomes, quality management and research. The Presence of Nursing Scale, PONS (Kostovich, 2002) was used in this study to test its reliability and determine its validity …

The Post Deployment Lived Experience Of U.S. Military Troops After Combat-Related Blast Exposure, Shirely A. Jett Phd

Dissertations

Blast-induced neurotrauma (BINT) is a newly emerging re-occurrence of an old combat-related injury in U.S. military troops returning from deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq. BINT is leading to a silent epidemic of symptomatic troops who face barriers to accessing healthcare and suffer debilitating symptoms in silence. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to discover the meaning of the lived experience of U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq after combat-related blast exposure. Eleven service members and veterans ranging in age from 21 to over 30 years old participated in semi-structured face to face interviews. These service members and …

Emergence Delirium In U.S. Military Combat Veterans, Jason M. Mcguire Phd, Crna

Dissertations

This dissertation study examined the phenomenon of emergence delirium in U.S. military combat veterans. Emergence delirium is a post-anesthetic phenomenon that occurs immediately following emergence from general anesthesia and is characterized by agitation, confusion, and violent physical and/or verbal behavior. Clinical evidence suggests that emergence delirium is occurring with greater frequency among military personnel returning from conflict in the Middle East. This body of work is a culmination of three distinctive phases and is presented in three individual manuscripts. The first manuscript, "Risk Factors for Emergence Delirium in U.S. Military Members," was published in the Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing with …

Nutritional Status And Clinical Outcomes Of Residents Admitted To A Nursing Home, Sheryl Nespor Phd

Dissertations

Purpose The purpose of this research study was to describe the nutritional status (well nourished, at risk for malnutrition, or malnourished) of residents admitted to nursing homes and adverse clinical outcomes in those residents after four weeks. Methodology A descriptive, correlational design utilizing medical record data was used to examine the relationship between nutritional status and adverse clinical outcomes of weight loss and pressure ulcers. Results The sample (n=69) was predominately Caucasian (90%) with 38% having one or more pressure ulcers on admission. Most of the residents were admitted from an acute care facility (97%) and were either malnourished or …

California School Nurse Survey, Rachel Van Niekerk Phd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to obtain evidence to support the assumption that school nurses have a positive effect on school attendance and medication administration practices and to hear the voice of the California school nurse. Data from this exploratory, descriptive study came from an online researcher developed survey consisting of both forced choice and open-ended questions completed by California school nurses representing the three major regions of California (Northern, Central, and Southern). The following three research questions guided the study: 1) What is the relationship between school and nurse factors on student outcomes? 2) How valued do California …

A Quantitative Inquiry Into Moral Distress And Psychological Empowerment In Critical Care Nurses Caring For Adults During End Of Life, Annette Marie Browning Phd, Rn, Cns

Dissertations

Background Critical care nurses care for many adults at end of life and it is known that these nurses can experience moral distress. Moral distress occurs when nurses are unable to perform what they believe is ethically correct. There has been speculation that psychological empowerment may ameliorate moral distress among critical care nurses. However, research has yet to examine the relationship between moral distress and psychological empowerment in the population of critical care nurses.

Objectives To describe the relationships between moral distress, psychological empowerment and select demographics in critical care nurses caring for patients at EOL.

Method Using a quantitative …

Allied Health, Carol L. Watwood

DLPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Nursing Students' Perceptions Of Preparedness As They Prepare To Graduate, Julie Simmons

Nursing Masters

Background: Nursing students in their final semester before graduation often have feelings of anxiety as they face unique challenges that come with the transition from a protective educational environment to the roles and responsibilities of a new graduate staff nurse. Factors such as increasing responsibility and clinical workload and the continuing development of clinical and time management skills may contribute to feelings of anxiety and insecurity. New graduate nurses are recognized as a valuable resource due to the chronic and increasing shortage of registered nurses as seasoned nurses approach retirement, baby boomers age, and the need for health care grows. …

Identification Of A Phytase Gene In Barley (Hordeum Vulgare L.), Fei Dai, Long Qiu, Lingzhen Ye, Dezhi Wu, Meixue Zhou, Guoping Zhang

Publications

BACKGROUND: Endogenous phytase plays a crucial role in phytate degradation and is thus closely related to nutrient efficiency in barley products. The understanding of genetic information of phytase in barley can provide a useful tool for breeding new barley varieties with high phytase activity. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis for phytase activity was conducted using a doubled haploid population. Phytase protein was purified and identified by the LC-ESI MS/MS Shotgun method. Purple acid phosphatase (PAP) gene was sequenced and the position was compared with the QTL controlling phytase activity. A major QTL for phytase activity was mapped to …

Opinions About Anti-Tobacco Marketing Strategies From The Undergraduate Student Perspective, Kara Jachcinski, Meranda Block, Caitlin Berry, Lauren Paczkowski, Emily Bernhard, Nathan Matejczyk

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The purpose of this project was to assess undergraduate college students’ opinions of anti-tobacco marketing strategies. The college environment offers an excellent setting for implementation of smoking abstinence interventions for young adults. Freshmen students at Valparaiso University were invited to join group sessions in the residence halls to evaluate anti-tobacco YouTube videos, print materials, and Quit Kit materials. Undergraduate nursing students functioned as group session facilitators. Participants (N = 39) included: 59% males, 87% non-smokers, and 92% who chose to attend for CORE credit. YouTube videos were found to be effective if a dramatic, age appropriate, simple message was connected …

Beyond The Volcanoes: A Community Partnership For Health In Rural Nicaragua, Chelsea Zeman, Cathy Wingstrom

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Background: Health inequities related to gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geography exist in rural Nicaragua due in part to lack of access to health services. The purpose of this ongoing project is to improve health equity in rural Nicaragua through social transformation using community-based participatory action research. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of human development, school health, and primary health care theories provided the framework for this research. Methods: Community-based participatory action research involves six phases: partnership, assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. In the implementation phase, the goal was to build stoves that would remove smoke from the homes and in …