Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

1-Check Unmc Mobile App Usage: A Quantitative Analysis Of The Data, Molly Pofahl

Theses & Dissertations

As COVID-19 cases continued to rise in Nebraska, universities and colleges were faced with unique challenges in the effort to continue providing quality education for students. The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) took on especially difficult challenges due to its status as an academic medical center. By the Fall of 2021, students, faculty, and staff were beginning to return to campus. The 1-Check UNMC app was created to help keep sick people from coming to campus. The UNMC community was expected to screen themselves for COVID-19 using this app each day before coming to campus. This thesis is an …

Fire Service Covid-19 Infection Prevention And Control Policy Comparison, Saaddedine Dichari

Theses & Dissertations

To date, there have been over 2.7 million deaths and more than 126 million cases attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic (JHU, 2021). This pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of daily life. Among those impacted are U.S. firefighters, as they provide many services beyond simply extinguishing structure fires and are frequently dual certified as emergency medical technicians. Many of the victims of this pandemic have relied on first responders to provide them with emergency medical care and hospital transport. When caring for these infected patients, firefighters have an increased risk of exposure and must be provided with adequate …

The Escape Pod: Utilizing Escape Room Methodologies To Train Public Health Volunteers On Open Point-Of-Dispensing Operations, Melanie R. Thompson

Theses & Dissertations

Mobilizing Points-of-Dispensing (PODs) during a mass dispensing of medication event at a local health department will require a large amount of personnel, both staff and volunteers. Training the volunteers prior to this type of event is ideal to ensure that POD operations flow quickly and properly. This project aimed to create an affordable and fun training that engaged volunteers and other interested stakeholders while increasing their knowledge of POD operations. Methodologies used in commercial escape rooms were employed in this training to enhance the participants’ understanding of POD operations. Participants to worked in groups to solve puzzles and challenges in …

God, I Hope This Part Of My Life Is Over: A Focused Ethnography Of A Correctional Youth Facility’S Therapeutic Climate, Eric Meyer

Theses & Dissertations

Although all prisons have the same goal of isolating offenders from society, the precise strategies used vary from one jurisdiction to the next. Some prisons use means of punishment to gain inmate compliance. Other prisons concentrate their limited resources on rehabilitation. Contained within the following pages are details of a focused ethnography that was completed in a state correctional youth facility that housed males between the ages of 15 and 21 years, all of whom were convicted of violent crimes. This study had the objective of exploring the climate of therapy in this correctional youth facility where rehabilitative programs were …

Common Areas For Improvement From After Action Reports (Aars) Generated After Exercises Or Actual Disasters, As Reported By A National Sample Of U.S. Hospitals, Abdoulaye Abdoulaziz

Theses & Dissertations

Many hospitals conduct exercises every year, and they conclude the process with an After-Action Report and Improvement Plan. Therefore, there are thousands of AAR/IP’s across the country with limited opportunity to compare them or to learn from them collectively. Our project has gathered Improvement Plans (IP’s) and conducted a qualitative analysis which determined whether the “lessons learned” can be categorized into common themes.

Potentially Reduced Exposure Products, Occupational Variations In Smoking, And Hardcore Smokers: Examining Important Elements In The Tobacco Use Spectrum, Raees A. Shaikh

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine three important aspects of the smoking phenomenon that are, and will remain, important for the future of tobacco control research and policy. First and currently one of the most debated and researched topics in the tobacco research field relates to the group of products regarded by some as the potentially reduced exposure products (PREPs). We studied determinants of use of these products. Second aspect was to examine the socioeconomic subgroup of smokers based on their occupations who might potentially benefit from the use of PREPs and the third stage involved studying the …

Pandemic Planning: Estimating Disease Burden Of Pandemic Influenza To Guide Preparedness Planning Decisions For Nebraska Medicine, Angelia Wimberly

Theses & Dissertations

This year marks the 100^th anniversary of the 1918 “Spanish Flu” outbreak that killed 50-100 million people worldwide. If a pandemic of this proportion happened today, the federal pandemic influenza plan predicts that 30 percent of the population could become infected with up to 50 percent seeking outpatient care. With Nebraska Medicine currently operating at nearly full capacity (95-97%), surge capacity for hospital space, staff, and supplies would be in severe demand and would quickly overwhelm the organization. To assess the impact of pandemic influenza in Douglas County Nebraska and Nebraska Medicine, pandemic modeling tool FluAid and FluSurge 2.0 …

Hospital Based Emergency Department Visits With Dental Conditions: Outcomes And Policy Implications In The States Of California, Nebraska And New York, Sankeerth Rampa

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to present state-level estimates of hospital-based emergency department (ED) visits with dental conditions across all ages in the states of California, Nebraska, and New York. Also, this dissertation examined the outcomes and impact of changes in Medicaid policies on the utilization of ED with dental problems. State Emergency Department Databases (California, Nebraska, and New York), a component of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) was used for this dissertation. Dental conditions were identified by using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes. High-risk groups visiting EDs with dental conditions were …

Barriers To Pediatric Triage Guideline Compliance: A Survey Of Nebraska Emergency Departments, Jonathon J. Gruba

Theses & Dissertations

Nebraska emergency departments may be underprepared for a mass casualty event involving a large number of children, as indicated by the results from the 2013 Emergency Medical Services for Children’s (EMSC) Pediatric Readiness Project (PRP) report. This was primarily evident by the lack of existence of a pediatric triage policy among Nebraska emergency departments. Utilizing a survey, this study attempted to identify the emergency departments in Nebraska that followed the EMSC guideline of having a pediatric triage policy, as well as to identify possible barriers to guideline adherence among those that did not have the policy.

It was found that …

Behavioral Care For Children In Urban And Rural Integrated Primary Care, David I. Taylor

Theses & Dissertations

Mental, emotional, and behavioral issues in children are a significant concern for the children, their families, and society. Despite the existence of evidence-based treatments, the success of behavioral healthcare to meet the needs of these families will require high quality communication and relationships across a wide range of stakeholders. Integration of care represents a patient-centered strategy to unify these stakeholders into a single cohesive care team. The purpose of this dissertation is to define the behavioral healthcare team in integrated primary care for children in terms of the functional roles involved and to evaluate the quality of relationships and communications …

Assessing Change In Baseline Preparedness Knowledge In Long-Term Care Facilities, Heidi L. Wheeler

Theses & Dissertations

With much of the focus and federal resources in recent history going to support hospital preparedness, long-term care facilities have been left behind even though they house one of our most vulnerable populations. Few regulations and standards have required these facilities to keep pace with preparing for an increasingly volatile environment and aging society. This is changing with the proposal of new federal standards and regulations requiring more thorough and robust preparedness planning. These new requirements do not have to be overwhelming or burdensome to facilities but can be included quite simply into routine planning and training. This study looks …

Exploring Emergency Communication Experiences In Response To The 2010 Haiti Earthquake: Lessons Learned From International Donors And Local Government Agencies, Pierre Marie Barbara Roussel

Theses & Dissertations

Background:

In almost every disaster situation, the use of standardized communication procedures among humanitarian relief agencies has been identified as one of the efficient practices to minimize the mismanagement of resources and thus to maximize the response effort among actors to reduce the incidence impact on the public and to increase their resilience capabilities.

Agencies have access to several guidelines to follow during domestic disasters, but there have been very few manuals developed to guide relief organizations on best practices during international large and complex natural disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Haiti has experienced over its history several …

Establishment Of Comprehensive Training Center In Tajikistan, Umeda Sadykova

Theses & Dissertations

There is a notable increase in the number of natural and manmade disasters all over the world in the past two decades. Emergency preparedness is a field that is drawing increased attention in many countries. Tajikistan is a disaster prone country with unforgiving nature and weak preparedness infrastructure/system. Tajikistan’s weak emergency preparedness system can be attributed to two main reasons; lack of coordination between the government and international emergency organizations, and the paucity of well trained and organized network of emergency professionals. This study drafted a proposal to establish a comprehensive training center in Tajikistan. This training center will be …

Using Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program To Execute A Mass Prophylaxis Exercise In A Rural Community., Brian K. Smith

Theses & Dissertations

This project explores the execution of point of distribution exercises in a rural community. Harrison County Iowa is a rural county with a population over 15,000 located approximately 45 minutes north of the Omaha metro area. The project explored the existing point of distribution plans and inventory for the Harrison County Home and Public Health Department. Prior to this project, many staff at Harrison County Home and Public Health Department had no experience with table top or full scale exercises. The mass prophylaxis point of distribution plan had not been updated, and staff had not received training on the point …

The Effect Of Body Mass Index On Graft Function And Kidney Transplant Outcomes, Morgan Galle

Theses & Dissertations

Background: When determining eligibility for kidney transplantation, body mass index (BMI) is often a debatable criterion for transplant due to the clinical indication, an elevated BMI has adverse effects on kidney transplant outcomes. There is a current gap in research on the effect BMI has on kidney transplant outcomes.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the role BMI plays in post-kidney transplant clinical outcomes including delayed graft function, new onset diabetes after transplant, wound complications, hospital length of stay, albumin, and readmissions to the hospital from initial hospitalization and at six months following kidney transplantation. The primary …

Examining Employee Knowledge Of The Jennie Edmundson Hospital Active Shooter Policy, Mallory W. Darais

Theses & Dissertations

Nationally, there has been a large increase in the number of active shooter events within healthcare facilities such as hospitals. Due to this increase, government organizations have recently released documents to guide healthcare facilities on implementing active shooter policies and updating emergency operation plans. Currently, recommendations from government entities such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security suggest the “Run, Hide, Fight” approach during an active shooter incident. Jennie Edmundson Hospital, located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and affiliated with the Methodist Health System, currently has an active shooter policy in place. Data was collected from …

School Design To Promote Physical Activity, Jeri Brittin

Theses & Dissertations

Increasing children’s physical activity (PA) at school is a national focus to address childhood obesity. Research has demonstrated associations between school built environments and students’ PA, but has lacked a comprehensive synthesis of evidence. Chapter 1 presents new evidence-, theory-, and practice-informed school design guidelines, including evidence substantiality ratings, to promote PA in school communities. These guidelines delineate strategies for school designers, planners, and educators to create K-12 school environments conducive to PA. They also engage public health scientists in needed transdisciplinary perspectives.

There have been few longitudinal studies to verify causal relationships between the school built environment and PA. …