Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Utilization Of Nurse Practitioners In States With Full Practice Authority: Does Geography Matter?, Jana Zwilling

Theses & Dissertations

Background: Over 80 million Americans reside in or are part of a population designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). Of the primary medical HPSA areas designated in the U.S., 66.74% are located in rural or partially rural areas (HRSA, 2020). To combat this shortage, 23* states and Washington, D.C. have enacted full practice authority laws for nurse practitioners (NP). Over 60% of NPs work in communities of less than 250,000.

Problem: The variability and extent of utilization of NPs in states with full practice authority (FPA) is unknown. To ensure access to quality healthcare, nurse practitioners need to be …

Identifying, Adapting, And Implementing A Weight Management Program In Rural Primary Care, Gwenndolyn Porter

Theses & Dissertations

Rural adults are at heightened risk for obesity, yet evidence‐based interventions lack consistent translation into clinical practice. This multi-phase study addresses this gap. First, a systematic review and meta-analysis of rural adult weight loss interventions were conducted to assess overall impact. Though few studies reported participant representativeness, meta‐analyses revealed a significant weight reduction among interventions. Second, 10 focus groups were conducted with primary care (PC) staff to determine the feasibility of implementing a weight-management program through PC. Differences in responses among rural, micropolitan, and metropolitan was also assessed. Thematic analyses revealed rural PC currently lacks the capacity to manage patient …

Reducing Adverse Outcomes In Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Undergoing Hepatectomies, Yongyue Qi

Theses & Dissertations

The incidence and mortality of liver cancers are increasing in the United States. In addition to the classic risk factors of hepatic viral infection and high alcohol consumption, non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), has emerged as a risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The most effective curative treatment for HCC is liver resection (hepatectomy), however, hepatectomy is a major operation with potential risks of mortality, hospital readmission and other adverse outcomes such as postoperative complications and longer hospital stay. The reported 90-day mortality and 30-day readmission rates following a hepatectomy vary widely across studies, most of which have limitations due …

Exploring Paramedic Students’ Level Of Preparedness For Disaster Response In Hajj 2019, Nawaf Albaqami

Theses & Dissertations

Objectives: 1) to gain further understanding of the paramedic students' level of preparedness before their clinical training at Hajj. 2) To shed more light on what paramedic students need when responding to a disaster. 3) To determine the need to recommend a change in the current practice with respect

Method: The data collection for this study was a cross-sectional survey using the REDCap electronic data capture tools. It was a convenience sample of 40 respondents. For the analyses, descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages, were used, and the Mann Whitney U test.

Results: The main findings in this study were …

The Evolving Management Of Aortic Valve Disease: Trends In The Utilization And Cost Of Savr, Tavr, And Medical Therapy, Andrew Goldsweig

Theses & Dissertations

Aortic stenosis (AS) and regurgitation (AR) may be treated with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), transcatheter AVR (TAVR), or medical therapy (MT). Data are lacking regarding usage and cost of SAVR, TAVR, and MT for patients hospitalized with aortic valve disease. From the Nationwide Readmissions Database, we determined utilization and cost trends for SAVR, TAVR, and MT in patients with aortic valve disease admitted 2012-2016 for valve replacement, heart failure, unstable angina, non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, or syncope. From 2012 through 2016, there was a 48.1% increase in the number of patients hospitalized for aortic valve disease annually. Overall, 19.9%, 6.7%, …

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 …

Planning And Facilitating The Training Of Emergency Medical Services On The Safe Transport Of Patients With Highly Infectious Diseases, Mohammed Alhallaf

Theses & Dissertations

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel are the first line of treatment and are the first exposed health care workers to infectious diseases (IDs). Consequently, the EMS setting is a relatively vulnerable environment for disease transmission and cross-contamination. Also, serious and emerging IDs, such as highly pathogenic viral hemorrhagic fevers and novel Coronaviruses, in a time of increased globalization, require comprehensive EMS training and preparedness. This project had the objective of identifying best practices for the EMS transport of patients with IDs. The methods for this project were done in two phases. In the first stage, we …