Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Qualitative Exploration Of The Patient Care Experience As Perceived By Hispanic Patients Receiving Care At A Safety-Net Facility, Silvinia Cuizon

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand how English- and Spanish-speaking Hispanic patients seeking kidney and liver transplant care at a safety-net facility perceive and interpret the care experience with the goal of generating a grounded theory model to guide care delivery and improve perception of care for this population.

Background/Rationale: The patient experience is the current federally mandated hospital quality indicator that measures the range of interactions patients have with their hospital admission, which has fiscal and clinical implications for the delivery of care. Many safety-net health care delivery systems, which primarily serve traditionally underserved populations, and …

Thai Patients' Experiences Of End-Stage Renal Disease: A Path Through An Unknown World, Chuleeporn Piyasut Phd

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore how Thai end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients manage the challenges of living with hemodialysis. The participants were Thai ESRD patients, who were receiving hemodialysis in one of the central provinces in Thailand. A grounded theory approach was employed in this study as it focuses on social processes grounded in individual experiences of participants in the study. The participants included 30 ESRD patients, aged 26-75, who had been undergoing hemodialysis from 6 months to 12 years. Individual in-depth interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data were analyzed by using Atlas.ti. Data analysis revealed "a …

Shared Presence: Caring For A Dying Spouse, Lana Sue Mclouth Kanacki Phd, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

There is limited research on female spouses and their end-of-life experience with their dying husbands. The purpose of this study was to explore wives' perceptions of hospital and hospice care at their husbands' end-of-life. The grounded theory method was used for this study. Data were collected over thirteen months and then transcribed and coded for meaning. Participants were 25 elderly widows (62-103 years of age) with 19 husbands' deaths in a hospice setting and 6 in the hospital. They were widowed from 6 months to 10 years after the death of their spouses. They were good informants with excellent recollections …

The Contemporary Perspective Of Wellness Through The Voices Of The Kūpuna, Anne P. Odell Phd

Dissertations

Few studies successfully explain the decline of Hawaiian health, nor provide enough insight to the cultural determinants that affect Hawaiian wellness. For over two hundred years, Hawaiians have been influenced by a changing landscape mostly imposed upon Hawaiians and Hawaiian lands as a consequence of being conquered by powerful Western cultures. This grounded theory study utilized video elicitation and focus group methodologies to examine the perspective of wellness in a group of Hawaiian elders known as kūpuna. Following the viewing of a documentary film designed to elicit culturally based memories, a series of interview questions were asked to foster group …

Transformations With Tai Chi: The Experience Of Community-Dwelling Tai Chi Practitioners, Sunny Yim Alperson Phd

Dissertations

While Tai Chi practice has dramatically increased across the U.S., its mechanism is unknown, and overall understanding of the phenomenon is lacking. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of community-dwelling Tai Chi practitioners through a qualitative study, detailing its social and personal appeal, the reasons for their continued involvement, its symbolic meanings, and its impact on their lives. Utilizing the grounded theory method and dimensional analysis, in-depth interview data from 23 practitioners, aged 49-82 were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded and analyzed to derive a grounded theory. A theoretical model, transformation with moving meditation was developed, reflecting the …

Transition To Nursing Home Of Korean-American Elders, Myungja Kim Hahm Phd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore factors affecting Korean-American (KA) elders during the transition to nursing homes in the first month following admission. The three aims of this proposed study were (1) to explore culture specific factors that affect KA elders' perspectives during the transitional period to a nursing home, (2) to identify thoughts and feelings of KA elders about their admission into a nursing home, (3) to describe the adjustment process associated with admission to a nursing home. A grounded theory design was utilized to explore KA elders' perceptions/experiences associated with adjustment to a nursing home. Open-ended, …

Navy Nurses' Experiences During Operation Unified Assistance Aboard The Usns Mercy: A Grounded Theory Study, Angelica L.C. Almonte Phd

Dissertations

On December 26, 2004, the most powerful earthquake in 40 years erupted under the Indian Ocean triggering a deadly tsunami that devastated 11 Asian and African countries and killed more than 280,000. The US Navy responded through Operation Unified Assistance (OUA). In a historic first on the hospital ship USNS MERCY, the U.S. Navy deployed one team with members from the Navy, the U.S Public Health Service, a non-government organization (NGO), and a civilian mariner crew to provide humanitarian aid. Despite these efforts, there is a dearth of scholarly research work published on nurses' experiences during the disaster. The purpose …

Healthcare Encounters Of Formerly Incarcerated Women: A Grounded Theory Study, Karen Sue Hoyt Phd

Dissertations

The adult correctional population in the United States soared to nearly 7 million people (Bureau of Justice Statistics [BJS], 2005). Over 2 million individuals were housed in prisons or jails in the United States. Nearly 7 percent (6.9%) were women (BJS, 2005). Recent trends in the adult correctional population suggest that there has been a stark increase in the number of formerly incarcerated women in the United States. The purpose of this research was to explore how formerly incarcerated women perceived their healthcare encounters. The aims of this study were to answer the following questions. How did formerly incarcerated women …

Male Arab-Muslims Health And Health Promotion Perceptions And Practices, Abdel-Raheem O. Yosef Phd, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

The Arab Muslim population is one of the dramatically increasing minorities in the United States. In addition to other factors, gender, religion and cultural background influence individuals' beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes to health and illness. Little is known about Arab American male immigrants, how they perceive illness, how they promote their health, and the stressors they experience and barriers they face in accessing the American health care system. The purpose of this study was to develop knowledge about the male Arab-Muslims' health perceptions and health promotion perceptions and practices. This qualitative exploratory study used a grounded theory approach to gain …

Navigating The Change Of Life: The Menopausal Transition Of Thai Immigrant Women, Bulaporn Natipagon-Shah Phd, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

Given that women continue to live more than three decades after menopause and their health and well-being in later life are determined by quality of health during the menopausal transition, menopause has become an important issue in the healthcare arena. The growing number of immigrant women in the United States signifies a need for healthcare providers to develop cultural knowledge and sensitivity toward each immigrant group regarding the issue of menopause. The purpose of this qualitative study was to build a substantive grounded theory of the experiences of menopausal transition among Thai immigrant women in the United States. Data collection …

Seeking Life Balance: The Perceptions Of Health Of Cambodian Women In Resettlement, Olivia Catolico Phd, Msn

Dissertations

This grounded theory study was an inquiry into the perceptions of health of Cambodian women in resettlement and the conditions that influenced their perceptions. Few studies of Cambodian women who escaped political conflict exist. Cambodian women were among the waves of Southeast Asian refugees who have resettled in the United States. The sequelae of significant life trauma upon the health of Cambodian women in resettlement have received little attention in the nursing literature. There is less information about their perceptions of health in resettlement as their beliefs about health and illness causation contrast with those of Western health care providers. …

Justifying Coercion: Nurses' Experiences Medicating Involuntary Psychiatric Patients, Paula K. Vuckovich Phd, Rn

Dissertations

This grounded theory study delineates the process inpatient psychiatric nurses use to respond to the challenging nursing problem of medicating resistant involuntary patients. Since approximately one third of all admissions to psychiatric units in the United States are involuntary (Durham, 1996), caring for involuntary patients is a significant part of psychiatric nursing. Medication administration is a major treatment modality that is expected in caring effectively for psychiatric patients (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 1994; APA, 1997; Patel & Hardy, 2001). The process of getting the involuntary patient to accept medication is a major nursing function in a psychiatric unit that treats …

Role Perceptions Of School Nurses Who Work With Medically Fragile Students, Cay Chapman Casey Phd

Dissertations

In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that school districts were financially responsible to provide related services including nursing services, to medically fragile students. This decision applied to children attending public schools who have complex health problems and are tracheostomy dependent. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore role perceptions of eighteen school nurses caring for these children in classrooms. Six dimensions emerged from the data: Promoting Family/Nurse Connections, Adapting the Environment, Claiming Authority, “Standing Out There”, Striking a Balance and Experiencing Success. Promoting Family/Nurse Connections emerged as the central perspective, essential to implementing a plan of care. …

Crossing The Line: Experiences Of The Formerly Homeless Living Past Homelessness, Susan Marie Bennett Dnsc, Msn, Fnp, Rn, Cs

Dissertations

This grounded theory study explored the experiences of formerly homeless individuals and families who have moved from homelessness into stable housing. This was an ethnographic study and involved the researcher staying in an east coast shelter where some of the formerly homeless participants had become staff members and reside. Data analysis was informed by dimensional analysis. Moving out of homelessness was the studies perspective. Findings of the study revealed the following dimensions that related the formerly homeless's experiences: (a)reacting to circumstances, or how they became homeless; (b)surviving as homeless, or how they lived while homeless; (c)crossing the fine, or what …

The Journey Through Perspective Transformation: Learning Nursing Theory, Judith R. Heggie Dnsc, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

Through the use of grounded theory, educational methods most useful for nurses to achieve a perspective transformation, as exemplified by learning nursing theory were examined. Perspective transformation is a theory originally developed by Mezirow (1978) in a study of older women returning to college for additional education. Mezirow defined perspective transformation as the alteration or change of meaning perspectives. Perspective transformation in an individual can be compared to a paradigm change within a scientific community. Within the nursing literature on perspective transformation, most articles related to the perspective transformation needed for nurses to learn to use nursing theory as the …

Igniting The Mind: Engaging Nursing Students In The Process Of Learning, Jo-Ann L. Rossitto Dnsc, Ma, Rn

Dissertations

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore the perceptions of associate degree nursing faculty regarding their classroom teaching experiences. A purposive, convenience sample of twenty-one educators volunteered to participate in the study. Data were primarily obtained through semi-structured interviews over a period of six months. Data collection and analysis occurred simultaneously utilizing the constant comparative method. Igniting the Mind emerged as the core category of the study. This category represented the methods nurse educators use to involve students in the process of learning. Igniting the Mind entails making a connection, letting go, getting buy-in, trying something new, …

The Journey From Nonexerciser To Exerciser: A Grounded Theory Study, Keri Kuniyoshi Medina Dnsc, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

The physiological and psychological health benefits of regular physical exercise are well-documented; however, drop-out rates from both supervised and unsupervised exercise remain high. Many potential influences on exercise behavior have been studied, but with largely inconsistent results, making it difficult to identify key targets for intervention. The purpose of this study was to explore the process through which nonexercisers become exercisers, and the contextual factors which affect movement through this process, in order to enable nurses to more successfully assist clients to incorporate exercise into their lifestyles. The exercise experiences of 22 individuals who had successfully made the transition from …