Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Interventional Radiology Procedures Without Sedation: The Nurse Experience, Catherine De Leon

Dissertations

Background: Many IR procedures offer a less invasive and economical alternative to some open or laparoscopic surgeries. Patients undergoing a procedure without moderate sedation are awake, alert, with heightened sensory perceptions, and vulnerable to their surroundings. There is a gap in the current body of literature relating to the IR nurse’s experience of caring for patients during procedures without the use of moderate sedation.

Purpose/Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of Interventional Radiology (IR) nurses caring for conscious patients undergoing a procedure without the use of sedation. This phenomenological study aimed to describe the …

Lived Experience After Surgery Among Hispanic Adults, Kimberly Sanchez

Dissertations

Background: In 2010, more than 51.4 million procedures were performed in hospitals in the United States. Almost half of all patients had a surgical procedure prior to their hospital discharge and over 80% of patients experienced acute pain after surgery. When acute pain persists for two or more months after surgery, chronic pain develops, costing the United States up to $635 billion annually. Hispanics, in particular, disproportionately experience disparities in pain treatment as they are less likely to receive analgesics. Routine pain assessments conducted using instruments may be inaccurately capturing the pain experience of Hispanic adults. No research has …

A Phenomenological Study Of Acceptability Of Preexposure Prophylaxis Therapy Within The Lived Experiences Of Hiv Negative Male-To-Female Transgender Young Adults, Gloria N. Nwagwu Phd

Dissertations

The male-to-female transgender (MtF-TG) are individuals assigned a male gender at birth but self identify as female. MtF-TG young adults experience discrimination, stigmatization, isolation, and homelessness as a result of gender identity and gender expression. The transgender populations are linked to high rate of new HIV infection. The use of Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) therapy demonstrated a decrease in HIV infection risk ranging from 42% to 73% among sexual minority individuals. The goal of this three-part study was achieved through concept analysis, data collection, and analysis. The following aims were addressed; analyze the concept of transgender, explore currently used HIV prevention …

Nursing Students' Lived Experiences Surrounding Medication Administration, Sally Nan Morgan Phd

Dissertations

Medication errors are abounding and the complexity of medication administration creates an environment where health care providers are at risk for making errors. This environment includes nursing students learning medication administration. Coupled with a rigid, protocol-driven pedagogy, nursing students may be placed in a learning experience counterproductive to accuracy. Previous studies have focused on causes and perceptions of medication errors looking for the delineation between safe and unsafe practice. In doing so, past research may have narrowed the path of discovery needed to diminish medication errors. In addition, research regarding the lived experience of nursing students while they are learning …

Lived Experience: East African Somali Speaking Women Accessing The U.S. Healthcare System, Shukri Adam Phd

Dissertations

Access to prenatal healthcare for East African Somali Speaking Women (EASSW) who are immigrants to the U.S. has been dependent on the availability of a systematic healthcare treatment model. The purpose of this study was to explore EASSW's lived experiences in accessing prenatal healthcare services in the U.S. A descriptive, qualitative phenomenological approach informed by the work of Husserl was used to explore EASSW's experiences, views, and problems encountered while attempting to access prenatal healthcare services in the U.S. Fifteen EASSW of childbearing age (ages 18–45) were recruited for this study. All participants interviewed privately, beginning with a semi-structured, open-ended …

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 …

Compassionate Care, The Patient Perspective, Lori Burnell Phd

Dissertations

Professional mandates call for nurses to respond with compassion (e.g., American Nurses Association [ANA] Code of Ethics, International Council of Nurses [ICN]) and countless hospital mission and vision statements prominently display compassion as their fundamental purpose. As a component of healthcare and nursing models, however, defining characteristics and standards are inconsistent. Compassion as a means of establishing a connection on a spiritual level abounds in the literature (Buck, 2006; Grant, 2004; O'Brien, 2008; Schultz et al., 2007) and is documented as a nursing requirement (e.g., ANA, ICN); however, it remains virtually uncharted from the lens of the patient. Through interpretive …

What Are They Saying: Voices From The Inner City? Lived Experience Of Inner City African American Adolescents With Asthma, Othello Childress Phd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experience of African-American adolescents with asthma who reside in an inner city community. The research in this area of interest is sparse, yet the morbidity and mortality rates related to asthma within the African-American population are greater than the general population. This study offers the experience of living with asthma from the perspective of the young African-American adolescent. Using phenomenological methodology, the nurse researcher selected 13 African-American adolescents; aged 12 to 15, who reside and attend middle school in the inner city. All of the participants had a confirmed medical …

Prenatal Maternal Attachment: The Lived Experience, Regina Ann Leva-Giroux Dnsc

Dissertations

Prenatal maternal attachment and the practice of health promoting behaviors during pregnancy are considered universal phenomena to women. Yet, the understanding of these phenomena from the lived experiences of pregnant women has not been well researched. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experience of maternal attachment to the unborn child and how that attachment might relate to the practice of these behaviors during pregnancy. The participants in this study were ten English speaking women, college educated, professionally employed, who were pregnant for the first time. Unstructured interviews were conducted with the participants at 14–16 weeks and …

Being Alone: The Experience Of Elderly Homebound Females, Sharon Davis Burt Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

Elderly women comprise one of the fastest growing segments of the population in the United States. This growth is due in large part to increasing longevity, and a woman's life expectancy has now reached 79 years. However, along with those added years comes an increase in morbidity and a greater likelihood of living alone. This study describes the life experience of a specific group of elderly women, those who are homebound and living alone. When elderly women are included in research, the same combination of descriptors used for the participants in this study has not been incorporated. Consequently, while much …

The Experience Of Decision-Making Among Telephone Advice/Triage Nurses, Ann Mayo Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

The role of the telephone advice/triage nurse is both complex and demanding. All decisions are made while assessing patients without seeing or touching patients. In addition, the role is often developed to decrease health care costs which can be perceived by nurses as being in conflict with their nursing beliefs. The ambiguous nature of the role makes these nurses' daily experiences with decision-making a challenge. Using a phenomenological method, the lived experience of decision-making among telephone advice/triage nurses was explored by conducting multiple interviews with ten nurses. The internal structure of the lived experience was identified through the philosophical perspective …

A Phenomenological Inquiry Of Nurse Transition To Family-Centered Perinatal Nursing, Paula Kaye Lilja Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to obtain a better understanding of how nurses caring for perinatal patients and their families view their clinical practice role after experiencing the transition from traditional maternity care to family-centered perinatal nursing. The volunteer participants in the study were 13 female registered nurses employed on a family-centered perinatal unit in one of four hospital settings. The researcher conducted unstructured interviews with the participants and analyzed the qualitative data. The history of the transition and the context in which the family-centered perinatal nursing model was being practiced are presented. Two major features of the …

Integrating Chronic Illness Into One's Life: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Susan Rush Michael Dnsc, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

Chronic illness is currently the number one health problem facing the United States; however, little is known about the experience of making chronic illness a part of one's life, particularly from the perspective of the chronically ill person. If nurses are to assist people in living with chronic illness, then an understanding of this experience is essential. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to explore how chronically ill adults integrate chronic illness into their lives. Seventeen chronically ill adults were interviewed by the researcher, and asked to describe how they integrated chronic illness into their lives. Each interview …

The Lived Experiences Of Nurses' Interactions With Ethnically Diverse Clients: A Phenomenological Perspective, Colette R. York Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

This study explored the phenomenon of nurses' lived experiences while interacting with clients who were ethnically dissimilar to themselves in a variety of nursing care settings including acute care, ambulatory care and public health. This study is timely, especially in the county in which the study was conducted because of the ongoing influx of legal and illegal immigrants from diverse foreign geographic locales. Van Kaam's method for conducting phenomenological studies was employed for data gathering, categorizing and analyzing. Categories were stated in terms of perceptions and feelings. The most frequently stated perceptual moments included perceiving client ethnicities based on physical …

Being Pregnant And Using Drugs: A Retrospective Phenomenological Inquiry, Merry A. Armstrong Dnsc, Msn

Dissertations

Qualitative methodology was employed to conduct a phenomenological inquiry describing the structure of the experience of being pregnant and using drugs. The purpose of the study was to explore the nature of women's experience and perception of the interaction, relationship, and intersection of contextual phenomena of lifestyle, pregnancy, and substance abuse. Data gathering and analysis was accomplished using guidelines provided by Spiegelberg and Van Manen. Eleven mothers voluntarily participating in a recovery program described their prior experience of being addicted and pregnant during 2 conversations with the researcher. Through transcript analysis of the first audio-taped interview, major and minor themes …

The Moral Reasoning Of Nurse Practitioners, Diane C. Viens Dnsc, Ms, Fnp, Rnc

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify the moral dilemmas experienced by nurse practitioners in their clinical practice and to describe the essential features of moral reasoning utilized by the nurse practitioners to resolve the moral dilemma. The participants in the study were ten female volunteers who were currently employed as NPs in a variety of settings. Unstructured interviews were conducted with the participants and the qualitative data was analyzed using a nine step process. Five essential features of moral reasoning emerged through the process of data analysis: values, elements in the contextual framework for moral reasoning, influencing …

The Experience Of Female Nurses Being Cared For: A Phenomenological Analysis, Sharon Lu Skinner Shetlar Dnsc, Ms, Bsn, Rn

Dissertations

The focus of this phenomenological inquiry was the question: What is the meaning (essential structure) of the experience of being cared for as lived by female nurses? The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experience of being cared for. Phenomenologic methodology was used for this study. Data analysis was patterned after the guidelines set out by Colaizzi, and Miles and Huberman. Fifteen female nurses described their experiences of being cared for during two interviews with the researcher. Through analysis of the first audio-taped interview metathemes describing the phenomena and a unity of meaning emerged. During the …