Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Lived Experiences Of Nurses Caring For Persons With Mental Illnesses And Chronic Health Conditions, Luwieth Bolt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Workload Management Strategies To Promote Senior Physical Therapy Faculty Retention In The United States, Amanda Parrish

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Podcast Implementation In An Entry-Level Doctor Of Physical Therapy First-Semester Course: Student Perceptions And Impact On Academic Performance, Michael Furtado, Jincy Arthungal, Allison Reynolds

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Podcasts have increased in popularity in the last decade, but description of their use in academic settings is lacking. The purposes of this study were to (1) investigate the difference in student performance on course examinations based on podcast usage and satisfaction and (2) examine the perceptions of educational benefits, usage preferences, and accessibility of podcasts in a clinical examination course in a hybrid Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) curriculum. This was a mixed-methods study that utilized a retrospective non-experimental correlational design, and data were collected and analyzed via self-report survey. Participants adopted five podcasts into learning and studying activities. …

Respiratory Therapists’ Perceptions Of Their Roles In A Copd Multidisciplinary Care Team, Iheako Charles Ike

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to explore respiratory therapists’ (RTs') perceived roles and responsibilities in a COPD multidisciplinary care team, and how those roles and responsibilities were affected when RTs were monitored and evaluated by a team member. Accountability theory was used to guide the development of this study. The study’s goal was to provide needed information on the specific roles and responsibilities of RTs in a COPD multidisciplinary care team because RTs knowing their roles and responsibilities could improve the quality of care and enhance the delivery of healthcare services for patients with COPD. The study’s research method …

Respiratory Therapists’ Perceptions Of Their Roles In A Copd Multidisciplinary Care Team, Iheako Charles Ike

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to explore respiratory therapists’ (RTs') perceived roles and responsibilities in a COPD multidisciplinary care team, and how those roles and responsibilities were affected when RTs were monitored and evaluated by a team member. Accountability theory was used to guide the development of this study. The study’s goal was to provide needed information on the specific roles and responsibilities of RTs in a COPD multidisciplinary care team because RTs knowing their roles and responsibilities could improve the quality of care and enhance the delivery of healthcare services for patients with COPD. The study’s research method …

Organizational Barriers To Effective University Student Mental Health Services, Felicia Evans-Edwards

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was focused on organizational barriers to effective university student mental health services access in the department of student resources (DSR) at a for-profit university in the northeastern United States. Once such barriers are addressed, faculty may be more successful in reaching out to students needing mental health services who are not self-identifying as needing these services. The Baldrige excellence framework guided this descriptive case study to examine the organizational barriers that prevent university leadership from creating clear policies and procedures for faculty to refer students to mental health services. Data sources included interviews with the behavioral health leader …

The Double Burden Of Intra-Household Malnutrition Among Mother–Child Dyads In South Africa, Puveshni Crozier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Household-level double burden of malnutrition (HL-DBM) challenges traditional South African vertical malnutrition programs. Research has associated a household with an overweight/obese mother of reproductive age and her under 5-year-old child with signs of undernutrition (wasting, stunting, or thinness) with socioeconomic levels, maternal characteristics, features of the household, and child’s demographics. Grounded in the social determinants of health conceptual framework, this study aimed to investigate the determinants of HL-DBM in South Africa across the reproductive-child health continuum. Using the representative 2017 Wave 5 South African National Income Dynamics Study survey secondary data, a total sample of 314 homes met this non-experimental …

Effect Of Simulation Learning On Graduate Student Attitudes Toward Interprofessional Teams And The Team Approach To Care, Norman Cadiz Belleza

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to health care reports, more than 250,000 deaths annually are attributed to medical error, prompting interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives as one way to improve healthcare delivery. The problem is that little is known about the effect of simulation learning with standardized patients on occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students’ attitudes toward IPE. The purpose of this causal-comparative study using a pretest–posttest nonequivalent control group design was to investigate the difference in posttest scores on the Students’ Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education—Version 2 (SPICE-R2) between first-term graduate OT and PT students who participated in a simulation and those …

The Outcome Of Stroke Education And Management On Cerebrovascular Accident Patients In Bermuda, Antoinette Simone Dyer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIncidence of cardiovascular accident (CVA), also referred to as a stroke, has increased in Bermuda. Understanding key contributing factors is necessary to reduce incidences that are associated with this disease process. This dissertation examined the outcome of stroke education and management on CVA patients in Bermuda. The health belief model, incorporating a reflection of the public health framework, guided the analysis of a quantitative dataset obtained through Bermuda Hospitals Board’s Neurology Department. A cross-sectional study design was used to sample 253 stroke patients over a 2-year period (2019 -2021). The Wilcox test was employed to compare two groups – stroke …

Faculty Perspectives On Quality Of Online Courses In Health Education And Promotion Programs, Dana Wawrzyniec

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The need to make quick transitions online due to COVID-19 challenged many Health Education and Promotion (HEP) faculty to identify how to create quality online HEP courses. A review of the literature identified the need for qualitative research on the quality of online courses from the faculty’s perspective. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of HEP faculty at multiple universities, in terms of the organization and facilitation of their online courses, communication between instructor and student, and assessment of students. The community of inquiry (COI) framework, which evaluates the teaching, social, and …

Educating Nurses On The Progression Of Chronic Kidney Disease, Andrea Georgia Mignott

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe increasing prevalence and incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major healthcare burden in developed and developing countries. A gap in nursing practice was identified in a teaching and referral hospital located in Jamaica. Nurses in the organization lacked requisite knowledge and current evidence-based practice guidelines on CKD and therefore could not teach patients diagnosed with CKD. The purpose of this project was to educate nurses regarding the progression of CKD, with the aim of slowing the disease process. This Doctor of Nursing Practice project explored whether educating nurses on the progression of CKD would increase their knowledge …

Staff Education In Caring For Children With Type 1 Diabetes, Freda Ansah-Larbi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractType1 diabetes affects over 1.6 million people living in the United States of which about 200,000 are children under the age of 20, with an increase of 1.9% per year between 2002–2015. The large number of children with type 1 diabetes was observed in the project’s practice setting. In addition to the physical health impact on children, this disease also has major personal, economic, and social impacts on children and their families. Therefore, effective management is essential in reducing the risk of complications and achieving an overall improvement in the quality of life of patients. The purpose of the project …

University Professors’ Perceptions About Patient Safety Teaching In An Interprofessional Education Experience: A Phenomenological Study, Gabriele Vilanova, Andreas Xyrichis, Elena Bohomol, Rosana Aparecida Salvador Rossit

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) and patient safety are recurrent and linked themes within the field of healthcare worldwide. International organizations have repeatedly called for and research has shown the benefits of health and social care professionals learning how to work collaboratively and efficiently to provide safer and better care. This study was undertaken to explore professors’ perceptions and experiences of an IPE curricula project with a view to improving future patient safety teaching in undergraduate health courses.

Methods: This qualitative study utilized phenomenology as a theoretical framework. The participants were 11 professors from a public university in south-eastern Brazil, recruited …

Improving Fall Risk Knowledge Through Staff Education In An Assisted Living Facility, Assumpta Egowure Ike

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractPatient safety and fall prevention are crucial for nurses and healthcare workers especially in assisted living facilities considering the age and health status of the patients. Low staff knowledge of fall risk measures in an assisted living facility may have contributed to an increase in the number of falls recorded in the facility by 20% in the last 2 years. This project addressed the questions of whether an education project could increase staff’s level of knowledge on fall risk measures, and whether any improved knowledge would coincide with the number of falls per patient day in the assisted living facility? …

Reducing Fall Rates At A Long-Term-Care Facility, Francis Ortego

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, older adults often experience fall events that may result in physical, mental, and financial hardship. Since the project site was experiencing a significant number of patient falls, a fall-prevention quality improvement (QI) program was implemented. Guided by the diffusion of innovation theory and the plan-do-study-act (PDSA) model, the purpose of this doctoral project was to evaluate the effectiveness of that program to determine if the monthly fall rate in the facility would decrease during the next 6 months. The project site provided deidentified data in the form of monthly fall-rate totals as collected from the long-term-care …

Pulmonary Rehabilitation And Hospital Readmissions Among Individuals With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Nicholas Prush

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Due to policies that penalize hospitals for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) readmissions and the health problems faced by individuals who are readmitted due to COPD, it is critical to identify treatments and strategies that can help reduce the likelihood of readmission. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of pulmonary rehabilitation and demographic variables (age, gender, and BMI) on 30-day hospital readmissions for patients with COPD. Shearer’s health empowerment theory was the theoretical framework for this quantitative study. Secondary data were obtained from a hospital and the sample was comprised of 253 COPD patients admitted between …

Introduction Of Simulation To A Rural Health Care Facility, Jaime Lynn Duke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractDisparities exist between the quality and safety of care provided to patients seen in rural critical access hospitals and patients seen in metropolitan and suburban hospitals. These disparities result from lack of education opportunities and the infrequent exposure of staff to high-risk patient situations. The project addressed the lack of continuing education opportunities by introducing the hospital’s nurse leaders to simulation-based education to improve staff competence. The practice-focused questions asked if providing the nurse leaders of the hospital with information about the benefits of simulation-based staff education would lead to increased knowledge about and support for this type of education. …

The Relationship Between Health Insurance And Dialysis Utilization For Chronic Kidney Disease Patients In Saint Lucia, Anita Lilian Sydney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractChronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant cause of disability and death in Saint Lucia. The incidence of CKD is disproportionately higher among individuals who are socially and financially disadvantaged. New evidence suggests that in resource-poor countries, government subsidization programs for dialysis treatment aid in the delay of disease progression and its associated costs. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between health insurance, government subsidization, employment, and dialysis utilization for CKD patients and the efficacy of subsidization for dialysis in Saint Lucia. The study included a retrospective cohort of 979 moderate-to-severe CKD patients from secondary data …

Data Modeling Of Cognitive Structure In Physiotherapy Students Learning Gross Anatomy, William Allan Besselink

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cognitive structures that promote deep learning of gross anatomy are integral to musculoskeletal physiotherapy practice yet poorly understood. This quantitative, criterion-related validation study addressed two data modeling strategies (multidimensional scaling and Pathfinder networks) as a potential visual and quantitative representation of the cognitive structures of physiotherapy students learning gross anatomy. The study was grounded in the Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational theory of cognition. The research questions addressed the agreement (reliability, accuracy, and association) between student and expert cognitive structures and included the derived quantitative parameters as predictor variables in multiple regression to examine potential relationships with unit grades. An online …

Prevention And Self-Care Education For Osteoporosis In A Rural Orthopedic Clinic, Jean Sanford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Osteoporosis affects 25 million people in the United States causing over 1.5 million fractures every year. The gap in practice at a rural southeast orthopedic clinic was a lack of patient education on prevention and self-care management of osteoporosis and osteopenia. The purpose of the project was to develop a program to educate clinic providers on prevention and self-care management for osteoporosis and osteopenia. The Knowles theory of adult learning framed the project components. A 10-question pretest/posttest assessing knowledge was administered to 10 registered nurse participants. For the presurvey, five participants demonstrated a lack of knowledge of medication administration …

Rural Practical Nursing Students' And Faculty Members' Perceptions Of Supports And Barriers To Success, Amy J. Randall-Mcsorley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Practical nursing program students at a rural vocational school (RCC) in the midwestern United States were graduating at a low rate that was putting the school at risk to not meet accreditation standards set by the Council on Occupational Education. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of practical nursing program students and faculty at RCC about institutional, situational, and dispositional supports and barriers students faced toward graduation. The conceptual framework, Cross’s model of barriers to adult learning, was used to identify institutional, situational, and dispositional supports and barriers. A bounded case study design was employed to …

Health Care Providers’ Use Of Nudging With Families Of Older Patients Making Discharge Decisions, Tabatha Bowers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The health care system has focused on reducing costs associated with longer lengths of

stay while facilitating safe and appropriate discharges. The purpose of this educational

project was to increase awareness among health care providers regarding nudging and

how it influences discharge planning decisions by patients and families. Enhancing health

care providers’ understanding of the impact of discharge communication may address the

issue of alternate level of care (ALC). Transition theory was used to frame the project.

Practice-focused questions addressed how the use of evidence-based case studies about

nudging could improve discharge planning for patients in a large community hospital …

Development Of A Staff Education Project On Managing Patients With Nonmalignant Pain, Gerald M. Mcclain

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Opioids, once considered the cure-all for most pain ailments (acute or chronic), have developed into one of the current largest epidemics. Many contributing factors have led to the opioid crisis, but providers have played a significant role in creating this epidemic. Therefore, this project involved constructing a staff education program for providers to present evidence-based practices (EBPs) that are less addictive pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods for managing nonmalignant pain in an ambulatory clinic. The adult learning theory was used to facilitate the learning process, and logic models were used to guide the process. The topics in the education program included …

The Effect Of Income On Stroke Recovery In Urban Ghana, Ida Dawsome Amuah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Stroke recovery is a crucial public health issue in Ghana due to the high rate of mortality and morbidity associated with stroke. The significant role income plays in the onset of stroke has been empirically proven using quantitative research. However, the in-depth insights on the role income plays in stroke recovery are less known and less appreciated, particularly, in middle-income countries such as Ghana. The phenomenological study was purposed to provide in-depth insight into the effect which might exist between income earned by Ghanaian-families and stroke recovery. The theoretical framework underlining this qualitative study was a combination of the Dahlgren-Whitehead …

An Analysis Of Employee Motivation After Metamorphose, Conglomerated Public Health Care Systems, Aleta Marie Lymon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A global epidemic of metamorphosed, conglomerated health care systems changed the face of public health care organizations. The problem is, public health care organizations merge into new systems, but the culture for each merged organization has not been formed under the new system. Public administrators, health care workers and the Department of Health and Human Services are affected when there are issues in health care behavioral practices and performance outcomes. Research found that employee motivation is hard to achieve when there are issues within the internal structure of a new system. Using Herzberg's motivation-hygiene and Tajfel and Turner's social identity …

Systematic Review Of Alternative Therapies To Treat Cancer Pain, Karla Michelle Bonilla Carmona

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cancer pain is a complex symptom that affects the quality of life of oncology patients, caregivers, and families. The limitations of pain management treatment for cancer patients can be attributed to the lack of knowledge and availability of nonpharmacological treatments. The purpose of this project was to identify and gather evidence on the effectiveness of nonpharmacological interventions in the treatment of cancer pain using the methodology of a systematic review. Watson's theory of human caring supported the project by incorporating the perception of treating the human being holistically during the illness process. The Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice model provided …

Laughter Frequency, Pain Perception, And Affect In Fibromyalgia Patients, Deidre Gayl Molchan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), a common chronic pain condition, is often incompletely treated by conventional medical therapies. It can cause disability, psychological distress, work-related absenteeism, increased use of healthcare resources, and result in the inability to carry out the tasks of daily living. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to investigate the potential influence of laughter on affect and pain in individuals with FMS. Laughter produces beneficial effects on acute pain and on chronic pain in general and has been found to improve temporary affective states, but there have been no studies testing the effects of laughter on the …

Impact Of Osteoarthritis Self-Efficacy Toolkit On Adults With Osteoarthritis, Connie Hutley Kiser

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over 26 million U.S. citizens have a form of arthritis; osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form. Self-efficacy (SE) is defined as a psychological construct which identifies an individual's confidence when performing a behavior. SE is deemed a vital judge of self-management (SM) in those with OA. The purpose of this evidence-based practice, quality improvement project was to improve SE in OA patients. The identified gap in nursing practice was the lack of SE in OA patients. The project question asked whether a toolkit with information regarding SE in OA can improve SE of management of disease-associated symptoms in adults …

Interprofessional Collaborative Care Educational Program For Nurses, Lynn Ann Mcewen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Interprofessional collaboration and collaborative patient and family-centered practice is increasingly advocated as a means of improving patient outcomes and the cost effectiveness of health care. The Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative and Registered Nurses Association of Ontario identified best practices and competencies required for interprofessional collaboration and collaborative practice. Despite the widespread dissemination of these competencies and best practice guidelines to health professional schools, there remains a gap in nursing practice regarding nursing knowledge about the core competencies required for interprofessional collaboration. The purpose of this project was the planning of an education program for nurses on interprofessional collaboration and collaborative …

A Case Study Of Student Success In Physical Therapist Assistant Programs: A Systems Approach, Penelope Lescher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Graduating sufficient numbers of healthcare providers to fill the needs of an aging population in the United States is a major social concern. To address this problem physical therapist assistant (PTA) programs need to improve their graduation rates to keep up with the demand for qualified personnel. Applying Senge's theory of effective systems, 1 medium-sized community college with an average pass rate of over 90% on the National Physical Therapist Assistant Examination (NPTAE) was selected to address the research question: What are the systems factors and how do they operate together to support student success in an associate degree PTA …