Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Safe Practices For Preventing Covid-19 Among School-Aged Children, Meleena Reyelle Banda-Garcia

Nursing | Senior Theses

Communicable diseases and infections are common health problems among children. Among the most impactful communicable diseases present today is COVID-19, a disease caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2, which has forced many school closures due to rapid transmission. Despite children not being the main driving factor of the spread of the disease, severe complications underlying COVID-19 incidence have resulted in increased hospitalization among school-age children.The initial global response to the spread of COVID-19 included the closure of school systems; however as the disease continues to be effectively managed, communities are starting to re-open schools partially or entirely nationwide. Although pharmaceutical …

Preventing Postpartum Complications Using A Home Visitation Model Of Care, Jenna Ingram

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

The United States is currently facing a health crisis among the maternal postpartum population. As stated by The Commonwealth Fund in a study released in 2020, “In 2018, there were 17 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in the U.S. – a ratio more than double of most other high-income countries” (Roosa, 2020). Most often, mothers with uncomplicated pregnancies and births are discharged soon after the delivery of their new baby. In most outpatient settings, providers do not expect a follow up appointment for the mother until roughly three to six weeks after discharge. During this transition period …

Childhood And Adolescent Obesity: Related Comorbidities And Interventions, Jasmine Wong

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

The prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States has steadily risen over the years and has become a public health concern. Obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex. Obese children and adolescents are at risk for poor health and poor quality of life. Furthermore, there are numerous comorbidities associated with childhood and adolescent obesity. While some of the associated diseases are acute, others can become chronic and result in lifelong conditions.

Objective

The purpose of the present thesis is to explore …

Effects And Outcomes Of Different Laboring Positions And The Influence From Societal Norms, Amberlyn Heskett

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

Within labor and delivery, every birth is different. Alarmingly, the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate, including death during labor, among developed countries (World Health Organization, 2022). Many maternal deaths may be preventable.

In the U.S., the use of forceps, vacuum-assisted birth, episiotomies, and emergency C-sections are common for women during childbirth. Even though some laboring positions may assist birthing more than others, there often is resistance to allowing various positions due to outside influences, including societal norms, hospital management, and healthcare professional training. Women in labor are vulnerable and look to their nurses for support during the …

How Is Health Seeking Behavior And Patient Outcomes For Latin Immigrants Affected By Language Barriers, Socioeconomic Status And Health Literacy?, Cassandra Sanchez

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

Language barriers cause a disconnect between patients and health care workers. What further causes a disconnect is when patients have a lower level of education in addition to having a language barrier. I will be focusing on Latin immigrant individuals in the United States for my research. Many Latin immigrant patients may not have gone to school in their native countries, so their education level is lower making it harder to understand discharge information or patient teaching. When patients are unable to have that health literacy it may lead to negative patient outcomes due to not adhering to medication …

Our Early Years Of Life's Effects On Our Future Health And Well-Being, Claudia Gagliano

Nursing | Senior Theses

Many poor health outcomes later into adulthood have been triggered by adverse life events that have occurred during childhood. Most of the general population has experienced some sort of adverse childhood event that has negatively impacted their future health. Adverse childhood events include any traumatic event that has occurred during childhood including maltreatment (sexual abuse, mental abuse, and physical abuse), neglect, parental loss, and peer victimization.

Raising awareness regarding the opportunities to intervene in a child’s life as a means to prevent behavioral, psychological, and substance abuse disorders before they would typically manifest on their own is the ultimate goal. …

How Has The Pandemic Exacerbated Nurse Burnout, And What Can Be Done To Improve Their Psychological And Emotional Well-Being?, Lisette Diaz

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions of people, both emotionally and physically. Nurses are among the people who are most affected. The nurses' quality of life and the way they provide care has been changed by the pandemic. Nurses are so focused on providing the best possible care for their patients that they neglect to look after themselves.

Objective: The purpose of this literature review is to identify and evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected nurses and their well-being. The significance of this research was to establish how the ongoing pandemic has impacted nurses’ performance and …

Identifying Cultural Biases And Understanding Health Care Disparities For Lgtbq+ Patients, Jevon Nelson

Nursing | Senior Theses

Understanding the health disparities within the LGBTQ+ population, will consist of educating Nurses and other healthcare providers cultural competence for this population, along with proposing certain educational training programs for all the medical professionals. There’s not only an implicit bias but also lack in quality of healthcare due to the personal reasons that healthcare providers may have, along with certain stigmas that creates an infringement on healthcare for this specific population. Members of the LGBTQ+ community will continue to have one of the highest amounts of health care disparities due to the lack of cultural incompetence if nothing is done.

Substance Use Among Nurses As A Result Of Covid-19, And The Impact Of Rehabilitative Programs On Nurses, Gerome Macaspac

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background: The incidence of substance use among nurses has been a persistent issue for decades. The effects associated with substance misuse depend on what is used, the amount, how often, and how they are taken. Regardless of the substance used, any nurse who enters the workplace using substances puts the lives of others at risk. Due to the widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a risk that the number of nurses resorting to the use of substances may have increased. Therefore, an investigation into drug use among nurses during the pandemic is particularly important.

Objective: To explore the …

The Components Of Vaccine Hesitancy And The Role Of Patient Education In Promotion Of Vaccinations In Newborns, Camille Joy Rayo

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

Due to an array of reasons relating to vaccine hesitancy, many newborns are without their standardized and recommended vaccinations as a result of their parent’s beliefs. Parents hold the power to vaccinate their children. Nurses must provide reliable information, debunk myths, and pursue pro-vaccination ideas when educating a parent about newborn vaccinations. By doing so, vaccine hesitancy should decrease and vaccination rates should increase. Unvaccinated newborns are put at a greater risk of contracting serious illnesses that may spread to others or even lead to one’s own death.

Objective

To identify common factors regarding vaccine-hesitant parents of the newborn …

Compassion Fatigue: The Impact On Nurses During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Adrian Huynh

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

Compassion fatigue comes from the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of helping others through stressful and traumatic experiences. It is a form of fatigue linked to burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Many nurses are vulnerable to compassion fatigue from repeated exposure to the trauma of their patients. While compassion fatigue has been a continuing issue, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk and number of nurses developing compassion fatigue. This can affect patient care, workplace and personal relationships, and lead to development of more serious mental health issues.

Objective

To investigate the effects of compassion fatigue on the registered …

Factors Impacting Organ Transplant Outcomes, Katelyn Grubich

Nursing | Senior Theses

Organ transplants are crucial to the survival of those on the receiving end. With medicine advancing, so has transplantation. Health care providers are becoming more aware of the strategies necessary to prolong the transplanted organ and how to obtain better outcomes. Heart, lungs, kidney, liver, pancreas, and some where more than one organ are involved, are the types of organ transplants performed.

Providing patients information will allow them to be a part of their treatment and can help to ease their anxiety knowing what is being performed and what can be expected. Health care providers must ensure that patients and …

The Emerging Epidemic Of Type 2 Diabetes And Obesity Amongst Young Children, Juliana Morales

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background:

In the past years childhood obesity has increased tremendously and currently ⅓ of children in the United States are obese today. Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes are illnesses that can later on lead to more severe health complications when as a child enters adulthood. Children who are obese have a greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, and currently more than 80% of children who already are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are obese. In school and often by health care providers we are told daily physical activity and healthy diet are the best ways to maintain optimal health, …

Rising Costs Of Insulin And Effects Of Self-Management In Type 1 Diabetes, Justine Yadao

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes is a chronic condition where the pancreas may not be able to produce little to no insulin. This type of diabetes can be attributed to some factors such as age, family history, environmental factors or types of viruses. It is seen more often in children or adolescence but can develop in adults, averaging approximately 5-10% of the population.

Insulin is a type of hormone produced in the pancreas naturally or can be manufactured in the laboratory. People with Type 1 Diabetes need insulin from an exogenous source to …

First Generation Filipino Children And The Risk Of Childhood Obesity: Influence Of Screen Time, Krystal Joy Joy Ragasa

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background: Obesity is an epidemic in the United States and among all Asian subgroups, Filipinos are particularly at a much higher risk. Obesity raises the risk of acquiring other health complications, especially for those who develop obesity at a younger age. Research has shown that children who engage in higher levels of screen time are more likely to become obese, resulting in screen time restrictions and recommendations. Additionally, rates of obesity are higher in immigrants. There is a gap in the explanation of screen time’s effect on childhood obesity for first generation Filipino children.

Aim: The purpose of the proposed …

The Impact Of Psychological Interventions Given To Icu Patients To Help With Pain Management, Kelly Liu

Nursing | Senior Theses

Pain management among the critically ill population is a significant issue in the intensive care setting. Whether the pain is acute or chronic, nurses tend to be the first-hand responders to help with pain management in the intensive care unit (ICU). With barriers ranging from patients’ inability to verbalize pain to nurses’ experience with obstacles to assessment such as sedation, confusion, or other concerns, pain management is a serious issue. Although pharmacological interventions such as opioids and analgesics help with pain control, in this thesis, we will focus on the impact of nonpharmacological and psychological nursing interventions and how it …

Health Disparities In Adults With Developmental And Intellectual Disabilities, Tulsi Patel

Nursing | Senior Theses

This paper reviews literature pertaining to the treatment of people with developmental disabilities. It will emphasize the inadequacies of health care in this population. The literature that will be discussed focuses on disparities in care via proxy, sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with disparities, assessing the needs of this population, the prevalence of disabilities in rural and urban settings, and the comparison of health disparities between adults with and without developmental disabilities.

For the purpose of this paper, a few terms will be defined. Developmental disabilities (DD) will be defined as “a group of conditions due to an impairment in …

An Exploration Of Covid-19 Impact On Healthcare Workers’ Mental Health In China, Jenny Yang

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

In December 2019, the first confirmed human case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or COVID-19 occurred in Wuhan, China. By March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) had classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic due to the rapid spread of the virus to other countries. Many people have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in various aspects, especially front-line healthcare workers. Hospital working conditions are constantly changing to cope with the problems that arise from the pandemic. These problems can result in an unsafe patient-to-nurse ratio, understaffed healthcare workers in hospitals, equipment shortage, and increased …

Identifying The Impacts Of Burnout On Bullying During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Janmarko Lapitan

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background: Bullying and burnout has the potential to negatively impact nurses both at work and in their everyday lives and has been studied on various occasions. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, burnout amongst nurses has been on the rise. Researchers have studied incidences where patients have bullied health care workers. However, no such study has been carried out to examine bullying between nurses during the pandemic.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find whether burnout levels in nurses impacted bullying between nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The research literature will discuss bullying and its effects on patients, …

Assessing Preventative Lifestyle Interventions In The Filipino-American Population To Decrease Risk Of Type Ii Diabetes, Brandon Christopher Flores

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

Type II Diabetes is a concerning global health issue and must be addressed. Given the unfortunate risks of T2D in the Filipino populations, prevention efforts must begin in this select population. There is strong empirical support for utilizing lifestyle interventions such as nutrition and physical exercise to prevent these diseases in adults; but it is not clear whether the same holds true for Filipino populations.

Objective

This thesis examines lifestyle management efforts such as weight reduction, family support, nutrition changes, and physical activity to prevent type 2 diabetes in Filipino-Americans.

Methods

The methods of the thesis will present a …

Nutrition On The Prevention And Treatment Of Depression, Gracie Polen

Nursing | Senior Theses

Today, the general population consumes a diet high in sugars, saturated fats, incomplete protein sources, and the tendency to exceed the bodies caloric requirements. The trend of obesity due to poor dietary habits is alarming. Mental illness has increasingly risen over the past decade. Specifically, the incidence of depression has reached a startling rate. The relationship between poor dietary intake and depression have grown together and it is imperative that methods are introduced to aid in resolving this issue. The prevention and treatment of depression needs to be explored through alternative methods. Healthier dietary choices have been shown to have …

Benefits Of Fasting In Adults Long Term, Talea Jones

Nursing | Senior Theses

In nursing education, we are often taught that through diet, exercise and medications one is able to live a healthy life. Fasting is not a subject that readily comes to mind as a way to prevent chronic illnesses from occurring. However, for years, cultures have used fasting as a way to replenish themselves and to clean themselves as if they were new beings. Nursing education does not highlight the process of fasting in any way close to the extent that medications are prescribed to control illnesses.

There are many types of fasting that are used in the United States. Fasting …

The Impact Of A Heart Healthy Diet On The Development Of Heart Disease, Fenina Gonzales

Nursing | Senior Theses

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors contribute to the development of this disease. One modifiable risk factor is diet. Potentially, the right diet, i.e. one that is deemed heart healthy, can aid in the prevention of heart disease.

This thesis aims to determine what constitutes a heart healthy diet First, a literature review related to the use of diet and nutrition for the prevention of heart disease will be provided. Next, this thesis will present a research proposal for a longitudinal study that will compare five-year and 10-year …

Nonpharmacological Interventions As An Adjunct Therapy For The Treatment Of Elderly Patients With Postoperative Delirium, Lorenzo Garcia

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background: Postoperative delirium is an iatrogenic disease that largely affects older surgical patients. Current treatment relies mostly on pharmacological management. However, this poses a problem due to the age-related changes in elders on drug metabolism. Other comorbidities increase chances of onset of postoperative delirium, and the possibility of unresolved cases. This leads to prolonged hospital stays, decreased quality of life, and overall poorer outcomes in these individuals.

Objective: The purpose of this literature review and proposal is to examine the use of non-pharmacological therapy as an adjunct treatment to improve outcomes in elderly patients diagnosed with postoperative delirium. Non-pharmacological interventions …

The Baby Blues: Postpartum Depression And The Ways We Can Combat Its Long-Term Effects, Haley Gomez

Nursing | Senior Theses

As nurses, effective interventions for new mothers, both non pharmacological and pharmacological, are essential to improving these patients’ outcomes and minimizing their risk for postpartum depression (PPD). New mothers undergo an immense amount of stress, both physically and mentally. As a result of this, many hospitals have standard postpartum care to minimize the risk of postpartum depression. Despite this, many mothers find themselves at a higher risk for PPD and managing these symptoms. Prescription medications are typically used in treating some symptoms of PPD but many patients may seek other forms of therapies. It is essential that alternative methods in …

The Ketogenic Diet: Its Effectiveness As An Adjuvant Therapy For Cancer, Rheaonn Marin

Nursing | Senior Theses

This paper explores a total of six research studies and will contain a literature review and proposal for further study regarding the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet as an adjuvant cancer therapy. Each study addresses a variety of different factors involved in KD implementation, ranging from effects on body composition and lipid profiles, to self-proclaimed quality of life, to tumor expression and progression under a KD regime. Ultimately, each were divided into three separate categories depending on the aspects of research that were covered. Two studies, by Hagihara et.al and Jansen and Walach respectively, discuss the potential benefits of KD …

Practicing Trauma-Informed Care In Nursing For A Better Outcome In Hospitalized Adolescents With Adverse Childhood Experiences And Trauma, Allysa Mia Fabricante

Nursing | Senior Theses

As nurses we want to give our patients the best care. That is why trauma-informed care (TIC) is important to include into nursing practice. TIC is a fairly new idea that addresses a patient's whole past and present life. Incorporating it into nursing practice can benefit patients who have adverse childhood experiences and trauma. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that occur to a person starting from birth to 17 years old. In a hospital setting an adolescent patient can be triggered if ACEs and trauma is not properly addressed. The long-term effects of ACEs can affect adolescents into …

Visitor Restrictions And Patient- And Family-Centered Care In Pediatric Nursing, Carney Morrow

Nursing | Senior Theses

This research proposal will explore the impacts of visiting restrictions on the ability of pediatric nurses to provide patient- and family-centered care (PFCC). Literature evaluated will pertain to the benefits of PFCC for patients, families, and staff in terms of both emotional and physical outcomes, as well as the impacts of recent visitor restrictions, largely implemented due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The purpose of this study is to determine the current perceptions of pediatric nurses on their ability to provide PFCC to patients, and how this has changed before and after visitation restrictions were put into place. The proposed study …

Effective Lifestyle Modifications Pro Football Players Utilize To Prevent Future Complications Of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Matthew Nicolas

Nursing | Senior Theses

The National Football League (NFL) is a billion-dollar entertainment industry that values itself on the physical and gritty sport of football. Even though these athletes are revered for their physical prowess and durability, at some point in their professional football careers these players are likely to sustain some variation of head injury—if not multiple. Each of the 22 players on the gridiron must physically wear out their matchup with tackles, stiff arms, bullrushes, rip moves, and any illegal hits the referee may not be able to see. The repeated blows these players sustain over the course of their career often …

Safety For Community Health Nurses In Rural And Remote Communities: A Literature Review And Research, Kathlyne Pham

Nursing | Senior Theses

Many safety measures devised and implemented are focused on urban hospital settings, which differs from rural and remote settings. Community health nurses are expected to travel and visit their clients’ homes alone, which leaves the nurses vulnerable to their environment. This brings up the question: Does the safety of community health nurses in rural and remote areas have an impact on the care provided in the communities that they serve? After reviewing the six primary literature, three common themes were revealed: lack of boundaries in their personal and professional lives, safety concerns (i.e. isolated geographical locations, workplace violence), and increased …