Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Access To Care: A Hospice Model Of Access To Care For The Homeless, Mary Ann Bridget Kinney

Theses and Graduate Projects

Access to Hospice for the terminally ill patient is a monumental problem for the disenfranchised person. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) in Washington D.C. there is an estimate of 3.5 million people who experience homelessness in a year (2003). The homeless face many health care service gaps including the vital service of end- of- life nursing care, which allows for death with dignity. The following paper will discuss the author's experience with the homeless, the need of access to Hospice Care for the homeless, and a review of literature regarding access to Hospice for the homeless. …

Nursing Students' Self-Efficacy And Attitude: Examining The Influence Ofthe Omaha System In Nurse Managed Centers, Cherie Mooy

Master's Projects

Self-efficacy, or confidence, as an outcome behavior has been identified as influencing nursing job satisfaction and retention. Clinical learning environments and teaching strategies that build and support perceived self-efficacy are critical aspects of preparing new nurses for their entry and continuing role as professional nurses in today's information-intensive data-management healthcare environment. The purpose of this pre-test post-test study is to measure, using the C-scale (Grundy, 1992), nursing students' self-efficacy to perform patient assessment in Nurse Managed Centers (NMC) after one semester of using the Omaha System documentation framework. Nursing students' attitudes of preparation for using Standardized Nursing Languages (SNL) in …

The Effects Of Nursing Back Rub On Pain And Wound Cytokines And The Relationship Between Pre-Cabg Mood And Post-Cabg Wound Cytokines, Kathlene D. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

This study, guided by psychoneuroimmunology theory, examined the effects of a 10-minute nursing back rub in 20 coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients on pain and four proinflammatory wound cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α). It also examined the relationships between the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and the proinflammatory cytokines. A control group (n = 8) received time with the researcher, and an experimental group (n = 12) received a slow stroke effleurage back rub. All participants initially completed the POMS and after surgery, wound fluid was collected from the mediastinal chest tube before and after the intervention. Analysis …

A Survey Of California's Nurse Practitioners' Regarding Practice, Knowledge And Atitudes Of The National Asthma Management Guidelines, Colleen M. Hughes

Master's Projects

Background: Pediatric asthma morbidity and mortality continues to rise in the United States despite the institution of the National Institute of Health/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's diagnostic and treatment guidelines. This study examines the practices, knowledge and attitudes of California's pediatric and family nurse practitioners regarding the national asthma guidelines. Method: A quantitative mail-in survey of pediatric, pulmonary, emergent, urgent care, and family nurse practitioners was utilized to gather the data regarding the care of pediatric asthma patients. The survey collected demographic data and the NP' s current asthma practices in a Likert scale format. Results: The nurse practitioners …

Fostering Clinical Judgment During Preceptorship, Susan Mcniesh

Master's Projects

The role transition from student nurse to new graduate nurse commonly includes a preceptor relationship. Preceptorships are often the culminating nursing education experience for senior baccalaureate nurses and are used as well for orienting new graduates as they begin their staff nurse role in the hospital setting. The preceptee is paired with an experienced nurse who is charged with supporting, teaching, and exemplifying safe and competent patient care. In many cases preceptors are ascribed the task of independently validating the preceptee's ability to exercise clinical judgment. Today's health care environment requires nurses to be proficient critical thinkers. Patients need more …

Childhood Experiences Of Appalachian Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence During Adulthood., Amy L. Reeves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent national surveys in the United States estimate one in five females will experience abuse by an intimate partner during her lifetime. Previous quantitative research linked childhood victimization to repeated victimization in adult relationships. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of childhood in eight female victims of intimate partner violence who were born and reared in southern Appalachia. Interviews were analyzed using a descriptive-interpretative phenomenological method, as described by Van Manen. The three essential themes from childhood were identified as: living 'as if' an orphan; surviving in chaos; and, manifesting a devalued self. These themes were congruent with findings …

Demographics And Perceptions Of Work Environment For Registered Nurses, Pamela Brotherton Sedano

Master's Projects

Registered nurses (RNs) are the lifeblood of hospitals. Therefore, retaining skilled nurses is necessary to insure the viability of these institutions. A two-year longitudinal, non-experimental research study utilized a descriptive design to compare the perceptions of RNs who remained on their units to those who left or changed units over a two-year time period. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether there was a statistically significant difference between these two groups. Results in several areas indicate that further evaluation is necessary by nurse managers and administration. This information could help retain RNs as well as attract qualified nurses …

Au Offers New Online Graduate Nursing Degree, Beverly Stout

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

An Emergency Department Staff Tackles The Healthy Workplace Initiative : A Staff Nurse Perspective., Paul Clark

Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the Healthy Workplace Initiative in the adult emergency department from the staff nurse perspective. Examples of one action planning team's processes and outcomes are delineated. The Rapid Diagnostics action planning team is delineated as lived while caring for patients in today's high-pressure emergency department. The Healthy Workplace Initiative empowers staff, with the guidance of facilitators, to make changes that improve the workplace and to create a healthy workplace for staff and patients. The result is greater staff ownership of the emergency department which leads to greater job satisfaction and improved patient care.

Access To Quality Care: Links Between Evidence, Nursing Language, And Informatics, Beth Ann Swan Phd, Crnp, Norma M. Lang Phd, Rn, Faan, Frcn, Anne M. Mcginley Phd, Crnp

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

Despite evidence on nursing’s contribution to the quality of care, much of what nurses “do” remains essentially invisible.

It is vital to recognize the need for a paradigm shift in nursing that utilizes new informatics tools required for optimum use of evidence related to the delivery of quality nursing care.

Embedding nursing language within informatics structures is essential to make the work of nurses visible, and articulate evidence about the quality and value of nursing in the care of patients, groups, and populations.

Conducting Life History Research With Adolescents, Kristin Haglund

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

This article is a commentary on the life history approach, which specifically described aspects of and offered suggestions for conducting life history research with adolescents. The life history approach is well suited to a wide variety of types of health-related inquiry. In this article, the author used an exemplar study to show how well the life history approach was suited for questions regarding adolescent issues. This approach was also a good match for the developmental skills and needs of adolescents. The author uses the strengths and weaknesses of the approach and a detailed example of how she used the life …

Staff Nurse Perceptions Of The Contributions Of Students To Clinical Agencies, Geraldine Matsumura, Lynn Clark Callister, Sheri P. Palmer, Amy Harmer Cox, Larissa Larsen

Faculty Publications

This study is a replication and extension of Grindel and associates' 2001 study of the perceptions of staff nurses (psychiatric, perinatal, and medical/surgical) regarding the benefits of having students from a baccalaureate nursing program work in clinical agencies. Using the Nursing Students' Contributions to Clinical Agencies tool, the overall perception of students' contributions ranged from -4 to +5, with a mean of 2.50. The two highest ranked items were "allows opportunities for mentoring" and "threatens professional role development," indicating the ambivalence staff nurses feel toward nursing students. Qualitative data also demonstrated the benefits and challenges of working with students. Recommendations …

Perceived Nursing Work Environment Of Critical Care Nurses, Jeungok Choi, S. Bakken, E. Larson, Y. Du, P. Stone

Jeungok Choi

BACKGROUND: Different concepts and measures have been used to evaluate the work environment of nurses in hospital settings. There is increasing need for updated measurement tools that reflect the evolving nature of the work environment. OBJECTIVES: To report the psychometric properties of the Perceived Nursing Work Environment (PNWE) instrument, and to compare these results with those of other scales derived from the same background instrument: the Nursing Work Index-Revised. METHODS: The Nursing Work Index-Revised was used in a national survey of critical care nurses. Exploratory principal component analysis with orthogonal rotation was conducted. Psychometric properties were examined. Construct validity was …

The Efficacy Of A School-Based Support Group On Adolescent Self-Esteem And Social Support, Julia Ann Smith Phd

Dissertations

Adolescents are faced with daily obstacles that affect their ability to progress into adulthood successfully. Rising divorce rates and subsequent single parenting, adolescent pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, and lack of parental involvement represent only a few of the many issues teens confront. School nurses are on the front lines, attempting to educate youth against an alarming rise in personal and social controversies that impede their ability to come to school ready to learn. As part of the educational team, school nurses are in a prime position to develop and integrate intervention strategies aimed at assisting adolescents during this …

Nurses Alumni Association Bulletin, Fall 2004, Paula Levine, Elizabeth K. Prisnock, Sally H. Wagner, John J. Wagner

Nursing Alumni Bulletins

2004 - 2005 Meeting Date Calendar

2005 Annual Luncheon & Meeting Notice

Officers, Committee Chairs, Satellite and Volunteers

Bulletin Publication Committee

The President's Message

Treasurer's Report

Resume of Minutes

Other Scholarships Awarded

Office News

Committee Reports

• Bulletin
• Satellite - Harrisburg Satellite Area
• Relief Trust Fund
• Scholarship
• Nominating
• Development

Annual Giving

Janet C. Hindson Award Recipients and Nominees

Janet C. Hindson Award Qualifications

News About Graduates

Headache Research

Memoirs

Odds & Ends

My Aunt

Bacone College

Mother's Letter

Happy Birthday, To Be 80 or more

Madeline M. Ullom Dedication

50th Anniversary Class

Center page

Luncheon Attendees

Class News

Scholarship Fund Application …

Ua61 Newsletter, Wku Health & Human Services

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter created by and about the College of Health & Human Services.

• Bonaguro, John. Letter from the Dean
• WKU Clinical Education Complex Moves Forward
• College Welcomes New Associate Dean – Sylvia Gaiko
• Visiting Scholar from Bournemouth University, England – Mandy Rumley
• Partners Key to Successful Hispanic Health Fair & Screening Event
• Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) 4-H Program
• Hispanic Initiative Gets $700K in Funding
• American Humanics Program Implemented at WKU
• CHHS Focuses on Gerontology
• Gerontologist Dr. John Krout Visits WKU
• Rural Elderly Advocacy Program with Students (REAPS)
• Kentucky Emergency Medical Services Academy Offers EMS Management Workshops
• A Day to Give …

Factors That Contribute To Nursing Job Satisfaction At Valley Hospital, Christopher Jones

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage and it is expected to get even worse in the coming years due to several trends. These trends include the aging of the workforce where many nurses will be retiring in the next few years, the low enrollment in nursing schools, nurses leaving the profession for other fields of work and the lack of interest that many people are showing towards a career in nursing.

Parents’ Refusal Of Medical Treatment Based On Religious And/Or Cultural Beliefs: The Law, Ethical Principles, And Clinical Implications, Luanne Linnard-Palmer, Susan Kools

Luanne Linnard-Palmer

Screening For Diabetes In An African American Community: The Project Direct Experience

Linda A. Treiber

AIM: To report the results of a community-based screening program associated with Project DIRECT, a multi-year diabetes mellitus prevention and control project targeting African-American residents of southeast Raleigh, NC. METHODS: Between December 1996 and June 1999, 183 screening events took place in community settings.Screening was by capillary glucose concentration. Participants with a positive screen were referred for confirmatory testing and physician follow-up. MAIN RESULTS: Risk factors for diabetes were prevalent, including ethnic minority race (88.2%), obesity (45.6%), and family history of diabetes (41.7%). In all, 197 persons had an elevated screening result; the prevalence of diabetes in the screened population …

The Role Of Dairy Products In The Calcium Intake Of Suburban Adolescents, Simie Bredeweg-Dejager

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine consumption of dairy products by suburban adolescents. This was a secondary analysis of data from a questionnaire administered in late fall of 2003. There were 255 adolescents who completed the questionnaire. Data were examined to estimate calcium intake from dairy products.

There was a significant difference in the amount of calcium adolescents consume from cheese, compared to that supplied by milk (t = -8.502, p = .000). Further analyzing by gender, there was a significant difference between boys and girls intake of milk and cheese. No significant difference was found between boys …

Revisiting Vaccine Hesitancy, Barriers And Motivators To Obtaining A Flu Vaccine In A New Covid-19 Pandemic World, Ann M. Mayo Rn, Dnsc, Faan, Steffanie R. Cobler Np

School of Nursing and Health Science: Faculty Scholarship

Purpose

To describe and compare patient perceived barriers and motivators and decision-making conflict between two groups of hospitalized patients, those who receive flu vaccines and those who do not.

Data Sources

Data collection during 2003 included extracting data from databases and mailing two surveys to 436 discharged patients. One hundred eight (108) patients participated in the study.

Conclusions

Top barriers included fear of side effects from vaccine (35%) and fear of contracting the flu (30%). Top motivators for obtaining a flu vaccine included previous vaccination (93%) and provider recommendation (62%). Barriers, motivators and patient decisional conflict differed depending upon patient …

Nursing Workforce Shortage And Diversity Disparity In Northwest Arkansas, Jeffery T. Collins, Yi Liu

Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this analysis is the ascertain: 1) if market conditions in Northwest Arkansas (the study area) are sufficient to support the proposed planning effort by Northwest Arkansas Nursing Education Consortium (NANEC) to create a bilingual nursing student recruitment model and 2) to determine of that model is portable to other geographies.

Embedding Evidence-Based Practice In A Nursing Curriculum: A Benchmarking Project, Wendy Chaboyer, Ania Willman, Patricia Johnson, Lynette Stockhausen

Patricia Johnson

The development of a new nursing curriculum in one Australian university provided the opportunity for academic staff to consider the best ways to integrate the requirements of evidence-based practice (EBP) into nursing education and culminated in the development and conduct of a specific benchmarking project. Data collection for the project included the use of university documents, observations and informal discussions with staff. An analysis of this information resulted in the emergence of five categories that were grouped into two major categories, namely infrastructure and processes. Within the major category of infrastructure, two minor categories, namely evidence-based nursing (EBN) Unit and …

Responses Of Flight Nurses To Catastrophic Events, Gene L. Olsen

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine for the presence of symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of flight nurses. Also examined were the coping mechanisms used by the sample to ameliorate the stressors associated with performing the role of the flight nurse, as well as the relationship between the symptoms and the coping mechanisms identified by the sample. Data were collected by questionnaires sent to a randomly selected national sample of 350 flight nurses who belong to the Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association.

Of the 101 participants, intrusion was found to be most …

Collaborative Management Of Hiv Infection In The Community: An Effort To Improve The Quality Of Hiv Care, Michael F. Parry, Julie G. Stewart, P. Wright, Gavin X. Mcleod

Nursing Faculty Publications

Our hospital led a multidisciplinary community team to improve the quality of care delivered to HIV-infected clients utilizing a disease management approach in a US metropolitan community of 150,000 people. Community needs assessment and client and community surveys were used to define the problems. Patient care flowcharting and the creation of an electronic patient database facilitated patient tracking across the entire community. Clinical guidelines and a consultation and referral immunology clinic standardized care practices. Measurable improvements in the quality of care were noted in multiple areas. Flowchart completion rates rose from 44% to 100%; medication adherence assessment rose from 82% …

Self-Efficacy, Metastasis, Treatment, And Demographics As Predictors Of Functional Performance Status Of Adult Colorectal Cancer Patients, Dollie A. Husfeld

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to assess self-efficacy as a predictor of functional performance status in order to discover correlations that could be used to improve care of the colorectal cancer patient. Thirty participants were accessed through three outpatient cancer clinics during a two-week period. Data was collected through a demographics questionnaire, the Cancer Behavior Inventory Long Form, and the Karnofsky Performance Scale Index. Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify and relationships between the dependent variable, functional performance status, and the independent variables, self-efficacy, age, gender, residence, treatment, and metastasis ( p = .05). Pearson's correlation showed a …

Psychometric Testing Of The Self-Care Of Heart Failure Index, Barbara Riegel, Beverly Carlson, Debra K. Moser, Margaret Sebern, Frank D. Hicks, Virginia Roland

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Background: Self-care is believed to improve outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients. However, research testing this assumption is hampered by difficulties in measuring self-care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a revised instrument measuring self-care in persons with HF, the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI). The SCHFI is a self-report measure comprised of 15 items rated on a 4-point response scale and divided into 3 subscales.

Methods and Results: Psychometric testing was done using data from 760 HF patients (age 70.36 ± 12.3 years, 51% male) from 7 sites in the United States. …

Reclaiming The Everyday World: How Long-Term Ventilated Patients In Critical Care Seek To Gain Aspects Of Power And Control Over Their Environment, Patricia Johnson

Patricia Johnson

Critical care nurses are increasingly seeking to base patient care on evidence derived from research studies. The purpose of this study was to explore the meanings former patients attributed to being on long-term mechanical ventilation in a critical care unit (CCU) in Australia. Using Heideggerian phenomenology, unstructured interviews were undertaken with nine participants. Data were analysed thematically using the method developed by van Manen. Thematic analysis revealed four major themes. This article presents the findings from the theme titled: Reclaiming the everyday world, which describes how the study participants gained comfort from the presence of nurses and their families, sought …

The Prevalence Of Dental Caries In A Central Coast Of California Middle School, Belen R. Mojica

Master's Projects

Dental morbidity is a chronic problem that affects a child's ability to attend school, to learn, and to enjoy good health. Of all childhood diseases, oral disease ranks as one of the highest and is considered one of the most common and the least treated. The prevalence of dental caries is high among children and adolescents in school populations. This study explored the prevalence of dental caries in a California Central Coast middle school during the 2002-03 school year (N=526). Findings indicated that severe dental caries existed in both boys and girls and in students of various ethnic groups. Approximately …

Introduction Of Healing Touch Into An Established Torture Treatment Center: A Graduate Field Project, Kathleen Mccullough-Zander

Theses and Graduate Projects

Healing Touch, an energetic treatment modality developed by nurses, was introduced into an established torture treatment center with the goal of decreasing torture-related symptoms and increasing survivors' overall sense of well-being and health. Three methods of evaluation were used to determine if the project goal had been met. The first project objective of showing a decrease in participants' reported feelings of anxiety and depression was not achieved. The second project objective of demonstrating a reduction in participant's reported levels of pain was achieved with statistically significant results. The third project objective of obtaining statements of recognition of the therapy as …