Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Pelvic Pain, Pelvic Organ Prolapse, Urinary And Colorectal Distress Incidence And Relationship To Quality Of Life And Birth Mode, Lori Maria Walton, Christine Abreu, Eliena Jeffus, Amy Trautwein, Shenya Xavier

Faculty Publications

Abstract Purpose: To determine the incidence and impact of pelvic pain, pelvic organ prolapse, urinary and colorectal distress and quality of life by birth mode for women in the chronic postpartum period. Study design: Cross-sectional correlational design utilizing purposive sampling of (n=21) female postpartum subjects ages 18-45. Background: Caesarean Section (CS) incidence is reported at 32% nationwide, well above the recommended safe rate of 10% (WHO). Literature is not clear regarding role of birth mode in postpartum symptoms including: pelvic pain, colorectal distress, pelvic organ prolapse, and quality of life. Methods: Data collection took place after IRB approval from Andrews …

Dance/Movement Therapy As A Therapeutic Approach For Excoriation (Skin Picking) Disorder: Movement Treating Movement, Karissa Martens

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

Through a collective case study, the principal researcher examined how a positive psychology based dance/movement therapy (DMT) approach could be a viable treatment method for individuals with Excoriation (Skin Picking) Disorder (SPD). The intention of this research was to find additional therapeutic modalities for individuals with SPD, as well as inquire how DMT and SFT would be viable in treating SPD. As a new disorder in the publication of the DSM-5, individuals with SPD currently have limited treatment options available. Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) was integrated with DMT to create a more comprehensive treatment. 96 pages.

Registration Of In-Vivo To Ex-Vivo Mri Of Surgically Resected Specimens: A Pipeline For Histology To In-Vivo Registration., Maged Goubran, Sandrine De Ribaupierre, Robert R Hammond, Catherine Currie, Jorge G Burneo, Andrew G Parrent, Terry M Peters, Ali R Khan

Medical Biophysics Publications

BACKGROUND: Advances in MRI have the potential to improve surgical treatment of epilepsy through improved identification and delineation of lesions. However, validation is currently needed to investigate histopathological correlates of these new imaging techniques. The purpose of this work is to develop and evaluate a protocol for deformable image registration of in-vivo to ex-vivo resected brain specimen MRI. This protocol, in conjunction with our previous work on ex-vivo to histology registration, completes a registration pipeline for histology to in-vivo MRI, enabling voxel-based validation of novel and existing MRI techniques with histopathology.

NEW METHOD: A combination of image-based and landmark-based 3D …

A Study Into The Diagnosis Of Obesity In Infants Less Than Two Years Old In The State Of Virginia, Lindsay Ann Bruno

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

In 2007, the CDC reported approximately 12.5 million children and adolescents in the U.S. were obese. Among 24-month old clinically obese children, only 23% were diagnosed as obese. The most concerning is the prevalence of obesity in 6-month olds; 16% of 6-month old infants in the U.S. are obese, of which only 14% are diagnosed as being obese. Previous research concentrates on the factors that influence infant obesity, but does not address the prevalence of diagnosing obesity in children, particularly those under two years of age. The purpose of this project was to pioneer a survey exploring the prevalence of …

Implementation Of Best Practices For Fall Prevention In A Community Hospital, Angela G. Jenkins-Jacobs

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Abstract

Prevention of inpatient falls remains a challenge for nurses. Despite fall prevention efforts by nurses, the rate of patient falls in the acute care setting is a major safety concern. The aim of this translational project is to implement an evidence-based fall prevention program at a small community hospital, based on the Morse Fall Scale with targeted interventions to decrease fall rates. Research indicates the best practices for nurses to manage patients at-risk for falls and using fall prevention strategies that will keep patients safe from falls during hospitalization. The three phases of this project, included development of the …

Discrimination Of Duration Differences Of Typically Developing Children And Children With Suspected Childhood Apraxia Of Speech, Susan B. Ingram

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The speech sound disorder, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), has perplexed clinicians and researchers for many years. The perplexity has stemmed, in part, from questions about identifying characteristics that distinguish it from other childhood speech disorders. Given the reported vowel duration deficits cited in the speech production of children with sCAS, the research for this population is deficient in assessing the ability of these children to discriminate vowel duration differences. The present study represents an initial attempt to address duration discrimination in a systematized experimental design for a group of school-age TD children (n = 21) and a smaller group …

Comparison: Perception And Knowledge Of Protein Consumption In Female Athletes For Post Weight Lifting Recovery, Samantha Jane Lofton

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

A study was conducted on James Madison University’s campus to assess the knowledge, beliefs, perceptions and habits of protein consumption post resistance training in female student athletes. Sixty-two female athletes who regularly partake in resistance training filled out a recovery-cue questionnaire containing 10 statements/questions on the subject of protein consumption. The data was analyzed using IBM SPSS, Version 21.0 and Microsoft Office Excel. Eight percent of respondents stated they are aware of how much protein they should be consuming post workout, and 21% feel what they consume post workout is an adequate amount of protein for muscle recovery. Forty-six percent …

Profile Of The Unfolded Protein Response In C. Elegans Depleted Of The Translational Chaperone, Nac., Caylin S. Murray

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The function of a protein is a direct consequence of its final structure, which is achieved by protein-folding processes that generate a tertiary state through the juxtaposition of locally formed secondary structures. Because all cells need functional proteins to survive, each contains robust and redundant mechanisms that regulate the folding of newly forming proteins, and the refolding of misfolded proteins that are often generated during stress. Essential to these mechanisms, chaperones are proteins that aid in protein folding of nascent and misfolding protein without being incorporated in the final structure. One chaperone complex, the nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC), aids in …

Colloidal And Biological Properties Of Triscationic Amphiphiles With One Or Two Tails, John N. Marafino

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The decline in the development of novel antimicrobials, combined with the misusage and over prescription of antibiotics, has contributed to the increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant infections. Thus development of effective novel disinfectants could reduce the transmission of pathogens and decrease the risk of infection by antibiotic resistant organisms. The antimicrobial activity of amphiphiles, compounds with hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, was first reported in 1935, and has influenced the synthesis of amphiphiles with variations in structure. In this study, three series of amphiphiles were synthesized by two subsequent Menshutkin reactions. Each amphiphile contains one or two hydrocarbon tails ranging from 8 …

Fall Prevention Through Proactive Toileting, Kristin Smith

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper will summarize the quality improvement falls prevention project conducted by a University of San Francisco Clinical Nurse Leader student. Falls in the hospital setting are an ongoing problem in our healthcare system as they have great physical and financial impacts (Salamon, Victory, & Bobay, 2012). Hospital A, an urban teaching hospital, uses the Schmid scale for determining if a patient is a fall risk which includes the assessment of need for ambulatory aids, history of falls, and impaired cognition among other criteria (Schmid,1990). Fall rates are climbing in the United States and the trend is similar on Hospital …

Sugihara Causality Analysis Of Scalp Eeg For Detection Of Early Alzheimer's Disease, Joseph C. Mcbride, Xiaopeng Zhao, Nancy B. Munro, Greg A. Jicha, Frederick A. Schmitt, Richard J. Kryscio, Charles D. Smith, Yang Jiang

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Recently, Sugihara proposed an innovative causality concept, which, in contrast to statistical predictability in Granger sense, characterizes underlying deterministic causation of the system. This work exploits Sugihara causality analysis to develop novel EEG biomarkers for discriminating normal aging from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer's disease (AD). The hypothesis of this work is that scalp EEG based causality measurements have different distributions for different cognitive groups and hence the causality measurements can be used to distinguish between NC, MCI, and AD participants. The current results are based on 30-channel resting EEG records from 48 age-matched participants (mean age 75.7 …

Outpatient Medication Error Improvement, Savannah M. Klinginsmith

Master's Projects and Capstones

Patient Safety Initiative -Improving Medication Administration (Outpatient Care)

SPECIFIC AIM: We aim to Improve the medication administration process and involve all staff within 6 months

In the microsystem consisting of 14 family practice and urgent care clinics, there is not a standard process based on evidence based practices for medication administration. With and estimated of 400-600 medications (immunizations included) being administered per day, without a standard of care protocol, the risk for medication errors is evident.

Objectives and changes anticipated based on implementation of the project is to engage staff in support for improving medication administration standard of care based …

Loss Of Thiol Repair Systems In Human Cataractous Lenses, Min Wei, Kui-Yi Xing, Yin-Chuan Fan, Teodosio Libondi, Marjorie F. Lou

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the thiol repair systems of thioltransferase (TTase) and thioredoxin (Trx) and oxidation-damaged proteins in human cataractous lenses.

METHODS. Cataractous lenses in humans (57–85 years of age) were classified into cortical, nuclear, mixed, mature, and hypermature cataract types by using a lens opacity classification system, and were obtained by extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) procedure. Cortical and nuclear cataracts were grouped by decreasing order of visual acuity into optical chart reading (R), counting fingers (CF), hand motion (HM), and light perception (LP). ECCE lens homogenate was analyzed for glutathione (GSH) level and enzyme …

Nutrition Interventions With Community Youth: Better Public Health Through Community Engagement And Neighbourhood Hubs, John L. Murnaghan

Social Justice and Community Engagement

No abstract provided.

Outpatient Physical Therapy Management Of A Female Athlete With A Left Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction And Left Medial Meniscectomy: A Case Report, Kyle Brown

Case Report Papers

Background and Purpose: The anterior cruciate ligament is a vital structure of the knee, especially for athletes involved in agility driven sports. Currently, the prevalence of anterior cruciate ligament injuries is on the rise in young female athletes. Females in general are more susceptible to these injuries because of their anatomical structure, possibly hormone balances, and other factors. The purpose of this Case Report is to provide a comprehensive account of the physical therapy treatment provided to a young female athlete status post left anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Case Description: The patient is an eighteen year old female athlete who …

Diabetic Retinopathy: Variations In Patient Therapeutic Outcomes And Pharmacogenomics., Aniruddha Agarwal, Mohamed K. Soliman, Yasir J. Sepah, Diana V. Do, Quan Dong Nguyen

Journal Articles: Ophthalmology

Diabetes and its microvascular complications in patients poses a significant challenge and constitutes a major health problem. When it comes to manifestations in the eye, each case of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is unique, in terms of the phenotype, genotype, and, more importantly, the therapeutic response. It is therefore important to identify factors that distinguish one patient from another. Personalized therapy in DR is a new trend aimed at achieving maximum therapeutic response in patients by identifying genotypic and phenotypic factors that may result in less than optimal response to conventional therapy, and consequently, lead to poorer outcome. With advances in …

The Test-Retest Reliability And Minimal Detectable Change In The Modified Fresno Test In Doctor Of Physical Therapy Students, Erin Pike, Lisa Gerhardt

Research Report Papers

Background: The American Physical Therapy Association identified the need for training in evidence based practice (EBP) and set forth guidelines for doctor of physical therapy (DPT) curricula to educate practitioners who are efficient and critical users of best evidence. Since DPT programs are teaching EBP, educators need an assessment tool to evaluate the competence of students. The Modified Fresno Test (MFT) of EBP was validated for physical therapists and the test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC) has been found for first year DPT students.

Objective: The purpose is to determine the test-retest reliability and MDC of the MFT in …

Innovative Workforce Plan: Recently Graduated Nurses As Super Users For Ehr Implementation In A Multi-Hospital Organization, Katherine L. Bullard

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

A regional health system’s decision to rapidly implement a new electronic health record (EHR) in order to meet Stage 2 meaningful use requirements led to a need for innovative cost-containment strategies. Tapping the local pool of unemployed newly graduated nurses as half the required super user workforce leveraged the technology skills of novice nurses registered nurses as trainers of experienced nurses in five hospitals. The novel workforce migrated from hospital to hospital, thereby reducing the number of experienced nurses reassigned to super user duties in each hospital. This strategy also reduced the amount of contract labor required to backfill nurse …

Narrowing The Qsen Competency Gap In New Graduate Registered Nurses, Marty Mayhew

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

This intervention is an evidence based, change of practice, quality improvement project that evaluates achievement of the six Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies of new registered nurse graduates. No intervention with a similar focus was found in an extensive review of the literature. The participants included 16 new graduate registered nurse hires enrolled in a new graduate RN residency program at Tucson Medical Center located in southern Arizona. The Nursing Quality and Safety Self Inventory^© (NQSSI^©) was used to identify practice gaps perceived by the new RN graduates related to the six QSEN competencies. …

Physical Therapy Management Of A Patient After A Subacromial Decompression With Acromioplasty And Bursectomy: A Case Report, Brianne Landholt

Case Report Papers

Background: Subacromial impingement results from repetitive trauma to structures underneath the subacromial arch leading to a decrease in the subacromial space, impingement of soft tissue, and ultimately a decrease in functional abilities. Conservative treatment includes physical therapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and corticosteriod injections. If improvements are not observed, there is a surgical option of a subacromial decompression (SAD). Conclusive evidence supporting surgery over conservative measures does not exist1. Literature is lacking regarding SAD without rotator cuff (RTC) repair and performing SAD with both an acromioplasty and bursectomy. Therefore, the purpose of this case report was to investigate the functional outcomes …

Measuring Changes In Knowledge And Attitudes Of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Providers After Receiving An Educational Intervention About The Value Of Human Milk In The Preterm Infant, Frances E. Smith

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Executive Summary Measuring Changes in Knowledge and Attitudes of NICU Providers after Receiving an Educational Intervention about the Value of Human Milk in the Preterm Infant Problem Identification Human milk is proven to decrease morbidities and mortality in extremely low birth weight neonates. Health care providers must approach the mothers of these infants and explain the need for own mother's milk or consent for the use of donor milk in these infants. Providers may lack the knowledge about the importance of human milk in NICU infants, or may hold negative attitudes about human milk's contribution to the health of these …

Implementation Of Food Insecurity Screening In Clinical Setting, Florence Ngozi Soba

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

This project used the Stetler model of research utilization framework to apply evidence-based findings to clinical settings screening adults with type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and low incomes for food insecurity. The project involved the review and critical appraisal of research studies and translation of research-based knowledge into a protocol for the Peach Tree Clinic with respect to the impact of food insecurity on diabetes outcomes in adults with T2DM and low incomes who were at risk of food insecurity. In addition, the proportion of screened at-risk patients who received nutritional counseling was calculated. The proportion of patients with T2DM …

Early Alert Referral Program, Roslana D. Gray

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Early recognition of academically at-risk nursing students by faculty plays an important role in increasing retention rates. The main objective of the early alert referral program is to systematically detect early students who are academically for failure and refer at-risk students to faculty or support services, to increase nursing retention rates. The Early Alert Referral Project is a quantitative design in terms of purpose and methodology. The program was held in a classroom in a rural community college in Alabama during the summer semester (May, June, July, August) 2014. All practical nursing students currently enrolled in summer 2014 cohort were …

Impact Of Improving Throughput In The Emergency Department, Katherine J. Edrington

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the patient experience in the emergency department (ED) and in the inpatient setting while correlating increased throughput and patient outcomes at a suburban Acute Care facility in Ohio. The culture in the organization has lacked accountability and ownership of the patients. The ED admitted length of stay (ALOS) was 358 minutes in the beginning of 2013. For the first time in the organization’s history, the ED ALOS is now typically less than the recommended benchmark of 300 minutes. A report of findings among ED’s surveyed showed the ALOS best practice is 244 …

Implementing An Evidence Based Foot Assessment Protocol For Use By Nurses Caring For Adult Diabetic Patients Seeking Care In The Thanh Nhan Hospital Endocrinology Department, Amy Ly

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

The purpose of this primary care nursing practice improvement project was to implement a diabetic evidence-based protocol for use by nurses caring for adult patients seeking care in the Thanh Nhan Hospital Endocrinology Department (TNH/ED) in Ha Noi, Vietnam.

Prior to project implementation, physicians performed all patient foot assessments. No standardized foot assessment tool existed.

The author made an on-site visit to the clinic to assess current practice. The author then recommended expanding nursing practice by using an evidence-based assessment tool. The author conceived an implementation approach, then designed, developed and presented the plan via an Internet-delivered fully interactive Virtual …

Specimen Labeling Improvement Project: Slip, Traci Hoiting

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Blood specimens are labeled at the time of acquisition in order to identify and match the specimen, label, and order to the patient. While the labeling process is not new, it is frequently laden with errors (Brown, Smith, & Sherfy, 2011). Wrong blood in tube (WBIT) poses significant risk. Multiple factors contribute to mislabeling errors, including lax policies, limited technological solutions, decentralized labeling processes, multi-tasking, distraction from the clinician, and insufficient education and training of staff. To reduce blood specimen labeling errors, a large academic medical center implemented an innovative technological solution for specimen labeling that integrates patient identification, physician …

Implementing And Evaluating A Clinical Information Interface Between An Electronic Medical Record And A Patient Classification System, Tanya Osborne-Mckenzie

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

As a result of the Affordable Care Act and the Institute of Medicine’s initiatives, hospitals are challenged to improve outcomes as efficiently as possible. How does the national initiative of RNs partnering with other healthcare professionals to improve the quality of patient care at a lower cost, cascade down to individual organizations? One answer may come by focusing on nurse staffing in acute care hospitals. Considering the impact RNs have on patient quality outcomes and the bottom line of hospitals, appropriate management of the RN workforce is one of the most important areas hospitals can focus on in order to …

Transitional Care Services: A Nurse-Led Quality Improvement Project, Debra Conroy-Mccue

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

With the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) and a national requirement for health care providers and systems to deliver care that is safe, outcome driven, and cost effective, Dignity Health (DH) as part of the hospital engagement network (HEN) launched an initiative called the “No Harm” campaign to reduce all-cause avoidable hospital readmissions. The project, led by a Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) student and readmission team, sought to achieve a 20% reduction in preventable readmissions by December 2014. After having achieved initial success in implementing transitional care services for patients with heart …

Improving Women’S Health Services By Adding Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Methods Into Primary Care-Focused Student Health, Shu-Chen Jennie Cheng

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Often resulting from inconsistent contraceptive use, unintended pregnancy among young women between ages 18-24 continues to be an issue in the United States. Long-acting reversible contraceptives, including intrauterine contraceptives and the subdermal contraceptive implant, are safe, effective, long-acting, easily reversible, and non-user dependent contraceptive methods, yet currently are greatly underutilized. Most of the contraceptive methods are provided at our student health services except for the highly effective long-acting reversible contraceptive methods. As family nurse practitioners and health care providers, it is essential to integrate this service into primary care-focused college student health clinics by providing evidence-based information to clinical providers …

Development And Implementation Of A Succession Plan For The Nursing Department In A Community Hospital, Nadine Mariotti

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

This project identifies nursing leadership vacancies in a community nursing department and assisted in the planning and implementation of a succession framework to fill the gaps in the nurse leadership population. Aging nurse leaders are leaving the profession and thus are creating gaps which need to be filled (Stichler, 2008). The unavailability of respective schools and negative perceptions of nurses regarding the healthcare sector leads to the lack of interest in the nursing profession (Nelsey, Brownie, 2012). Factors contributing to burn-out in nursing departments affect the intentions of nurses to leave and lower satisfaction towards their profession. The proposed succession …