Nursing Commons^™

Necrotizing Enterocolitis Rates In Preterm Infants, Alexis Howard

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Breast milk and donor human milk is used in the prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants born prior to 37 weeks gestation and those with very low birth weight. This process occurs through direct breast feeding and tube feeding. The aim of this study was to compare the use of breast milk and donor milk to the use of formula feed in preterm infants. A systematic review was conducted using articles collected from CINAHL and PubMed and was guided by PRISMA guidelines. A total of 15 studies that met criteria were analyzed by purpose, variables, study design, population …

Multimodal Approach To Chronic Pain Management And Prevention Of Opioid Use Disorder, Hannah Elston

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background. Chronic pain (CP) is a major public health problem that affects one-third of the population and can interfere with the activities of daily life and cause decreased quality of life. Patients with CP have been increasingly prescribed opioids, contributing to the rise in the opioid epidemic. Due to the long-term nature of CP, the use of opioids as the sole treatment for CP can cause tolerance and increased dosages overtime which can lead to addiction and potentially overdose. Therefore, CP treatment should include multimodal approaches to treatment to prevent opioid misuse, opioid use disorder (OUD), and overdose. Multimodal treatments …

Pediatric Seizure Management With Ketogenic Diet, Lydia Beller

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Seizure disorders can be life altering and debilitating, especially for developing children. Children who have seizure disorders often require social, emotional, educational, and behavioral adjustments for children. Most medication regimes do not achieve complete management of seizure frequency and intensity. For children, seizure disorders can lead to unsuccessful education experiences, low self-esteem, severe injury, and difficulties with social skills and engagement. Discovering that a dietary means can reduce their frequency and intensity is groundbreaking. The ketogenic diet is a high protein, high fat, and almost no carbohydrate diet. The ketogenic diet is an effective non-pharmacological method for treating epilepsy (Karimzadeh, …

The Effects Of Doula Care On Birth Outcomes And Patient Satisfaction In The United States, Lynae Carlson

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

The visitor policies related to the COVID-19 pandemic limited doula care and called into question the importance of doulas in the birth process. While the Cochrane Systematic Review presents compelling evidence of the benefits of continuous birth support on outcomes ranging from shorter labors to higher 5-minute Apgar scores, there are gaps in literature that exclusively focus on continuous support from doulas. The literature review aims to determine both qualitative and quantitative outcomes of doula care on the mother and baby during the labor and post-partum periods, focusing on specific aggregates, such as adolescents, women with low incomes, and women …

The Impact Of Menstrual Hygiene Management Interventions On Adolescent Female’S School Attendance In Middle- And Low- Income Countries: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Mckenzie Canon

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background: Menstruation is an ongoing biological process that affects a large portion of the population and requires consistent health and medical care. However, menstruation does not affect women and girls equally in resource-poor communities and girl-unfriendly schools, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Without proper menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and menstrual health and hygiene (MHH), girl’s attendance at school is reported to decline or cease altogether. Providing the proper resources to fulfill women’s and girl’s menstrual hygiene needs may impact female’s attendance rates at school, and furthering women’s education is fundamental in advancing female’s equality world-wide.

Purpose: The purpose of …

The Effects Of Chemotherapeutic Agents On Cognitive Function: A Literature Review, Corinne Menz

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

With increasing cancer diagnoses and an increase of chemotherapy treatment, many patients complain of cognitive decline during the duration of treatment as well as once treatment has been completed. The purpose of this review is to compile relevant research regarding chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment and its implications for the care of cancer patients. Peer-reviewed articles and studies focusing on the impact of chemotherapy on cognitive function were evaluated, resulting in a total of 12 studies utilized in this review. Overall, it has been found that a large percentage of patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment report a subjective decline in cognitive functioning, but …

Prenatal Dietary Education, Using The Midwifery Model, In Ireland Vs The United States, Allison Erby

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Prenatal dietary education is a very important component of care in healthy pregnancies, but more than that, dietary education can be an indicator of the value a healthcare provider places on holistic care or preventive medicine. The United States and Ireland are compared in this study because they represent high intervention vs. low intervention approaches, respectively, to obstetric care. Healthcare professionals from the United States and Ireland perceive the most important nutrients and method of receiving those differently. Maybe the most telling contrast, healthcare professionals in Ireland perceive food as the way pregnant women should receive vital nutrients, but healthcare …

Tiny Tusks Internship: Marketing Towards Breastfeeding: How Marketing Can Either Help Or Hinder How Breastfeeding Is Perceived, Hailey Tremmel

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tiny Tusks Breastfeeding and Infant Support is a program run by faculty and students in the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing program that allows for breastfeeding mothers in attendance at the University of Arkansas sporting events to have a place to pump or provide care to their infant. How marketing towards breastfeeding is portrayed has a huge impact on helping breastfeeding mothers to feel properly educated and supported about the decision to breastfeed. The purpose of this literature review is to demonstrate how marketing tactics can affect the view of breastfeeding, whether that be positive or negative. The results found …

Nurses' Attitudes Toward Physician-Assisted Suicide, Cheyenne Star Lowrey-Lagrone

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Physician-assisted suicide, or PAS, is end-of-life option in which patients self-administer physician-prescribed lethal medication to end their life. Nurses' own interpretations and understandings of the legalities, ethical dilemmas, and factors that influence their attitudes can be analyzed to determine the nurses’ role in the support or opposition of the practice. Although nurses do not have an active role in PAS, they play a pivotal role in patient advocacy and education. This paper analyzes the factors that contribute to nurses’ attitudes toward the practice, along with the benefits of education of this topic going forth.

Prevention Of Pediatric Mortality Associated With Malaria: An Exhaustive Literature Review, Taylor Mosley

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Malaria, a disease that is preventable yet frequently fatal, disproportionately affects pediatric African populations at a rate that results in a child under the age of 5 dying every two minutes. Since 1955, the World Health Organization has contributed to a significant reduction in the morbidity and mortality of malaria; however, progress has stalled in recent years. In some countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, cases have increased since 2015. This literature review seeks to identify factors associated with this incline, as well as what interventions can have the greatest impact to prevent pediatric mortality in areas with the largest …

Reflections On North Texas Ob-Gyn Internship, Catherine Beachner

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis provides a personal reflection on a nurse internship with North Texas Ob-Gyn Associations located in Lewisville, Texas. An evaluation of the internship was conducted by providing a description of the position, analyzing the internship, and outlining a pertinent patient case study. The responsibilities for this position mainly included assisting the doctor during appointments. An extensive range of skills were gained through the experience, including developing confidence in interactions with patients and learning physical tasks. The focus of the honors project was overall learning, which occurred through completion of learning goals, and the goals of the internship were fully …

Reflections On Texas Back Institute Internship, Shelby Jones

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

For my honors project, I chose to do the experimental option to gain more knowledge on topics that we do not spend much time covering in nursing school. I had the privilege to complete an internship with the Texas Back Institute, their main office is located in Plano, Texas. I worked closely the Scoliosis and Spine Tumor Center that is a branch of their team, and completed my internship from May to the first week of August 2019. I worked 20 hours a week during my internship between the clinic and the hospital. I was able to observe physicians in …

Addressing Barriers To Maternal Healthcare For Marshallese Islanders In Northwest Arkansas: An Internship Experience, Victoria Richardson

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Marshallese community is a rapidly growing population in Northwest Arkansas. Approximately 12,000 people migrated from the Marshall Islands and settled in the state of Arkansas due to the signing of the Compact of Free Association (COFA) in 1986. Although the population in Northwest Arkansas is experiencing rapid growth, there are significant health disparities that coincide with it. Due to vast cultural differences, language barriers, low economic status, and political barriers, the Marshallese community suffers from prenatal health inequalities and poor maternal and fetal outcomes, including low birth-weight infants, premature births, and increased infant mortality. During my internship, I provided …

Emergency Preparedness Competencies Among Nurses In Northwest Arkansas, Taylor A. Matlock

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Despite years of training and experience, evidence suggests nurses report wide gaps in emergency competencies and disaster preparedness. Further, nurses report low levels of familiarity in competencies related to planning for disasters, implementing disaster guidelines, and assessing patients exposed to biological and chemical agents. This research sought to establish the self-reported level of emergency preparedness competencies of nurses in Northwest Arkansas, an area that faces a diverse set of potential disasters ranging from nuclear accidents to pandemic disease. Additionally, differences between of the level of preparedness by education level or work specialty were studied. The results are alarming in that …

Exploring The Effects Of Caring For Congestive Heart Failure Patients On Caregiver Well-Being: A Descriptive Study, Hanna S. Curtis

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background: As the incidence of heart failure (HF) quickly becomes the leading cause of disability among older adults, the need for non-professional, in-home caregivers increases as well. Many caregivers are family members who receive no compensation for their efforts, but all are an invaluable tool in the fight against a debilitating disease. Patients with caregivers experience an improved quality of life and lower mortality rates than patients with little social support. The caregiver of a patient with HF may be responsible for everyday activities such as housekeeping and shopping, as well as more complex disease-related necessities as managing medication …

Association Of Self-Care Confidence And Hospital Readmission Following Student Nurse Led Congestive Heart Failure Transitional Care Project, Peyton A. Phelps

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Over 5 million Americans have been diagnosed with heart failure, and that number is growing. This disease is burdensome to the patient as it lessens their quality of life and to the healthcare system due to costliness and frequent readmissions. This study aims to evaluate if a student nurse led transitional care program can increase patient self-care confidence, in turn reducing 30 day hospital readmission rates. Twenty patients completed the Self Care of Heart Failure Index before and after a 14-week transitional care program. These reported data were compared using a paired samples t-test. There was not a …