Nursing Commons^™

Development And Evaluation Of The Cardiac Exercise Health Belief Scale, Virginia R. Mcginn

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to develop and evaluate the Cardiac Exercise Health Belief Scale (CEHBS) which is based on the Health Belief Model. The CEHBS focuses on the concepts of benefits and barriers. Ninety post cardiac event subjects, 69 males and 21 females, were recruited from two Michigan hospitals during their hospital stay. The CEHBS was mailed to subjects six to eight weeks following discharge.; Cronbach alpha for the CEHBS benefits subscale was.90 and for the barriers subscale was.84. Content validity was established by expert review. During factor analysis all items did load on factors related to the …

The Relationship Between The Level Of Codependent Behavior And The Level Of Differentiation Of Self Among Nursing Students, Vicki Lynn Brandes Hillborg

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the level of codependent behavior and the level of differentiation of self among nursing students. This study employed a descriptive correlational design. The convenience sample of 241 nursing students (221 female, 20 male, ages 18-55) from associate degree, diploma, and baccalaureate degree nursing programs completed, by self-report, the Friel Adult Child/Codependent Assessment Inventory (Friel & Friel, 1988), the Haber Level of Differentiation of Self Scale (Haber, 1990), and an author created respondent characteristics questionnaire. There was a significant moderate negative correlation between the level of codependent behavior and the …

Relationship Of Perceived Social Support To Readmission Of The Congestive Heart Failure Patient, Margaret A. Guthaus

Masters Theses

This study examined the relationship between perceived social support and the time between hospital admissions for congestive heart failure (CHF) patients based on Lazarus' Stress and Coping Theory. A descriptive correlational design was used with a convenience sample of 40 inpatients aged 33-100 at a mid-western hospital. The Personal Resource Questionnaire was used to measure social support.; Data indicated that 50% of the sample were readmitted within 90 days of discharge. However, the hypothesized positive relationship between perceived social support and the number of days between admissions was not supported. Subjects' age was related to time between admissions(r =.33, df …

Perceptions Of Nurse Behaviors By Persons With Copd During Acute Shortness Of Breath, Joyce A. Kowatch

Masters Theses

This study employed a qualitative approach to explore the perceptions of clients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease recalling nursing behaviors as a part of a process of helping during dyspnea. Grounded theory was used to look at how a client's world was constructed in this particular situation. Examination of data led to the generation of a hypothesis to explain the process of helping. Subjects were asked what it was like when they were extremely short of breath and what nursing behaviors helped or didn't help them.; Identified changes were categorized as suffocation, pain, energy depletion, panic, and cognitive haze. Helpful …

Spouse Adaptation After The Partner's Open Heart Surgery, Marietta J. Gardner

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe the adaptation of male and female spouses after their partners' open heart surgery using the theory of person as an adaptive system. A descriptive correlational design was used to examine adaptation of male and female spouses to their partners' open heart surgery (criterion variable); and partners' health prior to surgery, length of time partner diagnosed with heart disease, number of years married, and general state of marital relationship prior to surgery as perceived by the spouse were predictor variables. The sample consisted of 20 male and 25 female spouses, 31 to 88 …

Perceived Stress Levels Of Registered Nurses Employed In Medical-Surgical And Critical Care Units, Karen Snyder Keese

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research was to compare perceived stress levels of registered nurses employed in medical-surgical units to perceived stress levels of registered nurses employed in critical care units. A descriptive, correlational study was conducted using Wolfgang's (1988) Health Professions Stress Inventory. Perceptions of stress were measured and related to specialty, years of experience, years of nursing education, hours worked per week, and shift worked. A convenience sample of 102 registered nurses from two midwestern hospitals participated by a self administered questionnaire. Study findings included: medical-surgical nurses perceived significantly higher levels of stress than critical care nurses; stressors for …

An Investigation Of Stress And Burnout In Hospital Registered Nurses, Ellen Nora Hale

Masters Theses

This study investigated job stressors and burnout among hospital registered nurses and was based on a systems theory model in which inputs and throughputs interact to effect outputs. Job stressors were measured using the Job Stress Questionnaire (JSQ). Top-ranked stressors included heavy work load, insufficient resources, and inability to satisfy conflicting demands. Burnout was measured using the three subscales (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Based on multiple regression analyses, total JSQ scores accounted for 21% of the variance in emotional exhaustion scores. Together, years of experience and an education level of BSN or BA …

Hardiness And Its Relationship To Anticipatory Nausea And Vomiting Experienced By The Patient Receiving Cisplatin Chemotherapy, Colleen K. Smith

Masters Theses

Research suggests that the hardiness characteristic acts as a buffer in the stress/illness relationship. The purpose of this study was to assess the presence of hardiness and examine its relationship to the amount of anticipatory nausea and vomiting experienced within a sample of patients receiving cisplatin chemotherapy. It was hypothesized that individuals with a high level of hardiness would experience less anticipatory nausea and vomiting than individuals with a low level of hardiness.; A prospective descriptive correlational design was utilized. A convenience sample of adults with cancer (n = 29) receiving cisplatin intravenously was studied. All patients were assessed via …

Maternal Adjustment To Premature Birth: Utilizing The Roy Adaptation Model As A Theoretical Framework, Ivy Razmus

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the adjustment for primiparous mothers of preterm infants was less positive than for primiparous mothers of term infants utilizing the Roy Adaptation Model as a conceptual framework. This secondary analysis utilized data from a larger longitudinal study. The data was collected at three months post birth in the homes of the mothers. The sample consisted of 55 preterm and 46 full term mothers. The Affects Balance Scale (Derogatis, 1983) was used to measure adjustment. A significant difference was found between preterm and full term mothers on the Positive Affects Scale and …

Coping With Multiple Roles, Deborah J. Laughlin

Masters Theses

Women in increasing numbers have been combining career and family. Balancing the multiple roles may be stressful at times. The purpose of this study was to examine how different stressors influence a woman's ability to utilize coping responses. This study examined the relationships between situational variables and a nurse's ability to cope with multiple roles. The situational variables studied were: age, educational level, number of hours worked, job type, number of children, ages of the children, view of nursing, husband's agreement with the wife on the number of hours worked, and satisfaction with child care. The survey tool, the "Coping …

Occupational Stress Among Nurse Administrators In General Hospitals In Tennessee, Ruby T. Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of occupational stress among nurse administrators and to identify the types of strategies used by nurse administrators to deal with or manage occupational stress. The study examined the relationship between selected demographic variables, occupational stress, and strategies. The research design included five research questions along with seven null hypotheses testing the relationship between occupational stress and demographic variables--age, gender, marital status, years of professional nursing experience, years as a nurse administrator, educational attainment, and hospital bed capacity. There were seven additional hypotheses testing the relationship between the same demographic variables …

The Impact Of An Employee Involvement Program On Service Quality In A Nursing Home Organization, Diane Catanzaro

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of an intervention involving employee participation in decision making and behavior modeling training on quality of service. Subjects were nursing aides in two similar nursing home facilities operated by a medium-sized long-term care organization. Participation in decision making involved weekly meetings using a quality-circle-type problem-solving process to develop suggestions for improving quality of service to residents and their families. Behavior modeling training was used to teach interpersonal skills necessary for handling a customer complaint. Service quality was assessed through family, resident, and supervisor ratings of nursing aide service behaviors. The …

Nurse Manager Role Stress, Rosemarie Mohn

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of decision-making style, and right and left brain function on nurse manager role stress. Data were collected from 48 nurse managers employed at four acute care facilities along the Atlantic seaboard. A nonexperimental correlation descriptive design was utilized to determine if any positive or negative correlation existed between study variables and levels of stress. Findings suggested that nurse managers experienced moderate amounts of role stress, including role conflict and role ambiguity. One significant statistical correlation existed between role ambiguity and the decision making dimension of intuition. Recommendations for future research …

A Comparative Analysis Of Nurse Leaders' Degree Of Transformational Leadership And Staff Nurse Job Satisfaction, Kathie Sawyer Weatherly

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The intensified pressure for change in nursing organizations has presented nurse leaders with opportunities to transform bureaucratic settings into professional practice environments. Transformational leadership has been identified as supporting the changing values of staff nurses and promoting job satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to explore nurse leaders' degree of transformational leadership and the relationship between transformational leadership and staff nurse job satisfaction. Quantitative analysis, using an independent t-test, indicated a significant difference between nurse leaders' and staff nurses' perception of the nurse leaders' degree of transformational leadership. Pearson correlation analysis indicated a significant relationship between transformational leadership and …

An Explanatory Study Of Maternal Stress And Coping With A Cystic Fibrosis Child, Leslie G. Potter

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of coping with a cystic fibrosis (CF) child and to define coping strategies from the perspective of the mother. The research design was based upon a phenomenological approach with analysis of transcribed, semi-structured interviews with mothers of CF children. A purposive sample of eight mothers with CF children were interviewed to explore the maternal CF experience. Each interview was tape recorded and followed up with a phone call to allow the mothers to add additional information, if so desired. Data analysis consisted of reviewing each typed, verbatim transcript to categorize …

The Relationship Between Occupational Choice And Perceptions Of Professional Nursing Functions And Characteristics, Ellis Quinn Youngkin

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

This study identifies the occupational interests and predominant vocational personality types of freshmen students (undeclared majors, nursing majors, and non-nursing majors), explores perceptions about selected professional nursing functions and characteristics among the students, and examines perceptual differences between groups (majors).

A non-experimental ex post facto design is used to analyze data from 312 students in a large urban university. Descriptive and inferential statistics are applied in data analysis. The following findings support the hypotheses: (1) Nursing continues to attract the traditional student who has Holland's Social vocational personality type as measured by the Self-Directed Search, although many Social types are …

Self-Esteem And Perceived Barriers To And Benefits Of Exercise Among Physically Active And Non-Physically Active College Students, Barbara Brown Bonheur

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine differences in self-esteem, perceived benefits of and perceived barriers to exercise between exercisers and non-exercisers and to determine if relationships existed between self-esteem, perceived benefits of exercise and perceived barriers to exercise, that could explain participation in regular aerobic exercise. A sample of 105 university students completed four questionnaires. The level of social desirability present in participant responses was also measured. Five hypotheses were tested. Utilizing t-tests, a significant difference was found between exercisers and non-exercisers on self-esteem, perceived benefits of exercise, and perceived barriers to exercise. The three variables (self-esteem, …

Predictors Of Absenteeism Among Hospital Nurses: An Examination Of Blau Amd Boal's Model Of Absenteeism Behavior, Keith Edward Gers

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Nursing Experience And Education On Nurses Inferences Of Patients' Suffering, Patricia A. Coots

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

A primary dimension of nursing is caring tor patients who suffer. This study examined the inferences made about patients' suffering oy 65 registered nurses employed in acute care health facilities. Utilizing The standard Measure of Inferences of Suffering Questionnaire. the purpose of the study was to explore the influence of nursing education and experience on the degree of pain and psychological distress inferred by the nurses. Analysis of Covariance was used to test for group differences on the basis of nursing education when number of months of nursing experience was controlled. Although nursing education did not influence nurses' inferences of …

Development And Testing Of The Stress Adaptation Scale For Parents With Chronically Ill Children (Sasp), Carolyn M. Rutledge

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

This research study consisted of four phases used to develop and test the Stress Adaptation Scale for Parents with Chronically Ill Children (ASP). The first phase dealt with developing the items on the SASP from a review of the literature and the researcher's professional experience. The SASP was then divided into the six categories of health care, social, personal, familial, financial, and spiritual. In phase II, content validity was evaluated by a panel of experts. In phase III, stability over time and face validity was demonstrated using 26 parents of chronically ill children. The SASP achieved a Pearson's r=.85 with …

The Effect Of A Death, Dying And Grieving Seminar On Nicu Nurses' Levels Of Anxiety, Depression And Hostility, Bonnie Kugel

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

[Abstract Not Included]

Smoking Behavior Among Alabama Student Nurses : The Role Of Behavioral Beliefs And Normative Referencing, Judith Rausch

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine predictors of smoking behavior for the senior student nurses in the state of Alabama using Ajzen and Fishbein's Theory of Reasoned Action. Smoking prevalence by level of educational preparation and selected health behaviors were examined for relationship to cigarette use.

A sample of 11 schools of nursing were selected from Alabama's 34, using a random numbers table. There were 13 total programs as two of the schools had both A.D. and B.S. nursing programs. Thirty-two percent (N=555) of senior A.D., B.S. & diploma students nurses in Alabama responded to an 87 item …

The Effects Of Nonnutritive Sucking On The Behavior Of Premature Infants, Jean Newbold

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This quasi experimental study explored the effects of nonnutritive sucking opportunities on the premature's behavioral habituation, orientation and state control using the Mann-Whitney U-Test. The problem was to determine if experimental infants receiving regular nonnutritive sucking opportunities would show a difference in behavior when compared to a control group.

The sample was a purposive convenience sample of 15 infants. All infants were between the conceptual age of 28-34 weeks and were considered "stable" infants. Neurological examinations, consisting of selected segments of the Brazelton Newborn Behavioral Assessment Scale (BNBAS), were performed on all infants on the day of entry into the …

A Study Of Loneliness And Health Related Complaints In Residents Of High Rise Apartment Buildings For The Elderly, Susan H. Jones

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore feelings of loneliness among relocated elderly residents of age-segregated, high-rise apartment buildings and any relationship between these subjective feelings of loneliness and certain variables which were hypothesized as predictors of feelings of loneliness. The variables studied in relation to loneliness were cathectic investment, activity, and perceptions of health. A non-experimental survey design where data were collected by interviewing subjects was used. The sample consisted of 18 female residents of a high-rise apartment building for the elderly. Each was interviewed using the Loneliness Rating Scale developed by Dr. Gloria M. Francis and a …

The Effect Of Therapeutic Touch On Anxiety And Physiological Measures, Marie Nicholas Bremner

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of therapeutic touch to anxiety, blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate of 30 hospitalized women between the ages of 30 and 65 with the medical diagnosis of cancer. Subjects were matched into three intervention groups; three consecutive days subjects received a five minute intervention by therapeutic touch, casual touch, or no touch. A-trait and A-state anxiety were measured by the Self-Evaluation Questionnaires developed by Spielberger, Gorsuch, and Lushene. A factorial two-way analysis of variance revealed that subjects who received intervention by therapeutio touch experienced a significant reduction in A-state …

The Effect Of Self-Help Support Groups On Self Esteem And Blood Glucose In Young Insulin-Dependent Diabetics, Linda L. Woertz

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Successful adaptation to diabetes is probably a function of many factors: the stress involved, the rewards, the motivation of the individual, and the self concept. The more optimal the self concept the more optimal the behavior may be. By helping the patient shape a positive self concept, a base can be built for blood glucose control (Bruhn, 1977, pp. 93-97). One method of improving self concept or self esteem may be through the development of self-help support groups for diabetics.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of self-help support group intervention on the levels of self …

The Effects Of Exercise On Women's Self-Esteem, Wendy Laurie Biddle

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The effects of a 12-week session of aerobic dancing were examined on two groups of women, assigned into fit and unfit groups. The subjects had voluntarily enrolled in aerobic dancing prior to the study. Self-Esteem scores were obtained using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale during the first and tenth or eleventh weeks of the session. Pretest and posttest scores were analyzed along with the variables of age, marital status, weight loss, and smoking habits. A significantly higher gain score (posttest score subtracted from pretest score) was found on those women who attended three weekly classes compared to those who attended two …

A Comparative Analysis Of Factors Influencing Registered Nurse Retention And Turnover Below The Head Nurse Level In Acute Care Hospitals, Jean M. Snyder

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

In a comparative survey, two groups of registered nurses (stayers and leavers) below the head nurse level were measured in the areas of human need satisfaction perception, role perception, and equity perception. The two registered nurse groups were further subdivided by educational preparation into diploma, associate, and baccalaureate degree stayers and leavers for comparative analysis. Literature reviews revealed considerable research in the area of retention and turnover, but few studies used a theoretical framework and a multivariate basis for observation. One hundred nine registered nurses from the ten area acute care hospitals were surveyed using an independently developed Nursing Perceptions …

A Comparison Of Self-Esteem And Health Locus Of Control In Adolescents With Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, Janice Mace

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study was a descriptive survey establishing a baseline level of self-esteem and health locus of control in insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) adolescents. The purpose of the research was to study and describe health behaviors of IDDM adolescents in regards to self-concept and health locus of control. These behaviors are believed to have life-long ramifications on the IDDM adolescent's health status.

The sample consisted of 91 IDDM adolescents, 34 male and 57 female, in a nonrandom convenience cluster attending a 10-day summer camp.

Null hypothesis one was: Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus would make no difference at the .05 level …

The Effect Of Individual Instruction Versus Group Instruction On Compliance In C.O.P.D. Patients, Renee L. Hills

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Because of the evolution of hospitals from general care to acute care centers, the need for more outpatient therapy programs had increased in an effort to aid patients in managing their health care at home. As a result, health care professionals were concerned with the extent to which patients would follow their medication and treatment programs. Marston estimated that approximately 30 to 35 percent of patients fail to follow their physicians' medical recommendations (Marston, 1970).

Discovering a means of insuring patient compliance was a prevalent concern in the nursing and medical professions. Previously we had attempted to blame noncompliance on …