Nursing Commons^™

The Essential Characteristics Of An Effective Hospice And Palliative Care Nurse, Alexis Doyle

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Role Of Hospice Care: Reflections From A Service-Learning Project, Avery Mccutcheon

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

There is little known about the part end-of-life care plays in patient care. This paper examines the role of end-of-life care in the care of a dying patient and consists of findings from a service-learning project with Circle of Life hospice. To be able to effectively care for those in the end stages of life, healthcare professionals must turn away from the curative aspects of medicine, to treating symptoms and improving quality of whatever life remains for the patient. In order to normalize EOL Care and consequently make it more accessible, we must educate our healthcare practitioners regarding the benefits …

Treatment Access For Dual Diagnosis Substance Use And Mental Health Disorders, Pedro Banuelos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 2018, of 1.3 million Latinx adults in the United States facing concurrent issues with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health disorders (MHD) 93% remained untreated for either diagnosis. This is concerning since Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) data reveals that this population is at greater risk for suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. They also face structural barriers such as employment, housing, legal involvement, and insurability that further impede access to treatment.

This study’s purpose was to examine barriers to accessing treatment for Latinx populations confronting co-occurring SUDs and MHDs. This study used a qualitative design …

A Study Of Communication Practices Between Office And Field-Based Personnel In Home Healthcare Agencies, Ruth M. Bates-Hill

Dissertations

The population of developed countries is rapidly aging. People want to age in their residence, and as they advance in years, most people will need assistance with activities of daily living and perhaps medical assistance to remain at home. Home health aides provide a large portion of such care. However, the annual turnover rate of home health aides exceeds 60% due to factors such as low wages, poor benefits, and a challenging work environment. Many studies have been conducted to elucidate the factors contributing to job satisfaction in the home health aide population, yet despite decades of research, turnover among …

Improving Therapeutic Communication In Mental Health Nursing: A Quality Improvement Project, Patricia A. Nill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Over 46 million adults in the United States (U.S.) live with a mental illness. Locally in Nevada, the psychiatrist to patient ratio is approximately 700:1, and patients are seen primarily in the inpatient setting, if seen at all, due to the wait average of 85 hours in the hospital emergency rooms for access into mental health hospitals or specialty units of a general hospital. Moreover, costs for mental health mood disorders alone are estimated at over seven million dollars annually. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) opined the need for change in healthcare to redesign practice and clinical communication with patients …

Examining The Effect Of Provider Bias On Pain Management In Black Patients: A Systematic Literature Review, John Massey, Monica Gambilado

Thinking Matters Symposium

Black Americans face unequal treatment for pain management when seeking care. The aim of this systematic literature review is to examine the impact of provider bias on Black patients receiving appropriate pain management interventions in the clinical setting. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Literature Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. CINAHL and PubMed were searched with the following key search terms: Black/African American, bias, prejudice, discrimination, unconscious bias, pain management, pain reduction, pain control and analgesic. A self-developed Critical Appraisal Tool was used for quality assessment of the studies included in the review. A total of 101 probable …

Impact Of Group Prenatal Care On Health Outcomes For Women Of Color In The United States: A Systematic Literature Review, Morgan Brockington, Emily Bauer, Julie Kameisha

Thinking Matters Symposium

Women of color in the United States experience disproportionately higher rates of adverse pregnancy-related outcomes, both in the prenatal and postpartum period. Group prenatal care (GPC) has been gaining popularity in recent years and has demonstrated improved health outcomes. The aim of this systematic literature review was to examine and summarize the impact of group prenatal care on health outcomes for women of color in the United States. Using a systematic approach and PRISMA guidelines, two electronic databases—CINAHL and PubMed—were used to search the literature. Quantitative research studies that were published in peer-reviewed journals between 2010 and 2020, written in …

Promises Endure: Historical Views Of Nursing Faculty, Laura R. Muñoz

Verbum Incarnatum: An Academic Journal of Social Justice

Lessons learned from the history of an organization are valuable. This is especially true for an organization with the legacy held by the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of the Incarnate Word. Memories recounted by nursing faculty were collected to enhance information provided in the two-volume chronicle written by Sister Patrice Slattery in 1995 entitled, “Promises to Keep” and the last history of the school, “The Story of One School of Nursing” written by Sister Charles Marie Frank in 1976.

Zero Balancing In The Chiropractic Practice, Michele Doucette Dc

Journal of Transformative Touch

Discovering the profound gifts of the leading-edge structural and energetic manual therapy Zero Balancing (ZB), and adding it to my chiropractic and nutrition practice, has unified my personal growth with the sustainability of my professional practice. Much of humanity is starving for wholeness, authenticity, and meaningful connection with ourselves, others, and something greater. Chiropractors are well positioned to be leaders in a true evolution of healthcare, especially if, as we continue to explore the various branches of our therapeutic repertoires, we stay connected to our vitalistic roots that are now more supported than ever by new findings in the fields …

Self-Reliance And Self-Efficacy As Determinants Of Mental Health Treatment Seeking Intention In A Sample Of Student Service Members/Veterans, Leigh Holdsambeck

DNP Projects

Problem Statement: High rates of mental illness and poor treatment seeking have plagued the military for decades. As an organization that demands resilience, sacrifice, strength, and courage from its members, many servicemembers develop deep-seated self-reliance and self-efficacy. Though essential in many critical situations, these traits often complicate a servicemember's willingness to seek care for a mental health concern. Student servicemembers/veterans (SSM/Vs) are at an increased risk for poor mental health outcomes owing to the compounded stressors of military service and academia. Purpose: To measure the impact of elements of military service, namely self-reliance and self-efficacy, on mental health …

The Health Impact Of Intensive Case Management On Women With Oud And Their Infants, Shannon Rappe

DNP Projects

Postpartum women with an opioid use disorder (OUD) are at high risk for treatment disengagement, leaving them vulnerable to overdose and death between seven and twelve months postpartum. Intensive case management programs have been proposed as an effective strategy to reduce barriers and increase treatment engagement among postpartum women. The purpose of this study was to evaluate program outcomes of postpartum women with OUD and the health outcomes of their infants when engaged in an intensive case management program postpartum. The study was a retrospective review of secondary data collected on 221 postpartum mothers and 225 infants of mothers who …

A Descriptive Study Of Health-Related Risks And Outcome Differences By Loneliness Status In A Sample Of Older Veterans, Rachael Beard

Dissertations

There is a need to understand the influences and outcomes related to loneliness in veterans living with complex illness. Patients require self-care to manage complications and exacerbations associated with complex illness. Deficits in self-care result in negative health outcomes and drive resource utilization upward. The identification of potential factors related to self-care is important. Loneliness may be one factor that influences patients’ ability and desire to care for themselves. Descriptive correlational design was used to evaluate loneliness both as a predictor and outcome in veterans admitted to the hospital for three complex respiratory illnesses (heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, …

Telehealth Interprofessional Healthcare Delivery, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Mindfulness Sessions For The Prevention Of Compassion Fatigue In Pediatric Oncology Nurses, Sara Neal

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Over the last several years, compassion fatigue (CF) has been considered one of the main reasons that nurses choose to leave the bedside and the profession. While many healthcare organizations recognize the problems that are associated with CF, only a few have worked towards preventing it. An intervention that has shown promise of aiding nurses with CF is mindfulness. The purpose of this quantitative pretest-posttest design was to focus on the effects of the Koru® Mindfulness program with CF and resilience in pediatric oncology nurses. Data collected from the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) v.5 and the Brief Resilience Scale …

Ceramic Studio Assistant, Allison Jones, Adam Yungbluth

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

The research project will focus on learning the various activities involved in running a college level Ceramics Studio. Activities will include clay mixing for Ceramics 1 courses, mixing studio glazes & slips, firing bisque, reduction, soda, & wood kiln, and other activities to improve the Ceramics Studio.

The Art Of Preservation, Sinclaire Dorsey, Melissa Yungbluth

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

Proper preservation of creative works is imperative to sustaining documentation for future generations’ education. Exhibition designers, such as the students awarded with the undergraduate research fellowship for the Golding-Yang gallery, must be mindful of the environmental factors that impact creative works. For instance, light sensitivity of the materials can be overwhelmed by ultraviolet and infrared radiation produced by the sun. Atmospheric humidity, when not regulated, will destroy irreplaceable artwork that could provide future historians a better understanding of modern culture. Extreme temperatures are devastating to the preservation of artistic works. The regulation of these environmental factors will provide future generations …

Low Stress Handling Techniques In Shelter Animals And The Overall Effects On Physiological Parameters, Ashley Swim, Courtney Smart, Amy Staton

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

Animal shelters tend to be a very stressful environment for dogs as there are many new sounds, smells, and animals. This stress is not only bad for their psychological health and can lead to behavioral issues, but it can also have an impact on their physical health. Stress impacts multiple systems of the body, resulting in increased heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, temperature and even blood glucose levels in dogs. The impact stress has on these systems can lead to a compromised immune system and increases the probabilities of the dog becoming ill. However, by using Fear Free methods, …

Adverse Experiences, Depression, And Parenting Sensitivity., Lauren Oldiges, Savannah Gillis, Tiffany Hicks, Shari Kidwell

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

Parental sensitivity is a key determinant of attachment security and child well-being. Yet many parents in our region face challenges to parenting, such as increased exposure to adverse experiences and depression. Both cumulative exposure to adverse experiences and depression symptoms have been associated with increased risk to parenting (Hays-Grudo & Wilson, 2020). The present study explores connections between parents’ sensitivity/synchrony scores on the Toddler CARE-Index (TCI: Crittenden, 2007), Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) amongst parents, and parental depression. As part of a larger longitudinal study of Eastern Kentucky families, 35 children (mean age 4.5 years) and their parents participated in the …

French Textbook Illustrations, Abigail Hall, Nicholas Anderson, Karen Taylor

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

This project has been an update of an introductory French textbook in order to make the work more cohesive illustratively. Each week we were given a drawing task to go with a chapter or vocabulary assignment to replace, revamp or develop new art work of greater value than the preexisting illustrations.

Relation Among Potential Predictors Of Drug Abuse Risk In Rats, Emma Brock

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

Animal models have been used to investigate behavioral processes and mechanisms that underlie addiction. A variety of measures have been developed for rats that are modest predictors of drug abuse risk. The purpose of this pilot study was to begin to assess whether several established and potential measures of drug abuse vulnerability were correlated. The subjects were eight adult male Wistar rats. The rats were run on procedures that yielded measures of anxiety, sensation seeking, short term responsive to acutely administered drug, and sensitivity to conditioned stimuli. These measures were correlated with a potential new measure of drug abuse vulnerability—withdrawal …

Improving Patient Outcomes With High Nurse To Patient Ratios: A Quality Improvement Study, Alexis Bradshaw, Morgan Minton, Brenna Murphy, Abigail Ross, Hannah Dorton, Carson Jones, Cierra Connelly, Haley Nyderek

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

According to the United States Registered Nurse Workforce Report Card and Shortage Forecast: A Revisit published in the May/June 2018 issue of the American Journal of Medical Quality, a shortage of registered nurses is projected to spread across the country between 2016 and 2030. Surveyed nurses see the shortage in the future as a catalyst for increasing stress on nurses (98%), lowering patient care quality (93%) and causing nurses to leave the profession (93%) (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2021). A thorough literature review was conducted, and 40 studies were reviewed. Common themes that emerged include: high nurse to …

The Impact Of Power Yoga Training On Baseball Throwing Velocity, John Bakke

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of yoga on baseball pitching velocity, and the factors that affect throwing velocity such as power, flexibility, speed, and mobility. Thirteen volunteer collegiate baseball pitchers were pre-tested on their power, flexibility, speed, mobility, and throwing velocity. The intervention included a 10-week yoga training, with the goal of three sessions per week. Participants were then post-tested under the same conditions. Analysis included dependent t-tests for each of the fitness assessments, with alpha set at .05 a priori. The group was unable to reach the goal of three yoga sessions per week, …

Increasing Student Engagement In Introductory Physics Hybrid Classes, Breanna Epperson

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

The demand for online instruction is on the rise. In a classroom setting, research shows that student interactions are important for overcoming common misconceptions, but it is challenging to achieve the same level of engagement in an online setting. To try to improve online interactions in a hybrid physics class at Morehead State University, the Fall 2020 online class was required to post a total of three times about a closed, multiple choice, conceptual physics question in each assignment while following certain criteria. In the Spring of 2021, the discussion format was kept the same, but was moved to a …

Genetically Screening For Gain Of Function Mutations In Telomerase Rna, Jose Childers

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

Telomeres are DNA structures located at the ends of linear chromosomes. They function, in part, to allow DNA ends to be copied before cells divide. Since the standard DNA replication machinery can’t fully copy telomeres, most eukaryotic cells require the vital ribonucleoprotein enzyme telomerase. Telomerase is composed of a TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase protein) and telomerase RNA. As we age, telomeres shorten since most human cells do not express telomerase. If telomeres grow too short, it triggers a cell-cycle arrest known as senescence, which can ultimately result in cell death. On the other hand, >85% of human cancers show over-expression …

A Portable Analyzer For Rapid And Sensitive Protein Detection By Ac Electrokinetics Capacitive Sensing, Allie Skaggs

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

Capacitive bioparticle detection is a promising method for point-of-care diagnosis. There are a wide range of applications for such a device: diagnostics, pharmacology, and medical science. The end goal of this project is to develop a portable capacitive sensing platform for rapid and sensitive bioparticles detection. When bioparticles bind to receptors located on the surface of the electrode there would be a change in the interfacial capacitance, which indicate the presence of the bioparticle. The ADuCM355 – a precision analog microcontroller with a chemical sensor interface – is being used to perform biased electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). An AC potential …

Preservation Of Morehead State History, Jacob Bush

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

This project is being undertaken in an effort to preserve the buildings and history of Morehead State University. It is the goal of this project to make additions to the historic district of MSU by adding qualifying buildings to the National Register of Historic Places. By adding buildings to the Register, they would be recognized on the federal level as historic sites and receive support for their preservation. The Register seeks to protect sites of importance through many ways including the gifting of funding to ensure preservation. The goals of this project will be achieved using historical texts from our …

Analytical Method Development For The Analysis Of Biomass Degradation Products, Calista Dean

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

The goal of this project is to study the kinetics of hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass. Biomass contains stored chemical energy that can be converted to renewable liquid and gaseous fuels through various processes, but an in-depth understanding of the kinetics of these processes is important in order for them to be feasible on a large scale. Since biomass degradation products depend on the type of biomass used as well as the reaction conditions, this task can be quite complicated. To minimize complications in our initial studies, we will use D-glucose as the starting material. To better understand the degradation pathway’s …

Comparing Growth Of Mutant Strains Of Acinetobacter Baumannii To Wild Type After Treatment With Mitomycin C, Kaylee Compton, Deborah Cook

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

In Acinetocbacter baumannii bacteria, an error-prone DNA damage repair response is induced by the self-cleavage of the UmuDAb protein. Previous experiments indicating that a ddrR mutant becomes growth sensitive after DNA damage suggested that ddrR is also involved in this process. To explore this relationship, eight mutant strains of A. baumannii were made with different combinations of mutations in either ddrR and/or the adjacent gene, A1S_3662. Our experiment compared the growth of wild type cells to strains containing various mutations: DC4 (no gene mutations, just an antibiotic resistance marker, Kanr), DC5 (stop codon mutation in ddrR), and DC6 (both the …

Ekap Update: Rethinking The Presentation Of Historic Sites, Elizabeth Debord

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

The Eastern Kentucky Art Project was founded in 2007 as a way to connect communities with resources pertaining to visual arts and music in Eastern Kentucky. One significant type of resources EKAP features is information regarding historic architecture in Eastern Kentucky. Understanding cultural landmarks in people’s own communities can foster an inclusive and healthy community identity, but it became clear through recent efforts to update the EKAP website that information surrounding the preservation of historic sites is often difficult to access and understand for a general audience. Previous efforts to educate and encourage preservation of important sites was often tied …

The Editorial Process Of The Kentucky Philological Review, Jalyn Findley

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

The Kentucky Philological Review (KPR) is the official journal of the Kentucky Philological Association, published annually. This journal contains essays, book reviews, and creative work selected by the Editorial Committee from the Best of Section papers presented during the prior year’s spring conference. These submissions are then edited by this committee and editorial assistants through MLA format, grammar, syntax, and overall cohesion of themes by correspondence with the authors throughout the year. As editorial assistants of the KPA Editorial Committee, we attended the 2020 KPA conference, organized contact information from the presenters, and began initial readings of their papers and …