Nursing Commons^™

Implementation Effectiveness Of Campus Tobacco-Free Policies, Amanda Fallin

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure are leading causes of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States. Outdoor tobacco smoke exposure conveys many of the same risks as indoor secondhand smoke exposure. Tobacco-free campuses policies are an intervention to promote a positive social norm that encourages smoking cessation, as well as reduces exposure to outdoor tobacco smoke. This dissertation contains a review of the policy implementation literature; findings from a psychometric analysis of the newly developed Tobacco-free Compliance Assessment Tool (TF-CAT) to assess compliance with tobacco-free campus policies; and results of a campus intervention study to promote compliance. The …

Intrapsychic Predictors Of Professional Quality Of Life: Mindfulness, Empathy, And Emotional Separation, Jacky T. Thomas

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

A growing literature documents the inherently stressful nature of working with persons who are suffering or traumatized, and the potential for the development of stress disorders among social workers and other helpers. Previous studies of compassion fatigue and burnout have provided important information about professional and workplace variables that might influence risk, but little attention has been given to studying intrapersonal skills/abilities that might reduce risk and/or increase resilience and work satisfaction among helping professionals. This exploratory study asked whether levels of mindfulness, empathy, and emotional separation would influence professional quality of life, including compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. …

The Effect Of Acupressure On Constipation, Quality Of Life, And Depressive Symptoms In Cancer Patients With Constipation, Eun Jin Lee

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Constipation is the most common gastrointestinal complaint in the United States, resulting in about 2 million annual visits to the doctor.

The purposes of this dissertation were to: 1) describe four theories of traditional Korean medicine; 2) review mechanisms of acupuncture and moxibustion and develop a conceptual model; 3) review findings from randomized controlled trials that tested the effects of acupressure used for the management of symptoms such nausea, pain, and dyspnea; 4) examine the reliability and validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in heart failure patients with constipation compared to those with gastrointestinal disease; 5) describe how Korean …

Tobacco-Free Prison Policies And Health Outcomes Among Inmates, Alison R. Connell

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This study was the first to examine the effect of tobacco policies in prisons on the health of inmates. Kentucky has two types of tobacco policies in its 16 state prisons: indoor smoke-free policies, where smoking is allowed outdoors and tobacco-free policies, in which no tobacco of any kind is allowed on the grounds of the prison. The smoking rate of inmates is three times higher than that of current smokers in the non-incarcerated population which results in high rates of tobacco-related health conditions such as heart disease and lung cancer.

A literature review discussed the evolution of tobacco policies …

Cognitive Therapy For The Treatment Of Depressive Symptoms In Patients With Heart Failure, Rebecca L. Dekker

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Depressive symptoms are common in patients with heart failure (HF) and adversely affect mortality, morbidity, and health-related quality of life. Cognitive therapy (CT) has been proposed as a non-pharmacological treatment for depressive symptoms in patients with HF. However, there is currently little evidence to support use of CT in patients with HF.

The purpose of this dissertation was to develop and test a brief, nurse-delivered CT intervention for the treatment of depressive symptoms in patients with HF. Prior to testing the intervention, preliminary work was conducted resulting in four manuscripts: 1) a review of the evidence for CT in treating …

Health System Processes, Clinician Attitudes, And Referrals To Tobacco Treatment Programs, Karma Bryan Cassidy

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Assisting smokers to quit and stay quit is the most important intervention clinicians can undertake to improve the length and quality of life of patients who use tobacco. The chronic, relapsing nature of tobacco dependence complicates tobacco treatment. Tobacco treatment counseling programs provide on-going support to help patients avoid relapse. Assistance with a referral increases the likelihood that patients will participate in counseling, but few clinicians regularly assist with referrals to tobacco treatment programs. This dissertation examined health system processes and clinician attitudes that influence the likelihood that clinicians will refer their patients for tobacco treatment counseling.

Three papers examined …

Health Promotion And Health Education: Nursing Students’ Perspectives, Kathleen Ann Halcomb

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine student nurses’ perceptions of (1) the role of the nurse in health promotion, and (2) how the concept of health promotion is presented in nursing curricula. Research questions for this study included the following: 1) Can nursing students explain the difference between health education and health promotion? 2) What have nursing students been exposed to within their curriculum regarding health promotion? 3) What health promoting behaviors are nursing faculty role modeling as perceived by nursing students? 4) What is the role of the nurse in implementing health promotion as perceived by nursing …

Cardiac Rhythm During Mechanical Ventilation And Weaning From Ventilation, Muna Hassan Hammash

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The transition from mechanical ventilation (MV) to spontaneous ventilation during weaning is associated with hemodynamic alterations and autonomic nervous system (ANS) alterations (reflected by heart rate variability [HRV]). Although cardiac dysrhythmias are an important manifestation of hemodynamic alterations, development of dysrhythmias during MV and weaning and subsequent impact on length of MV has received little attention.

The purposes of this dissertation were to 1) evaluate the relationship of heart rate variability (HRV) during weaning to the development of cardiac dysrhythmias and 2) determine the relationship of cardiac dysrhythmias to length of MV.

A convenience sample of 35 patients (66.7% men; …

What Nurses Say: Communication Behaviors Associated With The Competent Nursing Handoff, Anne Claiborne Ray Streeter

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Communication competence and medical communication competence served as the theoretical framework for this research that seeks to identify specific communication behaviors associated with what nurses say constitute a communicatively competent patient handoff at the nursing change of shift. Data collected from 286 nurses responding to an online modified Medical Communication Competence Scale posted at www.allnurses.com supported the hypotheses that information exchange (information giving, seeking and verifying) and socioemotional communication behaviors are rated more highly in the best patient handoffs than in the worst ones. Research questions found that the incoming nursing role rated behaviors associated with information verifying and socioemotional …

Post Discharge Nausea And Vomiting In Ambulatory Surgical Patients: Incidence And Management Strategies, Jan Odom Forren

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 65% of all surgeries are conducted in the outpatient surgery setting involving more than 35 million patients. Thirty-five to fifty percent of these outpatients will experience post discharge nausea and vomiting (PDNV), nausea and vomiting that occurs after discharge from the health care facility after surgery. A dearth of literature details the problems associated with nausea and vomiting experienced by patients after discharge home from outpatient surgery.

The purposes of this dissertation were to (1) review the current knowledge in the area of post discharge nausea and vomiting; (2) present results of an integrative review of the research literature …

Image Of God: Effect On Coping, Psycho-Spiritual Well-Being And Fear Of Recurrence In Early Breast Cancer Survivors, Judith Anne Schreiber

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine whether a breast cancer survivor’s view of God influences her religious coping strategies, depression, anxiety, stress, fear of recurrence, and psychological well-being. These variables were selected based on literature that demonstrates relationships among them for breast cancer survivors. The specific aims of this dissertation were to: 1) identify religious coping strategies common to each of the four views of God; 2) examine the relationship of psychological well-being (Ryff) and religious coping strategies; and 3) examine differences in depression, anxiety, stress, fear of recurrence, and psychological well-being among women holding various views of …