Nursing Commons^™

Infertility: An Evaluation Of Treatment Modalities And Ethical Considerations, Elise Ferenczy

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis reviews a variety of options for treatment of infertility, along with ethical considerations for each. The basis for ethical concerns will be primarily a biblical worldview, as the goal is to support Christian couples in decisions regarding infertility treatment. The biblical worldview is outlined to provide readers with an understanding of its core principles, and the Bible is used as the primary source for ethical discussion. The most common etiologies of infertility are outlined, followed by treatment modalities grouped by category. While some modalities present very few ethical concerns, others require careful consideration in many regards. Many of …

Child Abuse From A Nursing Perspective: Assessment And Implications, Ashtyn Spring

Senior Honors Theses

Nurses experience the relationship dynamics between pediatric patients and their families firsthand. Being informed by the goals of holistic care, nurses should be assessing for unhealthy dynamics among pediatric patients and their caregivers so they can respond appropriately when a potential for abuse is present. Healthcare workers have the duty to provide safety and healing to their patients. Through the unique contact nurses have with patients, their training for accurate assessment skills, and their responsibility as healthcare workers, nurses are placed with the opportunity to help children out of abusive situations. Prompt identification of the potential for abuse can prevent …

Mandates, Mistrust, And Misconceptions: An Overview Of Vaccine Hesitancy, Evelyn Ryan

Senior Honors Theses

Vaccines are one of the most successful ways to prevent diseases and are considered one of the most influential achievements in the history of public health. While vaccines have many benefits, the number of parents that refuse vaccinations for their children is increasing. People are concerned about potential risks and health problems that are thought to result from vaccination. There are risks and contraindications involved with vaccines, but many reasons for vaccine hesitancy that are cited by the public are not founded on evidence-based data. When making vaccine decisions, it is essential that the public has accurate information and that …

Virtue Ethics In Nursing: A Review Of The Literature, Abigail Chu

Senior Honors Theses

Background

Human flourishing is at the heart of healthcare. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle proposes virtue ethics, the idea that humans find and fulfill their purpose through flourishing. Virtue ethics posits that an individual flourishes by forming habits that promote excellence (both moral excellence and excellence in skill) while modeling people who possess the ideal traits. Virtue ethics emphasizes eudaimonia or human flourishing as embodying the highest good and an overall state of wellbeing.

Purpose

The purpose of this integrative literature review is to examine how virtue ethics in nursing can promote human flourishing.

Methods

Twenty-nine articles were reviewed for …

Nursing Care Of Family Caregivers: Interventions And Considerations Regarding Current Issues Facing Family Caregivers Of Persons With Dementia Relevant To Nursing Practice, Alayna Kent

Senior Honors Theses

There are an estimated 6.5 million Americans age 65 and older who are currently living with Alzheimer’s dementia. A large majority of these individuals receive care from a nonprofessional family caregiver, typically in the home setting. It is well documented that family caregivers of dementia patients experience many unique challenges. These challenges provide valuable opportunities for nurses to provide helpful interventions to aid this vulnerable population. An integrated review of the recent literature was conducted, and articles were chosen by a method modeled after the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flowsheet. The research was then analyzed …

Nursing Considerations For Post-Traumatic Amnesia After A Traumatic Brain Injury, Hannah Grant

Senior Honors Theses

A period known as post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) often follows a traumatic brain injury (TBI). PTA is characterized by anterograde and retrograde amnesia, confusion, disorientation, and agitation. The duration and severity of PTA is a key indicator of the long-term prognosis after a TBI, so proper assessment and nursing care of a PTA patient is crucial. TBIs range from mild to severe, but primarily affect the fronto-temporal lobes. In PTA, both neural lesions and white matter damage within the parahippocampal region can cause PTA. A nurse must perform a thorough assessment of a TBI patient, but, since PTA is a key …

The Effect Of Isolation On The Mental Health Of Older Adults, Christina Yates

Senior Honors Theses

As individuals age and lose mobility and cognitive functioning, many require full-time care which their loved ones are unable to provide. This often results in placement into long-term care facilities, and these facilities are notorious for being understaffed. Physical health becomes the only priority, depriving the client of having their mental and emotional needs fulfilled. Family and friends may decrease visitation due to distance or convenience. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic closed the doors of many facilities to nearly all visitors. Thus, the only individuals the residents of these facilities experienced interaction with were overworked staff members looking intimidating in …

Sleep Disruptions Within The Hospital, Faith Walls

Senior Honors Theses

The circadian rhythm is a complex and interwoven system within each human being that creates an internal clock each day. However, patients in all hospital settings continue to have their sleep disrupted by many factors. Seep being disrupted in the hospital patients can develop serious complications. To this day, the issues causing have not been adequately assessed and therapeutically intervened with consistency within nursing practice. Using the Whittemore and Knalf Framework, this integrative review will examine the literature on aspects of inpatient care that contribute to circadian disruptions within hospitals. By doing so, the research can be built upon with …

Improving Mental Health Among Undergraduate Nursing Students: Increasing Resilience In Nursing School, Hannah Hilliard

Senior Honors Theses

Nursing students face a unique set of obstacles during their time in school. Beyond the normal stressors of college life, they are required to spend several hours in the hospital per week, study for exams, and complete high acuity simulations, and they struggle with coping with these new demands. Undergraduate nursing students need to be supported in their mental health and coping strategies to improve their resilience in nursing school and, hence, their ability to function as a nurse in the future. This study has ascertained what students believe is helpful in supporting their mental health while in nursing school. …

Communicating Comfort In Crisis: A Literature Review On Overcoming The Emergency Room Environment To Foster The Nurse-Patient Relationship, Faith G. Davenport

Senior Honors Theses

The average emergency room patient is not receiving the compassionate nurse-patient communication that patients experience on other hospital floors. Fewer positive nurse-patient interactions prompt patients to state that they feel uncomforted and dissatisfied on hospital exit surveys, inciting hospital management to investigate how to reverse this trend to retain their federal funding. Emergency room nurses cite multiple barriers inherent in their work environment that prevent them from building rapport with their patients, including a layout not conducive to private conversations, strict time constraints, and a fluctuating workload. Working for a prolonged period under these conditions is driving many nurses to …

The Anxiolytic Effects Of Aromatherapy On Preprocedural Anxiety: An Integrated Review, Rebekah Smith

Senior Honors Theses

Anxiety before procedures can negatively impact patients by increasing cortisol levels which delays wound healing and increases infection risk, increasing pain and sedation medication needs, and increasing hospitalization time. This review was conducted to find how inhaled essential oils affect pre-procedural anxiety of adults in acute care settings. Nine databases and some gray literature were searched within the past ten years, and documented using the PRISMA flow chart. Ten articles fitting the inclusion criteria were retrieved. Nine of the articles found a significant difference between the aromatherapy group and control group and pre- and post- intervention anxiety scores, and none …

The Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine And Parental Hesitancy: The World’S Unspoken Pandemic, Kayla James

Senior Honors Theses

The Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine (MMR) is a proven necessity for the prevention of measles, mumps, and rubella, which possess severe and possibly life-threatening complications. However, the means in which these vaccines are produced, mandated, or scheduled raise certain concerns within the medical and pharmaceutical consumer community. In fact, there are various communities around the globe that willfully choose to refuse the MMR vaccine, along with many other pediatric vaccinations, resulting in diminished vaccination rates and risk of possible outbreak of any of these three diseases. With this impending threat on the rise, it is necessary to engage in research to best …

Loneliness, Social Isolation, And Their Connection To Overall Health Across The Lifespan, Paige Miller

Senior Honors Theses

Due to recent circumstances, the incidence of loneliness and social isolation has skyrocketed. Fortunately, there have already been countless studies examining the longer-term implications of these two factors on health. Loneliness and social isolation have been found to impact cardiovascular health, stress response, immune function, resilience, mental health, attachment, spiritual health, and many other determinants of health. A variety of research was examined outlining the psychological implications of loneliness and social isolation. These factors also influence physiological processes and can exacerbate a variety of diseases. After presentation of this evidence, a collection of possible interventions will be discussed, and their …

The Importance Of Providing Multimodal Analgesia: A Literature Review Of Nonpharmacologic Pain Treatments, Miriam Swartzentruber

Senior Honors Theses

Pain is a central aspect of the human experience. While painful stimuli can be beneficial in alerting the brain to the fact that there is something wrong, left untreated, pain can cause devastating long-term effects on the individual, both physically and mentally. Pain has traditionally been either undertreated or managed solely using pharmacologic methods, with less thought given to the importance of supplementing therapy with nonpharmacologic interventions. By incorporating nonpharmacologic methods of pain management into nursing care, patients can be provided with holistic treatment that improves patient outcomes, decreases healthcare costs, avoids future complications, and improves overall quality of life.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome And Insulin Resistance: An Evaluation Of Treatment Modalities And Complication Prevention, Sarah Mann

Senior Honors Theses

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a reproductive and endocrine disorder in women of childbearing age. This disorder includes multiple clinical manifestations, namely insulin resistance (IR) and infertility related to hormonal imbalances and anovulation. Despite being a common condition, its etiology and treatment modalities remain poorly defined. Without proper understanding and management of the condition, women may suffer numerous complications besides infertility such as diabetes mellitus type II (DMII), endometrial cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, further research is critical. This integrative review will create a comprehensive understanding of PCOS' pathophysiology, potential complications, treatment methods, and nursing considerations to promote the health …

The Benefits Of Dogs For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Emma Raugh

Senior Honors Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition that primarily affects neurological development, causing decreased social aptness, diminished executive function, and abnormal sensory processing, among many other characteristic symptoms. Additional problems that often accompany ASD include anxiety disorders, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Canine assisted animal therapy is one non-pharmacologic therapy option that has been researched for children with ASD to improve their social, psychological, mental, and other difficulties. Studies thus far have shown positive results in children with ASD who have dogs as pets or access to therapy dogs, including improved social functioning, decreased anxiety, overall improved behavior, …

To Implement Or Not To Implement: Safe Opioid Injection Sites As A Solution To The Opioid Crisis, Kayla Keister

Senior Honors Theses

The opioid epidemic has been a crisis in the United States for the last 30-40 years but is just now being popularized by the American public. One potential up-and-coming solution to the opioid crisis is the implementation of safe opioid injection sites, which are locations where individuals may bring drugs to inject under the supervised care of medical professionals. They are currently being used in Canada as well as several Western European countries. The question remains, however, as to whether or not the United States is ready for the implementation sites in regard to public opinion, finances, and ethics.

Exploring Therapeutic Nurse-Patient Communication: Techniques And Barriers, Pierina Rossini

Senior Honors Theses

Effective nurse-patient communication, also described as therapeutic communication, is essential for providing high quality nursing care. It increases patient satisfaction and health, decreases patient anxiety and disease symptoms, and increases patient cooperation and compliance to treatment. Some therapeutic communication techniques include attentive listening, empathy, silence, focusing, open-ended questions, clarification, exploring, clarifying, and summarizing. Unfortunately, there are barriers to therapeutic communication that have been identified. Research regarding nurse-patient therapeutic communication, consisting of secondary, qualitative, descriptive data, points to several barriers to therapeutic communication. Some of the barriers to therapeutic communication include nurse-patient gender difference; patient physical discomfort; nurse-patient language, culture, and …

Contraceptive Methods In The United States: The Question Of Abortive Mechanisms, Tara Ferenczy

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis reviews the many methods of contraception available in the United States. Although society’s understanding of women’s health has become a major topic, there is still a significant deficit of information regarding how the accessible methods affect women’s bodies, specifically reproductive tissue. The thesis analyzes numerous contraceptive options focusing specifically on the mechanisms of action to determine whether options have abortifacient properties so that readers may develop educated opinions regarding medical and ethical uses. Information involving strengths and limitations of each technique and the effects on both the female body and the reproductive material assist in understanding the process …

Shift Work: Gut Health And Metabolic Disease, Hailey Lane

Senior Honors Theses

The number of people engaged in shift work continues to rise, and with it the research linking shift work to various diseases and conditions. Shift work changes the body’s sleeping patterns and circadian rhythms which has an effect on all parts of the body including the heart, immunity, cancer development, and inflammatory processes. Altered sleeping patterns and circadian rhythms change the composition and anatomy of the gut and microbiome, which in turn affects the development of metabolic diseases. Shift work also changes one’s eating patterns and habits. Altered eating habits similarly changes the composition and anatomy of the gut and …

Prenatal Yoga In Pregnancy, Ashleigh Clingenpeel

Senior Honors Theses

Prenatal yoga has emerged as an advisable, beneficial, and supportive addition to birth preparation. Many studies have linked participation in prenatal yoga with both maternal and infant benefits. Physical benefits for the mother include decreased labor time, decreased labor pain, and improved comfort during pregnancy. Significant emotional and mental effects have also been correlated, such as lowered rates of depression and anxiety, increased self-efficacy in labor, and easier transitions into the postpartum period. Finally, prenatal yoga has demonstrated benefits to the neonate, with a greater number of vaginal deliveries, which are less traumatic for the infant, an increase in gestational …

A Practical Understanding Of Preeclampsia For A Nurse In A Third World Setting, Anna Lovin

Senior Honors Theses

Preeclampsia is a disease of pregnancy that affects approximately 3-5% of women with child. It is one of the primary causes of mortality in mothers and babies across the globe. The exact cause, pathogenesis, or disease progression is unknown. Therefore, there is no definition of which patients are at risk for developing preeclampsia and what can work as a preventative measure. In high socioeconomic settings where there is good healthcare, standard treatment is established to manage the symptoms and decrease the progression of preeclampsia to eclampsia. However, in more rural, third-world settings of developing countries, caring for patients with preeclampsia …

Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Emily Carr

Senior Honors Theses

Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) is a method of resuscitation in which venoarterial (VA) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(ECMO) is initiated during refractory cardiac arrest. ECPR promises to enhance outcomes after cardiac arrest by minimizing neurological deficits, stabilizing the patient for early reperfusion and hypothermia, and serving as a bridge to treatment or transplant. ECPR must be initiated according to structured guidelines and protocols, which are based on the patient’s age, comorbidities, code status, neurological baseline, no flow time, and low flow time.

If a patient achieves return of spontaneous circulation on ECMO, the patient will receive post cardiac arrest care which includes …

Nursing With The Heart Of Christ, Gwen E. Boda

Senior Honors Theses

Within the nursing profession it is necessary for the nurse to learn to have love, compassion, joy, peace, patience, humility, and integrity within his/her character. After reviewing numerous peer reviewed journals and personal examples, the following paper reveals how these traits – love, compassion, joy, peace, patience, humility, and integrity – are beneficial within the nursing profession. The paper defines the mentioned characteristics, shows how they can be used and implemented within the nursing practice, demonstrates how their implementation leads to greater patient care, and then compares these traits and actions to the character and person of Christ.

The Impact Of Diabetes Mellitus On Burns And Standard Burn Treatments, Emma Shepard

Senior Honors Theses

Burns are complex injuries that trigger the stress response and result in increased blood glucose. Diabetes mellitus, an endocrine disorder with abnormal glucose regulation, can significantly alter the risk for burns and the treatment of burns. Pre-existing diabetes mellitus complicates burn treatments and healing ability. Diabetes mellitus may also develop directly from an unregulated stress response to the burn. The consideration of diabetes mellitus affects wound care, medications, and nutrition for burn patients. As patient advocates, nurses are responsible for caring for burn patients with awareness of endocrine complications. This paper provides a detailed overview of the pathophysiology, complications, and …

Maternal Obesity And Fetal Macrosomia: An Integrative Review Of The Literature Regarding Interventions, Charity Stalcup

Senior Honors Theses

Research suggests pre-pregnancy obesity is associated with an increased risk of macrosomia in the newborn. Since women are expected to gain weight during pregnancy, the standard recommendation of weight loss for obesity is not ideal for this population. In this systematic review of the literature regarding interventions for maternal obesity to reduce fetal macrosomia, 149 articles were screened using three different databases to identify recent randomized controlled trials related to this topic. A total of 11 full text articles were analyzed and included in the review. The articles addressed nutritional, lifestyle, and pharmacological interventions. The results indicated there is currently …

Pediatric Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus: Examining The Upward Trend, Allison Foering

Senior Honors Theses

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in pediatric onset of type II diabetes. This paper will examine elements contributing to this trend. Type II diabetes will be discussed, including related pathophysiology, manifestations, diagnosis, and complications, with differentiation between adult and pediatric onset. Possible prevention and treatment methods appropriate for pediatric patients will also be discussed, along with possible outcomes in pediatric patients that could result from this disease. Overall, this paper will provide insight on the causes of this growing trend, and ways to improve the risks imposed on pediatric patients.

To Heal, Escape: Using Theatre Arts To Promote Holistic Health In The Clinical Setting, John Filegar

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to provide an argument for the implementation of theatre arts therapy in the clinical setting. The effects of traditional art therapies involving visual arts, expressive arts, and music on the holistic health of the patient in the clinical setting have been thoroughly researched and understood. However, the extent of the influence of theatre arts therapy on the holistic health of individuals in the clinical setting lacks sufficient evidence and therefore cannot be compared to the influence of traditional art therapies on the holistic health of individuals in the same setting. Following an overview on …

Mental Health Rehabilitation In Victims Of Sex Trafficking, Kayla E. Freemire

Senior Honors Theses

Human trafficking is a global epidemic that leaves victims with short- and long-term physiological, psychological, and sociological issues. The mental health needs of trafficked persons have become a topic of research in both medical and psychiatric circles. In order to comprehensively understand the mental health consequences of trafficking, the process must be defined and related to the mental health effects on its victims. The specific mental health disorders diagnosed within this population will be discussed. Treatments used currently for this population will be reviewed, along with future treatments presently being researched and evaluated regarding their potential for use in the …

Study Of Nurses' Attitudes And Practices Towards Pain Evaluation In Nonverbal Patients, Rebekah Lovin

Senior Honors Theses

Pain, and the appropriate treatment of it, has recently come to the forefront of issues addressed with healthcare providers. Since the cornerstone of pain management is an appropriate assessment, methods of accurate pain evaluation are necessary. This need is particularly important in the population of patients who cannot express their pain. While pain assessment tools are available for use with nonverbal patients and hospitals typically mandate the use of one of these tools, actual compliance with such policy may not actually occur. Various barriers, such as education in the use of a tool, time, and the personal views of the …