Nursing Commons^™

The Prevalence Of High Risk Sexually Transmitted Disease Behaviors Among Homosexual College Students, Teofanes Q. Natavio

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of An Education Intervention For The Staff On The Head Of The Bed Elevation In The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Randall Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Elevating the head of bed (HOB) reduces risks for aspiration and ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in the adult population. Educational interventions have resulted in improvements in achieving a target HOB elevation of 30° in adults. Limited research has addressed this intervention in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The aim of this study was to determine if an educational intervention for the PICU staff would result in improvement in the HOB elevation in the PICU. Four research questions were studied: 1) What is the common practice related to the elevation of the HOB in the PICU? 2) Is there a …

Quality Of Life In Older Breast Cancer Survivors, Victoria Loerzel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Quality of life (QoL) in cancer survivors is an important area of research. While data are available about QoL and breast cancer, there is a paucity of research regarding older breast cancer survivors. The purpose of this research was to examine QoL in older women with early stage breast cancer, within the first year of post-treatment survivorship. The specific aims of this study were to: 1) Describe the changes in overall QoL and the four QoL domains of Physical, Psychological, Social, and Spiritual well-being; 2) Examine the effects of a psychoeducational support intervention on QoL outcomes in older women; and …

Resiliency In Adolescent College Students, Nancy Ahern

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The construct of resilience has gained considerable attention over the last four decades since researchers observed that children and youth could cope and adapt in spite of adversity. Resilience involves a dynamic process involving an interaction between both risk and protective processes, internal and external to the individual, that can modify the effects of an adverse life event. Adolescence is considered to be a period of vulnerability for most individuals as they often partake in high risk behaviors. Further, those individuals who are in their early college years are faced with the developmental challenges of this life phase which can …

Mennonite College Of Nursing Annual Report, 2006-2007, Mennonite College Of Nursing

Annual Reports - Mennonite College of Nursing

Annual report of the Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University

Attitudes Of Nurses Toward Research, Nancee Hofmeister

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of nurses toward research. Donabedian’s framework of structure, process and outcome is the conceptual model. A convenience sample (n=119) of registered nurses at a Midwest hospital answered Boothe’s Attitudes on Nursing Research Scale. The scale contains 84-items answered on a 5-point Likert scale. The scores were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA. Comparisons were made of the top and bottom quartile of item scores. The results indicate items that reflect structure and process are a subscale of the interest and environment scale. The most positive attitudes of the nurses …

Evaluating Neonatal Facial Pain Expression: Is There A Primal Face Of Pain?, Martin Schiavenato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pain assessment continues to be poorly managed in the clinical arena. A review of the communication process in pain assessment is carried out and the hierarchical approach often recommended in the literature -with self-report as its "gold-standard," is criticized as limited and simplistic. A comprehensive approach to pain assessment is recommended and a model that conceptualizes pain assessment as a complex transaction with various patient and clinician dependant factors is proposed. Attention is then focused on the pediatric patient whose pain assessment is often dependent on nonverbal communicative action. The clinical approaches to pain assessment in this population -mainly the …

Behavioral Management Of Command Hallucinations To Harm In Schizophrenia, Robin Buccheri, L Trygstad, G Dowling

Nursing and Health Professions Faculty Research and Publications

The study objective was to evaluate changes in prevalence of command hallucinations to harm self or others, characteristics and intensity of auditory hallucinations, and levels of anxiety and depression after attendance at a 10-session course teaching behavioral strategies for managing persistent auditory hallucinations to adult outpatients with schizophrenia. Prevalence of command hallucinations to harm self or others was measured at baseline, end of course, and 1-year post-course. Pre-course scores on the Characteristics of Auditory Hallucinations Questionnaire, Unpleasant Voices Scale, tension-anxiety subscale of Profile of Mood States, and Beck Depression Inventory-II were compared with scores immediately post-course and 1 year later. …

Healing Our Hazardous Environment, K V. Hall, B M. Afzal, Barbara Sattler

Nursing and Health Professions Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Recovery Experience For Persons With A Myocardial Infarction And Their Spouses/Partners, Vicki Lynnette Bingham

All ETDs from UAB

Coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in Americans today, affects both genders in numerous ethnic populations. This life-threatening event causes both physical and emotional distress for persons with a myocardial infarction (MI), as well as for their spouses or partners and thus possibly forces them on a spiritual journey. The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of the ways in which spirituality is defined and experienced by both persons with an MI and their spouses/partners during the recovery process. The method utilized in this study was a qualitative approach using interpretative phenomenology from a Heideggerian …

A Grounded Theory Study: Hispanic Adolescents' Experience Of Being Overweight, Wilma Powell Stuart

All ETDs from UAB

The number of overweight adolescents worldwide has continued to increase over the past several decades. Intervention studies for weight management with overweight adolescents are challenged by high rates of attrition and have failed to achieve sustained outcomes. Hispanic adolescents have a higher risk of being overweight than their African American and White peers do. However, Hispanic overweight adolescents have been poorly represented in intervention studies with overweight adolescents. The factors that influence the Hispanic overweight adolescents’ perceptions of weight and weight loss management are not known. This qualitative study used ground theory methodology to identify the factors that influence perceptions …

The Bath Environment, The Bathing Task, And The Older Adult: A Review And Future Directions For Bathing Disability Research, Susan L. Murphy, Kimberlee A. Gretebeck, Neil B. Alexander

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose. To review existing research studies to identify optimal intervention strategies for remediation and prevention of bathing disability and future directions for bathing disability research.

Method. Bathing disability, defined as problems in the interaction between the person and the environment during bathing performance, is examined through a comprehensive, narrative literature review.

Results. Most studies focus on the relationship between the person and the environment (such as assistive device use and environmental hazards) while fewer studies focus on analysis of the bathing task or the interaction of the person, environment, and bathing task. Of intervention studies, most do …

Advocacy: The Tool Of A Hero, Kathryn Schroeter

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Benchmarking Quality In Online Teaching And Learning: A Rubric For Course Construction And Evaluation, Mona P. Ternus, Kay L. Palmer, Debbie R. Faulk

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Online courses have many components and dimensions. Both the form (structure) and the content (expression) are situated in an overall environment. The sum of these elements results in student outcomes and learning. In order to facilitate construction and evaluate the quality of an online course, a four-part rubric was designed to reflect:

Structure (Context, Organization, and Environment)

Content (Presentation of Information)

Processes (Relationships and Interactions)

Outcomes (Mastery of Content and Course Evaluation)

This rubric was designed to provide quantitative and qualitative standardized evaluation for faculty self-evaluation, peer evaluation, and administrator evaluation. The rubric was piloted at two universities and shown …

The Effect Of Income Level On The Relationship Between The Personal Support Matrix And Sustained Breastfeeding, Sandra Mann Gossler

Theses and Dissertations

The Healthy People 2010 Objectives for the population of the United States include the objective for women to sustain breastfeeding at a higher rate than they are currently.The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now recommends that all infants be fed human milk for the first year of life instead of the previously recommended first six months of life. Breastfeeding initiation rates are rising, but breastfeeding duration rates continue to fall. It was hypothesized that the support system of the women may play a role in the duration of breastfeeding. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the support …

Self-Care And Quality Of Life In Patients With Heart Failure, Chantira Chiaranai

Theses and Dissertations

Although it is well known that self-care reduces the frequency of hospital admissions and exacerbations and enhances quality of life (QOL) in heart failure (HF) patients, little is known about self-care in this population. Therefore, the study purpose was to examine relationships among selected individual characteristics (demographics, severity of illness, comorbidities, and social support), self-care strategies, and QOL using Reigel's Model of Self Care in Patients with Heart Failure as the guiding framework. In this descriptive correlational study, self-care was measured using the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI), which measures self-care maintenance (SC-Mt), self-care management (SC-Mn), and self-care self-confidence …

The Impact Of Stress Management On Nurse Productivity And Retention, Tammi F. Milliken, Paul T. Clements, Harry J. Tillman

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Throughout the history of nursing there is a seeming legacy of personnel shortage, lack of funds, and, based on the nature of the role and related services, heightened levels of stress involved in patient care.

The future of the profession and more imminently, patient care and the health of nurses, may be significantly impacted by repeated challenges where current levels of stress and burnout are contributing to organizational problems, burnout, and attrition.

Employee stress and burn out commonly lead to myriad health-related problems that result in significant organizational consequences.

There are many methods of stress management, and sometimes the best …

Practical Approaches To Treating Patients With Bipolar Disorder, Jane E. Neu, Susan M. Denisco

Nursing Faculty Publications

Many patients present to a primary care setting with symptoms of a mood disorder. These symptoms may be indicative of an anxiety disorder or a depressive disorder, but they may also represent bipolar disorder, which is more common than many practitioners think. Correctly diagnosing bipolar disorder can be complex, because patients tend to seek treatment when they are experiencing the symptoms of depression or anxiety rather than mania or hypomania. Comorbid disorders such as substance abuse and anxiety disorders may complicate the clinical presentation. Failing to correctly diagnose bipolar disorder can have serious consequences in terms of patients' morbidity and …

Approaches To Studying And Study Tactics Of Baccalaureate Nursing Students, Lisa D. Brodersen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research was designed to describe study approaches and study tactics used by baccalaureate nursing students. Previous inquiry indicates that students will take a Deep, Strategic, or Surface approach to studying and will use specific study tactics to meet the demands of their learning contexts.

The Approaches to Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was administered to 174 students in Anatomy and Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Nursing Care of the Adult Client. Failing students were less likely to participate. The ASSIST bad acceptable internal consistency reliability and construct validity. A majority (55%) of students took a Strategic approach to studying; smaller …

Frameworks For Patient Safety In The Nursing Curriculum, Theresa Maria Chenot

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Patient safety (i.e., the degree to which patients are free from accidental injury) has received a great deal of media coverage during the past few years. Professional and regulatory agencies have indicated that patient safety education should be provided to healthcare workers to improve health outcomes. The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to gain a better understanding of the current status of patient safety awareness among pre-licensure nursing students. To this end, six research questions guided the study:

1. Will interpretable item constructs be identified when responses to the Healthcare Professional Patient Safety Assessment Curriculum Survey (HPPSACS) are …