Nursing Commons^™

A Comparison Of Ondansetron Administered Preoperatively And Intraoperatively In The Prophylaxis Of Postoperative Nausea And Vomiting In Laparoscopic Surgical Procedures, Pamela Bryant

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

No abstract provided.

Young Adult Women's Responses To Undergoing Treatment For Early Breast Cancer, Donna Abrashoff Schutte Dnsc

Dissertations

In the nearly two decades of cancer research in the United States, there has been little emphasis on the experiences of young adult women with breast cancer. I therefore adopted a qualitative multicase study method to explore the experiences of five young adult women from the time of discovery of a breast mass through the first three months of recovery from mastectomy. Utilizing data collected via semi-structured interviews, this study sought to describe their concerns, the way in which their concerns changed over time, and the influence of contextual factors. Three themes were identified. These included: "I'm going to die!" …

Helper Woman: A Biography Of Elinor Delight Gregg, Jacqueline S. Pflaum Dnsc, Mph, Ms

Dissertations

The intent of this investigation was to conduct an extensive study of the life and character of Elinor Gregg (1886-1970) in order to identify the contributions she made to professional nursing and to humanity. Nurse, educator, administrator, beloved relative, and friend, Elinor Gregg was an outstanding person whom nurses today might well emulate. Historical method provided the context for the study. Data were collected from the National Archives; National Library of Medicine Historical Section; Nursing Archives at Mugar Library, Boston University; Nursing Archives at Simmons College; National Headquarters of the American Red Cross; Archives of Colorado College; and Archives of …

Nurses Alumni Association Bulletin, Fall 1996, Betty Piersol, Elizabeth K. Prisnock, Marian E. Smith, Margaret Summers, Deborah Fireman, Nicole Herndon

Nursing Alumni Bulletins

1996-1997 Meeting Dates Calendar

1997 Annual Luncheon-Meeting Notice Inside

Officers and Committee Chairs

Bulletin Publication Committee

1996-1997 Meeting Dates Calendar

The President's Message

Treasurer's Report

News About Our Graduates

Letter To Jefferson Nurses

Fiftieth Anniversary

Resume' of Minutes of Alumni Association Meetings

Alumni Office News

Nursing Up-Date 1995-1996

Scholarship Funds At Work

Diploma School of Nursing Alumni Association-Mabel C. Prevost Scholarship Report 1995

Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation

Operation Support Freedom - Humanitarian Aid to Kiev

The Best Mousetrap - Computers In Nursing

Christmas, As A Prisoner Of War

Restroom Policy

Happy Birthday

Committee Reports

• Bulletin
• Development …

Children With Hiv: How They Feel About What Parents Say, Susan Pease Instone Dnsc, Msn, Cpnp

Dissertations

With improvements in diagnosis and care, children with HIV infection are living long enough to reach school age, a stage when they are capable of perceiving the stigmatizing, life-threatening nature of their illness. Many parents desire to protect them from this knowledge by avoiding an open dialogue about their disease, even though pediatric professionals advocate disclosure. Research-based guidelines about the risks and benefits of telling, however, have not been available in the literature. Using an innovative, qualitative approach through the use of grounded theory and projective drawing techniques, this investigation sought to explore what parents said about the illness and …

Can Target Volume Breathing Exercises Taught Preoperatively Decrease Postoperative Pulmonary Complications For Cardiac Surgery Patients?, Lea Sol Lopez-Fagin

Theses & Dissertations

Postoperative pulmonary complications and management are recognized as major problems following coronary artery bypass graft and valve repair surgery. Pulmonary complications include hypoxemia, reduction in air volume capacity, atelectasis, fever, tachycardia, tachypnea, and pneumonia. However, little is known about specific therapeutic interventions in nursing related to the amelioration of postoperative pulmonary complications in cardiac surgical patients. The study evaluated the outcomes of preoperative teaching of target volume breathing exercises in the prevention of hypoxemia and reduction of lung volume capacity for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and valve repair patients. Thirty-four patients aged 50-77 years undergoing CABG or valve repair …

The Effect Of Written Information And Reassurance On Patient Satisfaction, Anxiety, And Intent To Return For Emergency Care, June Andrea Dnsc

Dissertations

Patients' satisfaction is one of the primary goals of emergency department (ED) providers today. As emergency departments are overcrowded, stressful environments, anxious patients want to be kept informed. Nurses have the opportunity to meet these needs and possibly influence the patients' perception of the experience and intent to return for future care. This study examined the effects of providing written information and reassurance on patient satisfaction, anxiety, and intent to return for emergency care. The design was a posttest design involving a comparison between the control and three experimental groups. Two hundred and forty patients participated in the study, approximately …

Ethical Decision-Making Among Critical Care Unit Nurses, Mary Ellen Bowen Dnsc, Mn, Rn, Cnaa

Dissertations

The health care business has created complex relationships between consumers and health care institutions. Rising health costs, rationing of health care and medical technology have put critical care unit (CCU) nurses in complex environments where they must face ethical conflict. CCU nurses find themselves ill equipped to make sound decisions concerning ethical dilemmas. Nurses must ensure the patient's choices are respected and honored due to the duties inherent in the nurse-patient relationship. The purpose of this study was to explore the process of ethical decision making (EDM) as it is experienced by CCU nurses. Gaining an understanding of this process …

Nursing Faculty Connecting With Students: A Heideggerian Hermenteutical Study, Debra I. Craig Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

This study sought to gain an insight into the phenomenon of nursing faculty members connecting with students. Caring has been espoused as a key component of nursing education for many decades. In the last 10 years the terms caring and connecting are commonly found associated with each other, and yet there is no clear definition of connecting. It is important to understand a phenomenon from the point of view of those who are experiencing it. Therefore, a study which asked nursing educators to tell stories of the times they had connected with students was undertaken. Ten nurse educators in the …

The Journey From Nonexerciser To Exerciser: A Grounded Theory Study, Keri Kuniyoshi Medina Dnsc, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

The physiological and psychological health benefits of regular physical exercise are well-documented; however, drop-out rates from both supervised and unsupervised exercise remain high. Many potential influences on exercise behavior have been studied, but with largely inconsistent results, making it difficult to identify key targets for intervention. The purpose of this study was to explore the process through which nonexercisers become exercisers, and the contextual factors which affect movement through this process, in order to enable nurses to more successfully assist clients to incorporate exercise into their lifestyles. The exercise experiences of 22 individuals who had successfully made the transition from …

A Cultural Dilemma: Pakistani Nursing, Rafat Jan

School of Nursing & Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Vocational Nurse Student Predictors Of Success, Mary A. Moore

Master's Theses

Digitized thesis

A Reflective Analysis Of Burn Wound Care: The Australian Burns Nurse' Perspective, Jaynie E. Sands

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this historiographical nursing study was to explore Australian Burn Wound Care from a nursing perspective, at two periods of time. It was the intention of the author to explore practices at the inception of specialised burns units, from the 1950's, presenting an historical perspective, and at the present time, May 1995. Eleven burns units across Australia participated in the study. There were 22 participants in the research sample. Each burns unit identified the first Charge Nurse (n =11) and the current Clinical Nurse Specialist (n =11), to be involved in the data collection process. The conceptual framework …

Codependent Concerns Among Nurses, Virgina S. Besomo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Codependency is a complex dysfunctional behaviour pattern characterised by a dependence upon external reference points for ways of being. An abundance of nursing literature claims that codependency is (a) a problem among nurses, (b) related to the demands of the profession, and that (c) codependent nurses eventually suffer disillusionment and burnout. The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the severity of codependent concerns among Western Australian registered nurses in order to direct a response to these claims. A random sample of 1000 West Australian registered nurses were mailed surveys with an option for them to respond anonymously by …

Nurses Alumni Association Bulletin, Fall 1995, Alice C. Boehret, Eleanor Kowaleski Larson, Nancy Powell, Dorothy R. Long, Pamela G. Watson, Betty Piersol, Margaret Summers, Sara Entriken, Jane Ryan Dietrich, Paula J. Levine, Lorraine Mccall, Doris E. Bowman, Linda Meachum Scheetz, Mary Kulys, Ethel Gillette

Nursing Alumni Bulletins

1995-1996 Meeting Dates Calendar

1996 Annual Luncheon-Meeting Notice

Officers and Committee Chairs

Bulletin Publication Committee

1995-1996 Meeting Dates Calendar

The President's Message

Financial Report

What's New

Fiftieth Anniversary

Resume of Minutes of Alumni Association Meetings

Scholarship Funds at Work

CAHS Alumni Board/Diploma School

Alumni Office News

Jefferson Health System

Oldest Veteran Dies

1OOth Anniversary

Pearl Harbor Remembered

"Memories"

Janet Hindson Retires

Happy Birthday

Scholarship Fund donors for 1994

Committee Reports

By-Laws

Development

Bulletin

Relief Fund

Satellite

Social

Scholarship

In Memoriam, Names of Deceased Graduates

Class News

Luncheon Photos

Jefferson Alumni Identification Card

The Diploma School of Nursing Alumni Association-Mabel C. …

The Impact Of A Health Education Program On The Attitudes Of African-American Hypertensive Clients Regarding Adherence To A Prescribed Medical Regimen, Teresa Y. Mcpherson

Theses & Dissertations

This quasi-experimental study examined the effect of an educational program on the attitudes of hypertensive African-American clients regarding their adherence to a prescribed medical regimen.

Despite increased public awareness and improved treatment in hypertension, poorly controlled hypertension continues to be a significant problem especially among blacks and other minority populations in the United States (Shea, Misra, Ehlich, Field, & Francis, 1991). On the basis of different experiences, people may form different beliefs and, therefore different attitudes about the consequences of performing or not performing a behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Studies have indicated that a variety of factors such as …

A History Of The Concept Of Creativity In Western Nursing: A Cultural Feminist Perspective, Karen K. Fritz Dnsc, Ms, Ba, Rn

Dissertations

Using historical methodology, this study examined the concept of creativity in Western nursing from a cultural feminist perspective. An exploration of the concept was accomplished by means of a review emanating from the English literature of Western nursing and its allied disciplines of education and psychology. Two distinct views of creativity were delineated--the classical and the contemporary. The classical understanding required the completion of a major product or attainment in order for creativity to be ascribed. In contrast, the contemporary view was that of a novel, unrestrained thought process. It required no creative work or attainment for its ascription. The …

A Model Of Patient Satisfaction And Behavioral Intention In Managed Care, Diane Sturdy Greeneich Dnsc, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

Determination of patient outcomes associated with new and return business is a primary objective of the managed care marketplace. Identification of variables which contribute to both positive and negative patient experience in managed care systems is crucial to their effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to test the functional relationships between the variables of nurse practitioner attributes and behaviors, patient perceptions of the managed care system, and outcomes of patient satisfaction and intention to return to and recommend the managed care system. Functional relationships were measured with the Patient Satisfaction Semantic Differential (Greeneich and Long, 1992), and the Service …

Care Of Aging Parents: The Experiences Of Middle-Aged Filipino Women, Carmen B. Toledo Galang Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine and analyze parent care as experienced by middle-aged Filipino women, particularly those who have resided in the United States for over 20 years. There is little information known about this topic; therefore, a grounded theory study design was utilized. Open-ended, semi-structured interviews of 29 Filipino women were conducted in English and/or Tagalog, and at times a combination of both languages. Data were transcribed verbatim from the audio-recorded interviews and analyzed using a constant comparative method of analytic induction. Field notes were kept and patterns of observation were analyzed according to their significance. …

Development And Testing Of An Explanatory Model Of Registered Nurse Empowerment, Marilyn D. Klakovich Dnsc, Msn, Rn, Cnaa

Dissertations

Recent innovations in patient care delivery and nursing governance require an empowered workforce. However, little is known about what combination of organizational, leadership, and personal characteristics maximize the prediction of registered nurse empowerment. The purpose of this study was to develop and test an explanatory model of registered nurse empowerment. The predictor variables included personal characteristics of registered nurses (age, experience, organizational tenure, education, and position level of clinical and/or management responsibility), perceptions of organizational culture, and connective leadership. The study was conducted in a tertiary-care hospital in Southern California. A total of 113 registered nurses completed the Organizational Culture …

Illness Impact And Adjustment To Parkinson's Disease: Before And After Treatment With Tolcapone, Mickie D. Welsh Dnsc, Rn

Dissertations

There is evidence that adjustment to chronic illnesses such as Parkinson's disease (PD) may be affected by psychological factors especially how patients appraise and cope with the stress of their illness. There has been limited research available examining the role of illness impact or appraisal in adjustment to chronic illness. No studies were found dealing with the interrelationship of illness impact, adjustment and pharmacological treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the quality of life (as conceptualized by impact of illness and adjustment) was improved by treatment with tolcapone in persons with Parkinson's disease. This study was …

The Lived Experience Of Nurses Caring For The Dying, David M. Byrne

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The study reported in this thesis describes and analyses the lived experience of caring for the dying amongst nine (9) nurses in a hospice setting. The research was established within the context of published literature on the subject of caring for the dying from nursing. A qualitative, phenomenological approach was chosen as the most appropriate for this study, in order to describe and interpret the understanding and shared meanings nurses have in the care of the dying. The major mode of data collection in this study was by in depth interview of nine (9) nurses, which was supplemented by the …

"Well-Growness" Of The Newborn And Factors Contributing To Low Birth Weight, Diane Buck Kruse Dnsc

Dissertations

The problem of determining risk factors and antecedents of birth weight is multifactorial. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of pre-pregnancy health status, prenatal care, stress, negative life style practices, nutritional status during pregnancy, and placental perfusion on the well-growness of the newborn (birth weight) in five time orderings and to examine the interaction of these variables on each other. The theoretical framework was a physiologic one centering on the effects of the proposed variables on the well-growness outcome. This prospective study used a correlational design with path analytic techniques. A sample of 160 pregnant women …

Nurses Alumni Association Bulletin, Fall 1994, Alice C. Boehret, Nancy E. Powell, Pamela G. Watson, Betty Piersol, Margaret Summers, Mildred Greenlee Durham, Dorothy Ranck Long, Jane Dietrich, Paula J. Levine, Doris E. Bowman, Lorraine Mccall

Nursing Alumni Bulletins

1994-1995 Meeting Dates Calendar

1995 Annual Luncheon - Meeting Notice

Officers and Committee Chairs

Bulletin Publication Committee

1994-1995 Meeting Dates Calendar

The President's Message

Treasurer's Report

News About Our Graduates

Fiftieth Anniversary

Resume of Minutes of Alumni Association Meetings

Department of Nursing 1993-1994

Alumni Office News

Jefferson 2000 Fund

The Women's Center for Health Promotion

Discount Parking for Alumni

Cadet Nurse Corps

Medical Anecdotes of Faith

Ukranian-American Teacher Exchange

Happy Birthday

Committee Reports

In Memoriam, Names of Deceased Graduates

Luncheon Photos

Class News

Jefferson Alumni Identification Card

Relief Fund Application

Scholarship Application

Membership Application

Pins, Transcripts, Class Address Lists, Change …

The Environment: Alive, Whole, Interconnected And Interacting, Dorothy Kleffel Dnsc, Mph, Bsn, Rn

Dissertations

Nurses frequently care for individuals whose conditions are related to destructive environmental influences. Although the environment is a central construct in the nursing paradigm, its definition is client oriented, circumscribed, and does not adequately explain situations emanating from the larger physical, social, cultural, political, or economic spheres of the environment. This research described an expanded, ideal, environmental nursing domain derived from selected upstream scholars whose work has addressed broad environmental dimensions. Using the concept of future search, once this idealized environmental domain is envisioned, the nursing profession can begin to discover the knowledge base that is needed in order to …

Integrating Chronic Illness Into One's Life: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Susan Rush Michael Dnsc, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

Chronic illness is currently the number one health problem facing the United States; however, little is known about the experience of making chronic illness a part of one's life, particularly from the perspective of the chronically ill person. If nurses are to assist people in living with chronic illness, then an understanding of this experience is essential. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to explore how chronically ill adults integrate chronic illness into their lives. Seventeen chronically ill adults were interviewed by the researcher, and asked to describe how they integrated chronic illness into their lives. Each interview …

The Lived Experiences Of Nurses' Interactions With Ethnically Diverse Clients: A Phenomenological Perspective, Colette R. York Dnsc, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

This study explored the phenomenon of nurses' lived experiences while interacting with clients who were ethnically dissimilar to themselves in a variety of nursing care settings including acute care, ambulatory care and public health. This study is timely, especially in the county in which the study was conducted because of the ongoing influx of legal and illegal immigrants from diverse foreign geographic locales. Van Kaam's method for conducting phenomenological studies was employed for data gathering, categorizing and analyzing. Categories were stated in terms of perceptions and feelings. The most frequently stated perceptual moments included perceiving client ethnicities based on physical …

Patient Perceptions Of Quality: The Influence Of Value And Beneficence, Rebecca H. Waldon

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The influence of patient values and patient perception of benefits on patient perceptions of quality have not been extensively investigated, even though patient and provider perceptions of quality have been widely studied. Refocusing quality assessment and improvement to include factors that influence patient perceptions of quality is necessary for humanitarian and economic reasons. The health care patient has certain expectations of health care. These expectations are based on the value the patient places on the services. Value is a predictor of patient-perception of quality. The relative worth of patient goals may also be related to patient perceptions of quality. If …

Effects Of Family Stress, Family Social Support, And Family Balance On Maternal Adaptation In Post Birth Families, Constance H. Blake Hansen Dnsc, Mn, Rn

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the effects of perinatal family stress, family social support, and family balance on post birth maternal adaptation. The birth of a new infant is a transitional event that causes stress to the individuals within the family and the family as a unit. The childbearing woman has been identified as the core of the expanding family. Her adaptive level is critical to the integration of the new infant into the family unit. Stress and support are important variables in maternal adaptation, yet the specific relationship of these variables as they relate to the …

Factors Associated With Women's Decisions To Obtain Routine Cervical Cancer Screening In A Prepaid Health Care System, Vicki Debaca Dnsc

Dissertations

The focus of this research study was to explore the factors affecting women's decisions to participate in preventive cervical cancer screening using a conceptual model proposed by Cummings, Becker, and Maile (1980). This descriptive-comparative study investigated the effect between the components of this model (age, education level, race, general barriers, psychological barriers, evaluation of health care, threat of illness, knowledge, social network) and the outcome variable of intent to participate in cervical cancer screening examinations. This study also examined whether there were differences in the predictor variables between two groups of women: those that have had a recent Pap examination …