Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Commons^™

Provider Based Interventions To Mitigate Risk For Opioid Pain Medication Abuse Among Adult Patients In A Primary Care Setting, Sheree Lamara Conley-Donaldson

Doctoral Projects

Mental and substance use disorders are predicted to exceed all physical disease processes causing major disability by 2020. Misuse and overdose of opioid pain medications is a significant public health concern in the United States. Approximately 1 in 4 patients receiving prescription opioids in primary care settings struggle with misuse. Half of all opioid prescriptions are written by primary care providers, including nurse practitioners. The purpose of this DNP project was to determine if nurse practitioner providers are implementing evidence-based practice guidelines including screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) to mitigate risk of prescription opioid pain medication misuse …

Understanding Stigma In Pre-Nursing College Students, Claire E. Coxwell

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to understand patterns of stigma among pre-nursing students. Past research has suggested that college students stigmatize mental illnesses. This study builds upon existing research and looks at how pre-nursing students perceive some mental illnesses. The goal of the study was to find out if there are differences in the way that pre-nursing students stigmatize people with substance use disorders (alcohol and drug abuse) and eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa). Using an electronic data collection tool, 523 pre-nursing students were invited to take the Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) and respond to …

The Effect Of Mindfulness Meditation On Perceived Stress And Total Health Care Cost, Rachel Hale

DNP Projects

Background: Chronic stress can lead to hypertension, tachycardia, and increased inflammatory markers, which put individuals at risk for chronic diseases. Mindful meditation not only decreases perceived stress but also has the potential to decrease the risk of chronic diseases and health care cost. Purpose: The purpose of this mindfulness meditation project is to reaffirm that mindfulness meditation decreases perceived stress scores and to determine whether mindfulness meditation decreases health care cost. Theoretical Model: The relation of mindfulness meditation, lowered stress levels, and chronic diseases can be explained by the social cognitive theory (SCT). Applying SCT, meditation’s goal is to alter …

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 …

The Effect Of Routine Adult Phq-2 Depression Screen And Scheduled Follow-Up Protocol In The Primary Care Setting, Alex F. Bikowski

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Healthy People has projected depression to be the primary cause of disability by 2020; therefore routine depression screening has been prioritized as a national healthcare initiative. The purpose of this Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) project is to demonstrate that routine implementation of the 2-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) depression screener, along with a scheduled follow-up protocol for adults in the primary care setting, can improve current mental health practices regarding the identification of depression by clinicians. The evidence supports use of the PHQ-2 for routine adult depression screening, as long as a scheduled follow-up protocol is available for positive screens. This …

Benefits Of Having A Pet At College: Perception Of Today’S College Students, Morgan Jenkins

Georgia College Student Research Events

The present literature review examined data from 10 studies that examined the benefits of pet therapy and well-being. Florence Nightingale, a pioneer of nursing, recognized these benefits in the early 1800s when she used animals to provide support to mentally ill patients. Since then, pets, but mainly dogs, have been used across various populations and in numerous settings such as with geriatrics in nursing homes, in disaster relief, with war veterans suffering from PTSD, with inmates in correctional facilities, with terminal patients in hospice care, and with pediatric patients in the hospital setting. In all of these scenarios, findings suggest …

Examining The Relationship Between Medical Concerns And Overall Mental Health Rating, Sarah M. Wilson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

It is widely supported that there are significant, positive relationships between the occurrence of some mental health symptoms and physical illnesses. Research indicates that the burden experienced by those with a physical and mental illness are magnified compared to individuals who do not experience an illness. More specifically, one of the burdens experienced by individuals is the monetary burden of affording the necessary health services to properly manage their illness.

This study attempts to reveal a difference between mental health symptom count for individuals who do and do not experience difficulty affording health care for their physical problems. The first …

Developing A Clinical Tool For The Assessment And Diagnosis Of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder, Amanda Jill Horrocks

Doctoral Projects

Background: Pediatric bipolar disorder is a significant mental illness, characterized by changes in mood that can be abrupt, unpredictable, and extreme. The rate of diagnosis of this disorder has been increasing in recent decades. Purpose: A thorough review of existing literature was completed to inform practice. Additionally, a survey of clinician assessment practices was completed. Combining the information learned from the literature review, and the data from the clinician survey, a clinical tool has been created. This tool provides a thorough, multi-phasic process for the assessment and diagnosis of pediatric bipolar disorder. Method: Mental health clinicians were surveyed; respondents were …

Journal Of Mind And Medical Sciences: Translational And Integrative Mission, David L. Rowland, Ion G. Motofei

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Initiated four years ago, Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences (J Mind Med Sci.) established the mission to publish papers on mental and medical topics in distinct but closely interrelated domains. The editorial policy especially encourages interdisciplinary and integrative perspectives, being equally focused on basic research and clinical investigations and short reports.

The journal adheres to the philosophy that high quality, original ideas and information should be readily accessible and freely shared within and amongst the scientific community. Accordingly, J Mind Med Sci. is an online, open access, non-for-profit journal which, because of individual/ private support, has levied no charges …

Weight Loss Maintenance: Women's Experience During Perimenopause, Karren B. Liebert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Women’s health may be at risk during middle age, a time when women in the United States often gain weight. Being overweight or obese during perimenopause increases a woman’s vulnerability to disabling health sequela in later life, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression and osteoarthritis, all of which increase morbidity, mortality, health care costs and decrease quality of life. Stigma and discrimination related to overweight and obesity are associated with delay and avoidance of health care, and with poorer quality health care. Weight loss often is followed by weight regain within three to five years. This qualitative study was designed …

Understanding Alcoholics’ “Difficulty In Life”: An Empirical Comparison Of Alcoholics And Nonalcoholics, Keiko Ito

Asian/Pacific Island Nursing Journal

The Japanese success rate for alcoholism treatment is approximately 30%, indicating high relapse rates. Although “difficulty in life” is thought to contribute to alcoholics’ relapse, the characteristics of the phenomenon are unknown. This study examined the factors contributing to alcoholics’ difficulty in life. Alcoholic self-help group members, who indicated the extent of their difficulty in life and described the factors that contributed to this difficulty, completed a self-administered questionnaire. Participants’ hypersensitivity/grandiosity traits were also examined. A control group of nonalcoholic men also completed the questionnaire. Simple tabulation, descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U tests, and multivariate analyses were used to compare data …

Primary Care "Catches" Up With Behavioral Health, Michael Hannes Thorarinson

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The problems caused by the lack of care coordination between primary care and behavioral health are well documented. Patients with uncontrolled mental health issues along with chronic health problems cost two to three times the health care dollars to manage than patients who have the same chronic health problems but without uncontrolled mental health issues. Despite this, in rural North Carolina, the de facto level of care coordination is none. Mental health and primary care are completely separate, distinct systems that do not routinely communicate. One of the identified barriers to care coordination is the lack of reimbursement for the …

Canine-Assisted Therapies Among U.S. Veterans With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: An Integrative Review Of The Literature, Olivia A. Kondos

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A sizeable number of U.S. veterans of all ages experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which can impact their quality of life; physically, mentally and socially. Consequences of PTSD are associated with physical and emotional disabilities, including ideation of self-harm and even suicide. Increasingly, animal-assisted therapies (AAT) are used to treat PTSD and other physical and behavioral conditions in veterans. Over the decades, AATs have used dogs, cats, horses, and dolphins among other animals. The purpose of this integrative review is to examine the use of AAT focusing on canine assisted therapy (CAT) among veterans diagnosed with PTSD. The methodology involved …

The Effect Of Biofeedback On Coping For Patients With Depression, Amber L. Atkinson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Background: Individuals with depression have a higher incidence of comorbidity which significantly decreases their ability to function and increases their utilization of health care. Due to the severity of the economic burden resulting with depression, research is needed to further examine the most effective treatments for depression. Biofeedback is a therapy that teaches patients how to control the physical affects that manifest during depression.

Aim: The purpose of this review of literature is to discover the benefits of biofeedback for patients diagnosed with depression.

Method: An electronic literature search was conducted using various databases to retrieve articles examining biofeedback as …

What Are The Most Commonly Used Tools To Screen Depression In Hiv-Infected Gay And Bisexual Men?, Michael Isner

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Gay and bisexual men infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) comprise a sizable, medically vulnerable population. Depression is the most commonly experienced mental health disorder affecting this group of people, lending itself to a host of risks associated with depression. As screening of depression in this population can be challenging, it is vital that clinicians have the best available tools and guidelines to detect depressive symptomology. This focused, comprehensive review of the literature examined current data describing the clinical instruments used to detect depressive symptoms in HIV-infected gay and bisexual men. The aim of this analysis was to seek out …

The Use Of Seclusion And Restraints In The Inpatient Psychiatric Hospital Setting: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Angela M. Kaucic

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The use of seclusion and restraint (S/R) is a practice that has been shown to be potentially harmful to patients on a physical and emotional level. This review examines 20 research publications in order to address the attitudes of staff and service users regarding use of this intervention, as well as to explore how use of alternative behavioral and environmental modification interventions compares to standard nursing care in terms of S/R prevalence. The review found that there are many viable interventions alternative to S/R that are more palatable to patients and nurses. Variability of interventions addressed in the included studies …

Contraceptive Use Among African Caribbean And African American Women With History Of Intimate Partner Violence, Desiree R. Bertrand

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

There is a paucity of research on contraceptive use among women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Several factors may influence contraceptive use in this population, including cultural background, geographical location, and timing of IPV experience. However, current studies on contraceptive use among women with IPV histories are not focused on minority populations, particularly African Caribbean and African American women who have a higher incidence of IPV. This dissertation compendium addresses that research gap. The compendium includes three manuscripts: A scoping review, an integrative review, and the dissertation study, using data obtained from a multi-site study using a case (women experiencing …

Effects Of Education And Exposure On Associative Stigma Of Psychiatric Nursing In Junior Level Nursing Students, Geoffrey George, Hayley Groubert, Gabrielle Glandorf

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Stigma towards mental illness affects not only persons with mental illness but the psychiatric nursing professionals who care for them. Education and exposure may affect this associative stigma. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an eight­-week undergraduate mental health nursing rotation on associative stigma towards psychiatric/mental health nursing in students. The study was guided by attribution theory and used a non­experimental design and convenience sampling of undergraduate nursing students enrolled in the mental health nursing course. Associative stigma was measured utilizing the Psychiatric/Mental Health Clinical Placement Survey for First Day of Placement, (Hayman­White & Happell, …

The Relationship Between Alcohol Use And Familial And Social Influence In College Nursing Students, Darren C. Crooks, Kathleen A. Gillota

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

College students are a population with a high prevalence of risky consumption of alcohol and nursing students, specifically, are no exception. Yet few studies have been done on the use of alcohol in the student-nurse population. Since nursing education and practice are highly stressful, unhealthy coping strategies, such as risky alcohol consumption, are sadly common and seriously detrimental.

This paper explores the self-reported consumption of alcohol in undergraduate nursing students as related to peer, familial, and social influences. Based on the Biopsychosocial Model, many different factors contribute to alcohol use. Using anonymous online survey methodology and convenience sampling, data about …

Detecting Agitation Onset In Individuals With Dementia Using Smart Phone Sensors, Christianne Fowler, Ajay Gupta, Kurt Maly, Karen Karlowicz, Maheedhar Gunnam, Rohila Gudipati, Mahesh Kukunooru, Rahul Rachamalla

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Individuals living with dementia (ILWD) often experience problematic agitated behaviors, this occurs in up to 80% of ILWD. These behaviors lead to stress for caregivers and increased frequency of institutionalization. There are many proven methods to intervene during agitated behavior outburst and the earlier these methods are used the better the results. Technology has been used successfully to monitor many aspects of health monitoring for older adults. Technology is now being investigated to evaluate the effectiveness of predicting the onset of problem behaviors, especially escalating agitation in ILWD. Off the shelf technology, smart watches and android phones, are being tested …

Perceptions About Cognitive Enhancement Therapy Among Regional Mental Health Providers: A Mixed Methods Analysis, Adam A. Loose

DNP Projects

Cognitive Enhancement Therapy (CET) is a program, developed at the University of Pittsburgh, to improve cognitive deficits experienced by people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Since its implementation in various settings, CET has demonstrated positive outcomes for patients in many cognitive domains. This study took a mixed methods approach to assess the interest and knowledge of mental health providers at a regional level and a local mental health facility in particular, about beginning a CET program. The quantitative study obtained data from evaluations administered during two CET training events at a local mental health facility. Digitally recorded qualitative interviews were conducted with …

Screening For Alcohol Use/Abuse In The Primary Care Setting Using The Audit-C And Sbirt (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral To Treatment), Whitney D. Spear

DNP Projects

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of alcohol screening in the primary care setting to detect alcohol abuse or misuse using the AUDIT-C standardized screening tool and SBIRT.

METHODS: This study design was a Quasi-Experimental intervention, one group post-test. Data was collected via retrospective chart review from the electronic medical records by the type of office visit; either new patient initial visit or annual well visit. The patient sample consisted of 25 participants for the study period of September 19^th through October 10^th, 2017.

RESULTS: There were 37 patients eligible to participate …

Evaluation Of The Healthy-Heart, Healthy-Brain Program, Sooksai Kaewbua

DNP Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a group-based, psychoeducational program on the knowledge of healthy diet and eating behaviors of adults with mental-health diagnoses in an inpatient psychiatric setting.

Background and Significance: In a given year, adults with mental-health diagnoses have a higher risk of mortality relative to the general population. Mortality from natural causes among individuals with mental-health disorders is similar to the leading causes of death found nationwide, including cardiovascular diseases. There is a growing body of evidence showing a relationship between the health of clients’ hearts and brains. Thus, it is …

A Secondary Analysis Of Survey Data Evaluating The Lifelines Suicide Prevention Program Among Middle School Students, Nicki Sullivan

DNP Projects

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate student feedback of the 2015 Lifelines Suicide Prevention Program at Jessie Clark Middle School. Student feedback was examined by assessing students’ knowledge of suicide, attitudes toward suicide, knowledge of when and from whom to seek help if feeling suicidal or told by a friend that they are suicidal, and impressions of the educational presentation following participation in the Lifelines Suicide Prevention Program.

METHODS: In this secondary analysis, anonymous student responses (N=269) from a 2015 middle school survey were examined by using a mixed method design with the quantitative study measures being …

Evaluation Outcomes Of Delirium And Abrupt Discontinuation Of Psychiatric Medications Of The Adult Acute Care Patient, Latoya Lee

DNP Projects

PURPOSE: Delirium remains a common consequence of critical illness and is known to cause negative patient outcomes during an intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Hence, the purpose of this project is to evaluate the outcomes of patients taking psychiatric medications whose medications are abruptly discontinued upon admission to an ICU. Specifically, the outcomes of interest will be altered mental status, length of hospital stay, restraint use and mortality.

METHODS: A correlational analysis using a retrospective chart audit was conducted on 602 patients admitted to the Neurological/ Neurosurgical ICUs at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital from January 2015 to December …

Developing Psychiatric Nursing Competencies On An In-Patient Hospital-Based Psychiatric Unit, Beverly J. Sedlacek

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Problem Statement

Offering staff development training for psychiatric nurses has not kept pace with the advances in psychiatric knowledge and skills in nursing. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement doctor of nursing (DNP) project was to implement a competency-based staff development program on a community hospital-based inpatient psychiatric unit to determine if the psychiatric/mental health nursing knowledge, nurse patient relational skills, and attitudes of the nurses would improve or change.

Methods

A mixed method of quasi-experimental, non-randomized pre-test/post-test and semi-structured interview design was used, which utilized a convenience sampling approach. Data were collected in two phases. Three domains of …