Public Health and Community Nursing Commons^™

Influenza Vaccination: An Educational Module For Health Care Workers, Lisa A. Hogan

Theses and Graduate Projects

The seasonal influenza virus continues to have a significant impact on the health of hundreds of thousands of individuals in the United States each year, despite the availability of a vaccine shown to be effective at reducing both illness and death. All Health Care Workers (HCWs) at a large Midwestern medical center must make a choice whether to receive the yearly influenza vaccine or not, and approximately 5,000 HCWs chose to decline the vaccine in 20l2. Reasons given for these declinations included fears about vaccine safety and effectiveness, as well as misperceptions about vaccine side effects and the intended recipients. …

Community Engagement In The Prevention Of Teenage Suicide, Janet M. Benz

Theses and Graduate Projects

Adolescent suicide is a serious problem. Worldwide suicide is the tenth leading cause of death for all people (World Health Organization, 2002) and in the United States suicide is the third leading cause of death for teenagers (Centers for Disease Control, 2010). Minnesota, however, fares worse than the rest of the country, where suicide is the second leading cause of death for those 15 to 34 years of age (Minnesota Department of Health,2009). Suicide does not discriminate as it happens to people of wealth, those who live in poverty, people of all ethnic backgrounds, people from all walks of life …

Reviving The Dream: Giving Form To A Faith-Based Holistic Clinic At An Urban Lutheran Church, Kathy Leu

Theses and Graduate Projects

To be able to live full, productive lives, all people can benefit from having a consistent, unified team of health care providers who offer emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual support at one health care center. Historically, churches have been involved in health care, and the Christian faith has been integral in holistic healing. Today, the spiritual component of health is often missing in clinic settings. This project will lay the foundation for the establishment of a faith-based holistic clinic in a large charismatic urban Lutheran church. Utilizing Leininger's Culture Care Theory, the transcultural nurse, a key member of the holistic …

Feeding The Homeless Through Collaboration: A Proposal For Consideration, Valetta M. Johnson Massaquoi

Theses and Graduate Projects

The homeless are faced with many challenges of adverse nutritional deficiencies that predispose them to several illnesses commonly associated with the lack of adequate nutrition and the frequent utilizations of health care resources. Provision of nutritious food for the homeless can help decrease the prevalence of these identifiable markers and can be accomplished by u collaborative effort. The purpose of this project is to describe a collaboration between Regions Hospital and the Dorothy Day Center to provide supplemental nutrition for the homeless. Leininger's culture care diversity and universality theory along with culture care accommodation/negotiation are used as a theoretical framework …

Breast Health Teaching In Predominantly African American Rural Mississippi Delta, Kaye Wilson-Anderson, Renee P. Williams, Tracilia Beacham, Naekhia Mcdonald

Faculty Publications - College of Nursing

This study's primary focus was breast health education to rural African American women in Mississippi and training of community members. Through practice in this area, women were found to lack knowledge of breast health which is the third leading cause of death in Mississippi Black women. They were open to education: N = 130, t = -16.6, df = 126, p < .001; 1 year, N = 35; 2-3 year N = 16 and 3 trained. Data suggest knowledge increased, a small percentage continued practices and community members would become trainers. One participant was diagnosed with breast cancer, received treatment and remained cancer-free after two years.

Standardized Care Of The Late Preterm Infant In Upper Midwest Hospitals, Michelle Susanne Foy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Standardizing care or critical pathways have delivered evidence-based care in adult medicine and have positive patient outcomes. Some aspects of standardized care have been used in neonatology, but less often in caring for the late preterm infant (gestational week 34-37 weeks). With each level of care nursery, Level-I, level-II or level-III, there can be a wide range of how to care for the late preterm infant. The purpose of this study was to determine if nurseries or various levels of care had established standards of care specific to the late preterm infant and what barriers existed that prohibited standards of …

The Prevalence Of Smoking And The Knowledge Of Smoking Hazards And Smoking Cessation Strategies Among Hiv Positive Patients In Johannesburg, South Africa, Peter Waweru, R. Anderson, H. Steel, Wdf. Venter, D. Murdoch, C. Feldman

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background: While the detrimental effects of smoking among HIV positive patients have been well documented, there is a paucity of data regarding cigarette smoking prevalence among these patients in South Africa.

Objectives: To establish the frequency, demographics, and knowledge of harmful effects and of smoking cessation strategies among HIV-positive patients in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional survey, using a structured questionnaire interview, of HIV-positive patients attending the HIV Clinic at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital between 1 July 2011 and 31 October 2011.

Results: Of 207 HIV positive patients attending an ARV roll-out clinic, 31 (15%) were …

Barriers To Diabetes Care In Appalachia: Challenges Faced By Healthcare Providers, Megan Cullinan

Senior Honors Theses

Appalachia is a region of the United States that is characterized by high rates of poverty, low levels of education, elevated incidence of chronic disease, and inadequate healthcare. Compared to the national average, the area has an elevated incidence of Type 2 diabetes. Though this disease process is an issue that must be addressed by healthcare providers, these providers face many challenges and barriers to providing adequate care for this disease in the Appalachian population. Barriers to care include geography with limited transportation, an inadequate number of healthcare personnel, patient inability to afford healthcare, patient attitudes toward diabetes care, and …

Teams Of Community Health Workers And Nursing Students Effect Health Promotion Of Underserved Urban Neighborhoods, Gail Landheer Zandee, Debra Bossenbroek, Dianne Slager, Beth Gordon

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Objective(s): The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of CHW/ nursing student teams in promoting secondary protection and improving access to care for residents of three urban underserved neighborhoods. The study also sought to measure CHW and resident satisfaction of such a program. Design and Sample: Quasi-experimental and nonexperimental designs were used for the study. Convenience samples consisted of residents who participated in the CHW program during 2005–2006, CHWs and residents who participated in the CHW program during 2005–2007 and a systematic random sample of residents across the three neighborhoods. Measures: Three quantitative measures …

Increasing Awareness Of Weight Management Resources Through Facility Specific Patient Materials, Julie Vincent

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Military Tobacco Dependence Treatment: Implications Of Treatment Type On Abstinence And Weight Management Ability, Bradley A. Briscoe

DNP Projects

Military readiness, employer productivity and individual health are all significantly impacted by high rates of tobacco use. Current research, to date, suggests that use of brief, individually tailored behavioral modification strategies through group therapy may be most effective in smoking cessation. The objective of this Practice Inquiry Project was to explore aspects of tobacco use the U.S. military population and examine potential relationships between type of treatment, smoking abstinence, and maintenance of body weight (e.g. avoid weight gain) among those seeking tobacco use cessation. The findings of this project can provide guidance on enhancing current tobacco cessation efforts to enable …