Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Magnet Hospitals On Nursing Burnout, Jonathan Settle, Michael Davis, Eric Pulice, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Introduction:

The World Health Organization [2019] defined burnout as a syndrome caused by chronic job stressors that are not successfully managed, characterized by exhaustion, depersonalization, job detachment, and feelings of inadequacy (WHO, 2019). According to Murthy [2022], the nursing burnout crisis was underway before COVID-19. Nurse burnout recognized pre-COVID-19 was due to systemic organizational problems such as inadequate organizational support and underinvestment in public health (Murthy, 2022).

A 2022 survey of 2500 nurses exhibited increased rates of burnout during the pandemic, with 75% of respondents experiencing burnout, while 65% of those surveyed expressed their desire to leave the healthcare field …

"We're Human": An Analysis Of Formal And Informal Training Methods For Direct Care Staff Working With Dual-Diagnosis Populations, Adam Clay Stephenson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Direct care staff, or DCS, are individuals tasked with providing a number of care services to individuals with disabilities in various settings. This study focuses on a group of direct care staff working at a day habilitation program in central West Virginia. Training techniques used to prepare these workers for a diverse array of roles are reviewed comparatively and through a sociological theoretical lens utilizing perspectives from Bandura (1977), Laubach (2005), Marx (1964), and Wolfensberger (1983). Semi-structured interview results indicate that formal training is driven by a less valorous view of disabled individuals as a class than informal training; that …

How To Make Unethical Decisions, Andrew Sikula Sr., John Sikula

Management Faculty Research

People make decisions and solve problems in a variety of ways. Oftentimes, little if any thought goes into choice selection. Sometimes, even very important decisions are made without serious contemplation of potential alternatives and their consequences. Many different tools/techniques and rationales are utilized in problem solving and decision making with little or no regard to ethical judgment and/ or aftermaths. Some ways of making choices are worse than others when using pity parameters. This article discusses commonly used but ethically unsound methods of making selections. Later in the writing, appropriate standards and benchmarks for determining ethical action will be presented.

Consent, Informal Organization, And Job Rewards: A Mixed Methods Analysis, Marty Laubach

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Research

This study uses a mixed methods approach to workplace dynamics. Ethnographic observations show that the consent deal underlies an informal stratification that divides the workplace into an “informal periphery,” a “conventional core,” and an “administrative clan.” The “consent deal” is defined as an exchange of autonomy, voice, and schedule flexibility for intensified commitment, and is modeled as a single factor underlying these elements. When constructed as an additive scale, consent allows informal organization to be included in workplace models. Despite its derivation from subjective and informal processes, informal structure exerts an independent effect on objective job rewards such as wages.

Punishing The Poor: America’S Use Of The Welfare System As A Means Of Controlling The Impoverished, Jill R. Foley

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Throughout America’s history, various welfare assistance programs have been implemented in an attempt to prevent the poor from coordinating a social uprising to overturn capitalism. Applying sociologist Karl Marx’s theories on capitalism and the presence of a false versus a class consciousness one can trace the growth of industrialization in American with the increasing efforts devoted to subduing the impoverished. Actions ranging from the imprisonment of the poor to child saving in the 1700 and 1800s to the use of police force to dissipate uprisings of the indigent in the 1900s provide evidence of the government's continued efforts to prevent …

An Analysis Of The Relationships Between The Perceived Organizational Climate And Professional Burnout In Libraries And Computing Centers In West Virginia Public Higher Education Institutions, Arnold R. Miller

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between the perceived organizational climate and professional burnout in libraries and computing services units in West Virginia higher education. Research questions were defined to investigate the differences between libraries and computing services units in the perceived organizational climate, professional burnout, organizational climate vs. burnout, demographics vs. organizational climate, demographics vs. burnout, and the combined effects of demographics and organizational climate upon burnout. The Work Environment Scale (WES) Form R, third edition, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) HSS, third edition, and a demographic questionnaire measured the organizational climate, burnout, and demographics. …

Final Frontier: The Methodist Church Involvement With The Recolonization Of Blacks To Liberia, Sharletta Michelle Green

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Missionary work over the course of one hundred years has changed the face of Liberia as a country. The work has affected the culture, economic structure, ethnic relationships within the country and surrounding areas and the political climate. The missionary movement into Africa did not start until the early eighteen hundreds.

In my thesis, I will focus on the ways the major stakeholders socially constructed the issues involved. I will focus on the ways in which the ideologies of racism in this period reflected American perceptions of the “dark continent.” This analysis will include the social constructions of church leaders, …

Structural Identity Theory And The Dynamics Of Cross-Cultural Work Groups, P. Christopher Earley, Marty Laubach

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Research

The creation of a global village, transnational corporations, internet and similar influences remind us constantly that a science of organizations and management is incomplete without the integration of concepts of culture and self-awareness. It is no longer appropriate to discuss organizational activities and employee actions without incorporating a more complete view of where such activities take place. Not only must we include an immediate social context, but we must deal with the international and cultural aspects of the social world as well. More than ever, understanding of employee action requires knowledge of how action is related to the environment in …

Black Out-Migration From West Virginia In The Context Of Racial Discrimination In Employment In The Coal Industry: 1935-1955, Megan E. Cox

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This research assessed two major theories of black labor migration patterns, Marx’s theory of exploitation and Bonacich’s labor market segmentation. These theories have been applied to the coal producing counties of southern West Virginia. Institutional discrimination of black workers, coupled with the exploitation of coal miners in general, created the social relationship of super-exploitation.

This study investigated the conditions the coal companies utilized to aid and abet the exploitation of black workers and ultimately push black labor out of West Virginia. Also, this thesis examined the migration patterns of black workers into West Virginia from the failing southern agricultural industry …

Hospice: A Descriptive Analysis Of The Structure And Formation Of Hospice Organization In West Virginia, Rebecca Ann Lowery

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

It has been recognized that a hospice must move through several stages in order to become an organization. Moving from a volunteer or interest group to an operating hospice requires detailed planning and organizing. Also, community support and financial stability are crucial in the developing stages. The developing hospice also needs support from the medical community, because physicians make most of the patient referrals to the hospice program.

Several reasons may be given to explain why the Hospice of Lincoln County was unsuccessful in developing into an operating organization. First, the board of directors for this developing hospice were the …