Nursing Commons^™

Heads Up: The Importance Of Brain Rest After A Concussion A Paper Presented To Meet Partial Requirements, Kacie Wilkes

Graduate Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Inflammation And Its Role In Our Health: Can A Plant-Based Diet Prevent Disease?, Leeanne Coffman

Graduate Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Ua1c11/57 Fall Graduation Photos, Wku Nursing

WKU Administration Documents

Unidentified photos from the December 2014 nursing graduation.

Increasing Hpv Vaccination Rates Using Social Marketing Strategies, Sharon Wilson Catledge

Doctoral Projects

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually-transmitted infection (STI). Approximately 20 million Americans between the ages of 15 and 49 years currently have HPV with > 6.2 million new HPV infections estimated to occur each year. Yet, HPV vaccination rates remain relatively low. More than 40 strains of HPV are transmitted through genital contact during vaginal, anal, or oral sex and can infect males and females. In addition to causing genital warts, HPV is associated with cervical, vulvar, vaginal, anus, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers. In women, the most prominent type of cancer is cervical with > 12,000 diagnoses each year …

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Workforce Development In Behavioral Healthcare Settings In Rural Mississippi, Arlen Davis Cooper

Doctoral Projects

Description and Significance of the Problem: The United States is facing a significant rural mental healthcare workforce shortage and an uneven distribution of mental healthcare professionals. The psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) may increase access to mental healthcare in rural underserved regions (NRHA, 2012). However, little is known regarding their distribution. The lack of uniform and consistent data collection methods regarding the number and the geographic distribution of PMHNPs in rural areas, specifically in rural Mississippi, exists. The importance of better data collection and improving infrastructure through collaboration with state licensing boards and state nursing workforce centers is …

An Evaluation Of Fall Prevention Interventions Among Older Adults In A Long Term Care Facility, Courtney Anita Bennett

Doctoral Projects

Falls are serious unwanted events that are a common occurrence among older adults in long term care facilities (LTC). Fall prevention in LTC facilities requires the efforts of an interprofessional team that promotes safety within an organization. The purpose of this capstone project is to implement and evaluate evidence-based fall prevention interventions at a LTC facility. Specific objectives of the project include: (a) providing education to healthcare professionals on evidence-based practices to recognize, assess, and prevent falls among older adults in a long term care facility and (b) replacing the existing fall prevention policy and program with a falls and …

Evaluating The Perceptions Of Quality Of Life In Informal Caregivers Caring For Hospice Patients, Rashandra Fisher Laws

Doctoral Projects

Maintaining or improving quality of life for informal caregivers is important as they endure the burden of providing care to terminally ill loved ones on a daily basis. Caregivers are at a greater risk for depression, deteriorating physical health, financial difficulties, and premature death than demographically similar non-caregivers (Demiris et al., 2010). The goal of this capstone project was to determine the effectiveness of the creativity, optimism, planning, and expert information (COPE) intervention, which address specific needs of the family and caregiver.

Twenty informal caregivers completed the Quality of Life (QoL) Index tool, which measured their perceptions of five different …

Food Choices And Practices During Pregnancy Of Immigrant Women With High-Risk Pregnancies In Canada: A Pilot Study, Gina M A. Higginbottom, Helen Vallianatos, Joan Forgeron, Donna Gibbons, Fabiana Mamede, Rubina Barolia

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: Immigrant women may be regarded as a vulnerable population with respect to access and navigation of maternity care services. They may encounter difficulties when accessing culturally safe and appropriate maternity care, which may be further exacerbated by language difficulties and discriminatory practices or attitudes. The project aimed to understand ethnocultural food and health practices and how these intersect in a particular social context of cultural adaptation and adjustment in order to improve the care-giving capacities of health practitioners working in multicultural perinatal clinics.
Methods: This four-phase study employed a case study design allowing for multiple means of data collection …

Predictors Of Lifestyle Behaviors, Trust Of Health Care Provider, And Utilization Of Health Services Among Adolescents Living In A Rural Area., Heather Karolyne Hardin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Adolescents have elevated morbidity and mortality rates associated with risk-taking behaviors, but utilize health services at low levels. There is little evidence concerning health behavior, trust of health care provider, or utilization of health services among adolescents living in rural areas. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine individual characteristic variables and determine the extent to which these variables influence lifestyle behaviors, trust of health care provider (HCP), and utilization of health services among adolescents attending public high school in rural Indiana. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional, quantitative design. Instruments used in this study were …

Integrating A System Approach To Identify And Manage Aggressive Behaviors In Adult Males With Severe Mental Illness In A Psychiatric Hospital, Mitzie Alford-Jenkins

Doctoral Projects

Aggressive behaviors exhibited by patients with a serious mental illness (SMI) hospitalized in inpatient psychiatric hospitals are a challenging safety problem. Early identification of aggressive behaviors is vital to helping nursing staff develop proactive interventions that focus on prevention. Structured risk assessments identify the level of risk and allow for early interventions.

The purpose of the doctoral capstone project was to: (a) provide education to nursing staff on implementing a structured risk assessment tool in order to identify risk for imminent aggression, manage risk for imminent aggression, and record aggressive behaviors among adult males with severe mental illness (SMI); (b) …

A Qualitative Study Evaluating Bedside Reporting And The Impact On Nurse Satisfaction And Communication Barriers With Washington Regional Medical Center, Win Szeto, Sarah Wren, Molly Milborn

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nursing care occurs on a continuum that involves transferring the responsibility of a patient’s care from one nurse to another during shift change. Hand-off reports are a vital part of the communication cycle to ensure safe and effective care. Studies have shown bedside reporting increases patient and nurse satisfaction as well as the nurse-patient relationship (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2013b). The aim of this study was to educate nurses on the importance of bedside reporting and to implement a standardized hand-off. This study was evaluated through two measures. The first measure involved a survey/interview on nurses' perception before …

Motivational Interviewing To Enhance Weight Loss And Eating Self-Efficacy In Overweight And Obese Adults, Theresa K. Buchanan Dr.

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Greater than six in ten adults in the United States are overweight or obese which can lead to cardiovascular disease, Type II Diabetes, joint injury and some forms of cancer, costing billions of healthcare dollars each year. Weight loss is difficult, as is maintaining weight loss. The purpose of this project is to investigate if use of the evidenced based (EB) intervention, motivational interviewing (MI), will enhance weight loss and eating self-efficacy (ESE) in overweight and obese adults seeking weight loss at a weight loss clinic over the course of eight weeks. Participants who received MI in addition to current …

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends: A Qualitative Study Of Nurse Close Work Friendship And Social Support, Jennifer Ptacek

Masters Theses

The nursing profession is laden with numerous job, emotional labor, and communication stressors, which come from both patients and healthcare organizations. These frequent and simultaneous pressures can result in nurse burnout and turnover (Tracy, 2009). Socially supportive workplace communication has been identified as a solution to reducing nurse stress, burnout, and turnover (Apker & Ray, 2003), but has not specifically considered social support in nurse work friendships. A mixed qualitative method study was conducted with five nurse best friend pairs, using job observations of participants’ work friendship communication and individual and joint interviews. Two major communication themes emerged from the …

Nurse Knowledge Of Clostridium Difficile, Ashley E. Frosch

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the amount of knowledge nurses have about Clostridium difficile. Seventy-five nurses participated in this study. A 25-question true/false survey was distributed via email to graduates of The University of Southern Mississippi. The survey consisted of a brief demographic section and 25 questions addressing Clostridium difficile knowledge. A total of 582 surveys were sent out with a total of 75 completed. Out of 25 questions in the survey, the majority of respondents (>50%) only answered 7 questions incorrectly. Overall, the nurses in this study possessed accurate knowledge about C. difficile; although, there …

Investigating Infection Control Behaviors In Nurses, Elizabeth L. Beam

Theses & Dissertations

Nurses are trained in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and have access to policies and procedures to use in their daily work, but errors in technique during patient care are common. The purpose of this study was to better understand the infection control behaviors that nurses demonstrate in practice. The project described nursing behaviors related to basic airborne and contact precautions using personal protective equipment (PPE) in a simulated care environment. The specific aims were to 1) identify infection control behaviors by nurses which may or may not adhere to clinical standards for isolation practice while performing clinical …

A Qualitative Study: Enhancing Healthcare Through Strengthening The Student Nurse And Nurse Preceptor Relationship, Craig C. Steinfeldt

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Clinical education is an essential aspect of nursing education, where student nurses gain their first insight into the nursing world along with hands-on experience in skills vital to nursing care. This education relies heavily on the guidance and interaction of the nurse preceptor, a relationship that varies in quality and is in need of defining and role development. The purpose of this qualitative observational study was to further delve into the relationship of the nursing student and the nurse preceptor in a clinical education setting, identifying factors which currently are holding this relationship back from reaching its full potential: a …

A Quality Improvement Study Concerning The Safety Of Patients In The Acute Hospital Setting With Emphasis On Minimizing Patient Falls And Injuries By Implementing Staff Education And Reminders, Loribeth Alexander, Stevie Brock

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background: Patient falls in the hospital have continued to be a major avoidable problem in the acute care hospital setting. These falls can lead to negative patient outcomes as well as an increase in cost for the hospital.
Aim: The aim of this quality improvement project is to determine if an educational intervention and posting of fall prevention posters in the cardiology units impacts the fall rates and fall index.
Setting: The cardiac units of Washington Regional Medical Center.
Participants: The cardiac nursing staff as well as all patients who fell on this floor between the months of April through …

Family Nurse Practitioner Mentoring Relationships' Impact On Organizational Commitment, Patricia Bartley-Daniele

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Family nurse practitioners (FNPs) are vital primary care providers who are responding to increased primary health care needs in the United States. Organizational commitment is reflective of workplace relationships that foster professional development, innovation, and outcome achievement. An organizationally committed FNP workforce is essential to achieving primary health care goals.

Mentorship has been proposed as a strategy to foster FNP organizational commitment. Mentoring has been characterized as a teaching-learning relationship. The mentor can serve as a guide to foster graduate FNP practitioner transition into primary care practice. Types of mentoring relationships occur in formal workplace settings or develop as informal …

Use Of Complementary Therapies By Individuals With Or At Risk For Cardiovascular Disease And Diabetes: Results Of The 2007 National Health Interview Survey, Katrina Michelle Embrey

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Costly, debilitating and largely preventable, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) place a heavy disease burden of high morbidity, mortality, and rising health care costs on people of the United States. With mortality reports from the two diseases of over 600,000 per year and costs in excess of $176 billion, identifying alternatives to traditional models of care must be considered. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therefore becomes a viable option for prevention and treatment. Using secondary data analysis of the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, the aim of the current study was to determine whether CAM use was associated …

Meaningful Recognition In A Healthy Work Environment For Nurse Engagement In A Critical Care Setting, Ann Rachel Willingham

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Purpose: To examine which types of recognition are most meaningful to critical care nurses and study the relationships of meaningful recognition with a healthy work environment and nurse engagement.

Design: A descriptive, correlational design was used for this research study.

Methods: Two hundred-two critical care nurses from an urban, teaching hospital in the southeastern US were invited to participate in the study. Data collection occurred in September and October 2014.

Results: Nurses report the most meaningful recognition is salary and schedule. However, the remaining four subscales of recognition were rated at a level between moderate and …