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Theses/Dissertations from 2020

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Addictions Following Bariatric Surgery: a Critial Review of the Literature, Anna Hansene Bjork
Background: Bariatric surgery has become increasingly common for the treatment of obesity. Research and education are needed to identify and study potential post-surgical risks including alcohol use disorders and other physiological and psy...

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Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) in Neonatal Intensive Care: Breastfeeding May Be Beneficial for Decreasing NAS Severity for Infants, Julie A. Chandler
Background: Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is defined as hyperactivity of the central and autonomic nervous symptoms in infants from intrauterine exposure to drugs of addiction. There is variability in how NAS is managed in the neonatal...

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School Nurse Influence on Adolescent Type 1 Diabetic Control, Sara E. Dahling
Diabetes care is complex and requires consistent management of multiple factors (such as insulin, blood sugar and carbohydrate counting). School-aged children typically show poorer metabolic control, indicating a need for helping students t...

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Hepatitis C Education, Testing, and Treatment in Homeless Shelters: Models for Linkage to Care in High-risk Populations, Erin H. Higley
Background: With the increase of IV drug use, Hepatitis C viral (HCV) infections have increased considerably among the homeless population. The introduction of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) medications has made treating marginalized populat...

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Factors That Affect the Sustainability of Faith Community Nurse Programs in Christian Faith Communities, Mary K. Martin
Background: With the increasing number of people who are homebound or have chronic illnesses, the faith community nurse (FCN) is able to provide whole person care to people in faith communities. Purpose: The purpose of this critical review ...

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Exploring the Relationship Between Spirituality and Mental Health among Kenyans Living in the United States: A Review of Literature, Naomi Omwenga
Background: The increased stigma of mental health in the African population is a major barrier to seeking care. Nurses need to understand the influence of culture and spirituality in caring for this population. Purpose: The purpose of this ...

Theses/Dissertations from 2019

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The Critical Review of Overuse of Medication in the Geriatric Population, Sophia A. Allwood
Background: The overuse of medications is of concern among the geriatric population, especially in various settings including in-home and community-based (assisted living and independent living). This review found that older individuals tak...

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Barriers and strategies to life-style and dietary pattern interventions for prevention and managment of type-2 diabetes in Africa., Hirut B. Bekele
Background: Diabetes mellitus is the major chronic illness in Africa that requires lifelong life-style interventions and pharmacological therapy. The main contributing factors for the rise of diabetes in Africa are urbanization, population ...

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Understanding the Role of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Among Women With Fibromyalgia: a Review of the Literature, Emily Hall
Background: Women with fibromyalgia (FM) experience a range of symptoms threatening the integrity of their overall wellbeing. Since no cure exists, management to reduce symptoms, disability, and improve functionality is the focus. Promising...

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Interventions For Promoting Earlier Enrollment Into Hospice and Palliative Care Among Patients With A Terminal Illness, Jody K. Kampa
Background: Although research supports palliative care (PC) to improve symptoms and quality of life for patients with terminal illnesses, these services are underutilized. While 80% of people prefer to die at home, the majority still die in...

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Teaching Resilience to Nurses and Nursing Students, Laura Elizabeth McKinney
Background: Nurses are leaving the profession at high rates and many of them cite compassion fatigue and burnout as the cause. Nursing students leave their schooling at even higher rates. Developing resilience in nursing students and practi...

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Strategies to Improve English as an Additional Language (EAL) Nursing Student Communication, Kellie Ann Quesada
Background: The demand for diverse nurses to care for an increasingly diverse population in the United States is growing. Nursing programs need to have strategies in place to support nursing students who a speak English as an Additional Lan...

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Nursing Strategies to Meet the Communication Needs of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Elizabeth A. Voss
Background: Parents reported their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) needs are unmet or delayed in health care settings. Health care providers stated they were not comfortable caring for children with ASD. Since communication imp...

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Mitigating Depression In Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Patients: A Review of the Literature, Heidi L. Wiertzema
Background: Many patients who become critically ill spend an extended period of time in the intensive care unit (ICU). Oftentimes, patients experience depression as they navigate the healing process. Experiencing these symptoms may influenc...

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Level of Postoperative Pain as it Relates to Patients Undergoing Robotic and Open Thyroidectomy Surgery, Lucinda E. Zeilinger
Background: With the growing popularity of robotic surgery, more research should be performed to compare the outcomes with the conventional, open approaches. In particular, comparison of postoperative pain is needed as it has significant im...

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Current Best Practices, Evidence, Safety, and Efficacy Regarding Hormone Therapy Use for Menopausal and Postmenopausal Women, Kelly Lynn Zschoche
Background: Every woman will experience menopause, however each woman’s experience is individual and has varying degrees of symptoms. As a woman ages estrogen production declines and eventually ceases. Hormone replacement therapy has been u...

Theses/Dissertations from 2018

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Pediatric Normothermia During Surgery, Shayna Marie Fleming
Abstract: Background: The World Health Organization estimated the number of surgical procedures for 2012 to be 312.9 million around the world (Weiser et al., 2016). Children may be at an elevated risk of hypothermia in the perioperative env...

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Culturally Appropriate Breastfeeding Education for African American Mothers, Alicia Marie Freppert
Background: Exclusive breastfeeding is globally recognized as the best possible source of nutrition for infants due to breastmilk’s extensive health benefits. Significant disparities in breastfeeding initiation and duration exist among demo...

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Effects of Palliative Care on Quality of Life for People With Dementia and Their Informal Caregivers, Sara S. Martin
Background: Dementia is a leading cause of debility and dependence and its incidence is increasing exponentially as the global population ages. Despite the terminal nature of dementia, the end-of-life process is often poorly recognized due ...

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Obesity and Eating Disorders Prevention Programs: Effects on Adolescents and Young Adults With Weight Related Conditions, Jean Marie Parsons
Background: With implementation of healthy weight education programs throughout schools, questions have been raised whether a preoccupation with obesity prevention contributes to an increase in the incidence of eating disorders. The purpose...

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Teen Car Control Courses: Impact to Develop Safer Drivers?, Jaime (Wayne) W. Street
Background: Since the dawn of the automobile, crashes have resulted in significant morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, in our modern era the novice teen driver population suffers the most. In an attempt to decrease crashes, government o...

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Assessment of Nurses' Knowledge of Tools and Implementation of Interventions to Prevent Intensive Care Unit Delirium, Gertrude Brown Thomas
Background: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) acquired delirium is a significant practice issue for nurses. Delirium in ICU patients can be perceived inaccurately by nurses as an expected part of patients’ ICU stay. Increased morbidity and mortalit...

Theses/Dissertations from 2017

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Faith Community Nurses' Impact on Family Caregivers, Lori R. Anderson
Title: What are the most compelling ways that faith community nurses support family caregivers? Background: The need for family caregivers will rise exponentially in the United States in the coming decades as older adults live longer lives ...

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End-of-life Care Experience for First-generation Ethiopian Immigrant Patients and Families, Debrework Damte
Background: The goals of end-of-life (EOL) or palliative care are as follows: provide comfort, promote death with dignity and provide support to patients’ families. However, the observations and interactions with first-generation Ethiopian ...

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Cultural Beliefs, Language, and Ethnicity With Healthcare: Patient's Satisfaction, Lucy D. Delacruz-Gibb
Background: The rising diversification of the U.S. population consists of 40 percent immigrants or first generation Americans (Huscup, 2010). This ethnic composition of the population poses great challenges for healthcare institutions and h...

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The Effectiveness of Prenatal Education in the Prevention of Postpartum Depression, Leslie Ranae Dwyer
With more than 800,000 new mothers in the United States experienceing postpartum depression (PPD) in the first year following delivery, research is warranted to determine if prenatal education is effective in reducing or eliminating PPD alt...

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The Relationship Between Nursing Leadership Skills in Acute Care Setting and the Nursing Professional Practice Environment, Vane Kemunto Gichana
Background: The nursing shortage and growing complexities in health care environments demands that nurse leaders improve their leadership skills and create PPE where all nurses feel supported and valued. Purpose: The purpose of this critica...

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The Influence of Work Environment on Workplace Bullying and Retention of New Graduate Nurses, Allisson Marie Kral
Background: The existence and prevalence of workplace bullying and negative work environments may not only have detrimental effects on nurses as individuals, especially new graduate nurses, but also on patient care and safety as well as the...

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A Critical Review of Experiences of Mentally Ill African Immigrants Living in the U.s, Josephine Moraa Masita
Background: Historically, the U.S. has been known to lead the world in refugee resettlement. To date, the U.S. remains the top refugee resettlement country. Refugees are mostly people who have been forced to flee their home countries due to...

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Nurse Leader Effect on Burnout Among Mental Health Nurses Working in Inpatient Psychiatric Nursing, Beatrice Masita Paintsil
Background: Burnout is a phenomenon that affects many nurses working in different nursing specialties. Research has shown that nurses working in psychiatry suffer from burnout. Burnout can have serious consequences to the individual nurse, ...

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Community Care Paramedicine Program, Mary Beth Sather
The Community Care Paramedicine Program is an emerging field across the United States that utilizes the expertise and service of Paramedics within the community they serve. In this program, paramedics are integrated into the local healthcar...

Theses/Dissertations from 2016

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Patient Normothermia as it Relates to Surgical Site Infections in General Surgical Cases, Helen M. Claudon
Background: Approximately 54.4 million inpatient surgical procedures are performed annually in the United States (CDC, 2016). Unfortunately, 500,000-750,000 surgical site infections (SSI) are reported annually (Roesler et al., 2010). A lega...