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Nursing Leaders in Academia
No full textNursing leaders have a formative role in nursing programs; collaborating with community partners and stakeholders, and supporting faculty and other nursing leaders. The purpose of this study was to identify positive and negative themes and examine related factors impacting experiences of nursing leaders. Identity Theory, borrowed from psychology, provided this study’s framework because it explains role-related behaviors and their influences. Qualitative descriptive methods were utilized by manually coding five audiorecorded interviews with nursing leaders in Midwestern United States. Significant statements were coded as positive or negative and grouped into themes. Each interviewee’s statements were balanced to calculate “net balance.” Length of time in position and program size were considered. Limitations included all programs from the Midwest, no male leaders, and leaders with exceptionally high or low satisfaction levels may have been more eager to participate. Results showed that four of five leaders’ experiences were net positive. The leader with the least experience reported the highest number of negative statements within the sub-themes of “no preparation,” “coercion into role,” and “hours.” These, with “faculty” and “stressors,” constituted the five most negative sub-themes. The five most positive subthemes included “fulfillment,” “student contact,” “potential for change,” “living out the mission,” and “influence on others.” Experiences were shaped by length of time in role, supporting the notion that transitions into leadership positions lack support. Creating support to allow for greater recruitment and retention of future nursing leaders and ease transition into these positions is recommended
In Situ Simulation and Confidence in Performing the Nursing Process during a Septic Medical Emergency
No full textThe use of in situ simulation has been effective in improving technical and non-technical skills as well as increasing patient safety in highly stressful environments. The purpose of this project is to determine whether in situ simulation has an educational impact on nurses’ confidence in performing the nursing process during a septic medical emergency as measured by the Simulation Based Learning Evaluation Scale (SBLES). This project is based on Lewin’s Change Theory, which states that change follows the process of unfreezing and refreezing. This creates a standard to be used as nurses participate in the in situ simulation and potentially change their confidence levels in assessing, diagnosing, planning, implementing, and evaluating patients. Implementation will be performed at a Level 1 Trauma Center Emergency Department (ED) in West Michigan in a hospital that is Magnet recognized. It is a quality improvement project with a pre and post survey to evaluate a pilot educational intervention with ED nurses. Sample size is yet to be determined, but will be obtained through convenience sampling. Data analysis will be conducted using SPSS. Results and conclusions are yet to be determined. Limitations include being a pilot study and a single site setting. Implementation of this study will provide ED nurses with additional practice to enhance their learning and confidence in performing the nursing process in the emergency setting. It will also suggest whether the use of in situ simulation as an educational intervention is a feasible tool for nurses to use in the ED at Spectrum Health
Developing and Implementing In-Situ Simulation Education for Emergency Department Nurses
No full textIn situ simulation can be a vital way to educate nurses and promote learning and improvement related to various areas and responsibilities of nursing. The purpose of this quality education simulation project is to evaluate whether in situ simulation in the emergency department promotes improvement in self-perceived attitude of reflection and objective patient friendliness. Lydia Hall’s Care, Cure, Core Theory of Nursing serves as the theoretical framework for this study, as it views the patient holistically, interacting with nurses and other medical professionals, as is seen in the emergency department. A literature review was done to determine ways to evaluate nursing teamwork and simulation-based learning and develop an in situ simulation based on emergency nursing needs. This simulation will be performed in the emergency department of a large, Midwest teaching hospital as a septic emergency case. Members of an emergency-response team, including 2-3 nurses and other interdisciplinary members, such as physicians and nurse technicians employed by the hospital, will complete a pre-and post-Simulation-Based Learning Evaluation Scale (SBLES) and the in situ simulation. Nursing students or the hospital nurse educator will complete the Clinical Teamwork Scale. Survey data will be analyzed using SPSS version 23. Results and conclusions are pending. Literature suggests that in situ simulation education will result in improved nursing teamwork and attitude of reflection, and therefore should be utilized for quality improvement in emergency nursing care. A small sample of medical professionals will be used in a single emergency department, so generalization to all hospitals is not conceivable. If found that in situ simulations can be an effective delivery method for education of emergency department nurses, it will be important to implement them frequently to improve the quality of nursing teamwork
The Effect of Maternal Work Hours on Children’s Mental Health
No full textIn the United States only 12 percent of U.S. workers have paid family leave benefits from their private employer (U.S. Department of Labor). WIth the labor force participation rate of women with young children (under three years of age) increasing, from 34.3 percent in 1975 to 61.4 percent in 2015, this raises the question of the consequences of working mothers on young children. If maternal employment reduces the quantity or quality of interactions with her child, there may be unintended negative consequences for a child’s mental health. Alternatively, employment may increase maternal fulfillment or provide benefits such as increased medical care, which may improve child well-being. This research examines the effect of maternal work hours during early childhood on the child’s mental health later in life. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the accompanying child supplement allow for a family fixed effects strategy that will account for unobservable family-specific characteristics that would otherwise confound the effect this research aims to estimate
Improved Reading Scores: Does Gender Matter?
No full textPrevious studies have shown that females score higher than males in reading achievement tests. Girls tend to have a more positive attitude towards reading as well as being more active readers than boys (Coles & Hall, 2002; Sainsbury & Schagen, 2004; Logan & Johnston, 2009; Hall & Coles, 1999; Logan & Johnston, 2009). To see if this pattern held true for the students attending the Children’s After School Achievement, or CASA, the Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills (CIBS II) was conducted. CASA students were given the CIBS II pretest subtests of word recognition, oral reading, and reading comprehension in Fall 2015 and the CIBS II posttest subtests were administered in Spring 2016. Descriptive statistics, paired and independent t-tests, and an ANOVA were conducted to determine which gender performed better in the subtests along with which gender showed greater improvement in reading. Results showed that overall all students had significant improvement in all subtests. For males, there was significant improvement in word recognition and reading comprehension; while for females, there was significant improvement in word recognition and oral reading. When subtest scores between the male and female students were compared using an ANOVA there was a significant difference between the scores of the males and females in word recognition and reading comprehension, but there was no significant difference in oral reading scores. These results will be discussed and possible theories will be given during this presentation
Aerobic Training with the Elevation Training Mask
No full textAltitude training simulators have been produced with the goal of providing the benefits of altitude training to a variety of populations. One altitude-simulating device is the Elevation Training Mask 2.0 which uses a series of inhalation and exhalation valves to decrease the volume of airflow in and out of the mask with a single breath. This study was designed to see if High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) sessions (10x 60 seconds) twice a week, along with a single day of steady state exercise (30 minutes) per week on a cycle ergometer with the Elevation Training Mask 2.0 (MASK, n=5) would significantly decrease oxygen deficit, decrease time to VO2 steady-state, and improve oxygen economy at the onset of submaximal exercise compared to training without the Elevation Training Mask 2.0 (CON, n=4). It was hypothesized that greater stress on the respiratory system, from wearing the Elevation Training Mask 2.0, would result in greater oxygen efficiency and utilization as marked by oxygen deficit, time to VO2 steady-state, and VO2 needed to exercise at a set intensity. Following 4 weeks of training significant improvements were seen in oxygen deficit between MASK and CON (MASK: 410.68±66.08, CON: 459.01±73.87 ml/kg/min, p=.022). Significant differences were seen in time to VO2 steady-state with training for all participants (pre:77.33±20.38, post:56.89±11.92 seconds, p=0.015); however, there were no differences between groups post-training (MASK: 67.40±6.66, CON: 66.75±7.45 seconds, p= 0.95). No differences were found in VO2 demand with training (pre:34.98±3.87, post:34.04±3.21 ml/kl/min, p= 0.436), or between groups. Evidence suggests a decreased oxygen deficit at the onset of submaximal exercise following aerobic training with the Elevation Training Mask 2.0
Analyzing Library Marketing and Communication Efforts at Liberal Arts Colleges
Get PDFAcademic libraries are constantly changing in response to advances in technology. One facet of this is how libraries are promoting and marketing themselves to patrons. Social media has become a tool many businesses use to promote themselves, and libraries have started to use it to connect with patrons and educate them on resources. There is currently a limited amount of literature on how smaller academic libraries are approaching social media as well as how they are generally marketing themselves to the campus community. We conducted a study to determine how other small liberal arts college libraries are using social media and other promotional materials for outreach, communication, and marketing as well as the staff involved in this process. We surveyed participants (N=33) and asked them questions regarding their usage with social media, newsletters, and marketing material for promoting their library. Our data was then used to assist Hope College Libraries in their marketing efforts
An Analysis of Nineteenth Century Sunday School Books
No full textThe Sunday School Book genre has changed and developed throughout the centuries. In times when children of working class families received little to no schooling, these books provided an accessible source for education. During the nineteenth century, the goal of this genre was to equip its readers with a clear set of morals and values, providing even the minimally educated with a guide for how to live their lives. While few of these books became well known, and while few continue to be read and explored by audiences today, they provide monumental value in capturing, in one of the simplest (and most child-like) ways, the ideals of Protestantism throughout a century of consequential change. Michigan State University provides a collection of over 150 of these texts, all ranging in length, subject, and denominational affiliation. By visualizing our data on a Wordpress site, we are able to visually display our analysis of this collection, comparing and contrasting the information in our dataset with context brought by both religious and secular primary and secondary sources. Through this analysis, we are able to draw conclusions on how these books affected both the protestant and secular world. The argumentation of these novels, while simplistic, makes their values seem cut-and-dry. However, outside the world of Protestant Christianity, the world is clearly less black and white. But the presence of the rigid morals presented in the Protestant Sunday School books has a massive impact on the coexisting secular world
Monitoring Nutrient Levels and Sediment in Lake Macatawa Watershed
No full textProject Clarity, a $12M restoration project initiated in 2013, works to restore the 179 mi2 hypereutrophic Lake Macatawa Watershed. Our goal is to assess Project Clarity’s impact on water quality by collecting weekly samples from 12 representative sites. Physical and chemical parameters including total suspended solids, nutrients (phosphate and nitrate), temperature, stream discharge, dissolved oxygen, and biological oxygen demand are measured and correlated to the composition of the watershed’s microbiome. The watershed’s physical and chemical parameters vary. For example, during large rain events there are rapid surges in stream height and discharge. Project Clarity implements best management practices for land use in an attempt to minimize the impacts of rain events large enough to produce heavy runoff. Runoff often carries large amounts of fine grained sediment that has the tendency to adsorb nutrients. Most of these sediments end up entering nearby waterways, causing a decrease in water quality. Excess suspended solids strain aquatic populations by increasing temperature and decreasing dissolved oxygen and clarity. Measuring sediment as total suspended solids allows for approximation of sediment loading and transport. TSS levels in the fall of 2016 averaged around 15 mg/L, with maximums as high as 125 mg/L at a stream site during a rain event. The MDEQ found the average phosphorus concentration in Lake Macatawa was 0.125 mg/L Phosphorus in 1997, and set the goal total maximum daily load (TMDL) to reach 0.050 mg/L P by 2009. To date, this TMDL has not been consistently met. Phosphorus levels in Lake Macatawa averaged 0.065 mg/L during our fall 2016 monitoring. Additionally, nitrate levels are somewhat elevated. These data provide a baseline of water quality characteristics for monitoring remediation efforts in the watershed. Correlations between data are explored for potential influence on large-scale biogeochemical cycling
The Validation of Eye-Tracking Behaviors of Experts and Novices While Viewing Multiple Representations of Chemistry Concepts
No full textEducation research has often interrogated the differences in mental schema between Experts and Novices in a particular discipline. These mental schema, or organizations of ideas and thoughts within a person\u27s brain, can give insight into which connections are essential for complete understanding of a field of study. For instance, in chemistry, it has been found that experts more readily connect chemical concepts visualized in macroscopic, symbolic, and sub-microscopic representations. This triplet relationship has been studied repeatedly in the literature, but requires active think-aloud studies or a series of tests which involve a certain extent of non-natural activity. Eye-tracking has been increasingly used in educational research in order to gain insight into how we interpret information in a passive observational manner. Making use of the triplet relationship, an experiment has been conducted to replicate the expert/novice study conducted by Kozma and Russell in 1997 by using eye-tracking while having participants perform a sorting task. Similar results for the sorting task will validate the interpretation of the eye-tracking analysis methods for future use