USING MINDFULNESS-BASED PRACTICE TO REDUCE WORK-RELATED STRESS AND BURNOUT AMONG PSYCHIATRIC NURSES

ABSTRACTGeorgette Awo Gbeddy: Using Mindfulness-based Practice to Reduce Work-related Stress and Burnout Among Psychiatric Nurses(Under the direction of Dr. Cheryl Giscombe)Background: Stress among healthcare workers is a significant problem linked to the prevalence of emotional and mental depletion, exhaustion, and job dissatisfaction among nurses. Nurses working in acute mental care settings are increasingly likely to experience stress due to challenging patient interactions. Aim: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the feasibility of a free online VA Mindfulness Coach application (App) to reduce work-related stress and burnout in psychiatric nurses at the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in the Southeastern United States. Method: A qualitative quasi-experimental design was employed to address the clinical question. Fourteen nurses initially agreed to participate, and 13 completed the pre-and post-intervention Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The MBI comprised 22 questionnaire items, which cut across various work experiences related to stress and burnout. Results: The mean MBI score decreased from 93.64 (SD=13.94) pre-intervention to 82.57 (SD=9.63) post-intervention, for a mean MBI score reduction of 11.07. The mean difference between pre-and post-intervention MBI scores of 11.07 points indicated that the App significantly reduced job burnout, t(13) = 2.284, p = .040. Also, 12 (85.7%) participants found the App useful to reduce stress and job burnout. Conclusion: Mental health nurses are exposed to prolonged stressful work environments, which causes stress and burnout. One-month post-intervention results of a mindfulness-based intervention show nurses' level of stress and burnout was reduced. Continued application of mindfulness-based interventions in the workplace through mobile App with improved adherence rates can significantly lower stress and burnout.Doctor of Nursing Practic

A synthesis of the implementation ambivalence of REDD+ in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia

Reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation and associated benefits (REDD+), has received much attention as one of the most controversial climate change initiatives, especially by forest fringed community actors in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Southeast Asia, (SEA) who are skeptical of the scheme.The object of this paper is to examine the seeming potential benefits and accompanying risks and challenges of REDD+ on the livelihoods among smallholder farmers in SSA and SEA. The paper espouses the sustainability context of REDD+ projects as pro-poor forest management mechanisms; through the provision of alternative livelihood. This is achieved through critical review and critique of scientific articles, project reports and relevant documents on REDD+ interventions from a worldwide, regional to local scale. The paper identifies projects that seem to solidify claims that REDD+ projects are simply a new form of colonialism; which the West is using to take advantage of vulnerable groups in the South. The paper concludes with the need to actively engage sub-Saharan African and Southeast Asian women in climate change mitigation benefit schemes on account of the expedient role women play in agricultural activities (which may involve deforestation and forest land degradation)

Transformation and degradation of organic pollutants on urban road surfaces

This thesis is an important milestone in understanding the transformation and degradation processes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are indicator organic pollutants in urban road dust and some of their transformed products are extremely hazardous. Analytical methods were developed and optimized to comprehensively measure PAHs and their transformed products. The optimized method and relevant statistical techniques were used to assess the ultraviolet photon driven processes of the pollutants. A novel risk assessment approach was developed to evaluate the carcinogenic health risk posed by the pollutants. The new knowledge gained is vital in addressing the challenges posed by these pollutants

COMPOSITE POWER SYSTEM ADEQUACY ASSESSMENT INVOLVING NON-UTILITY GENERATION AND POWER WHEELING

A significant component of the overall system electrical energy requirements of many power utilities is now being provided by Non-Utility Generators (NUGs) and power/energy purchases from neighbouring systems. A NUG is defined in this thesis as an independent power production facility or cogeneration facility, which is not owned by the utility in whose service area the facility is located. These facilities are small generating capacity components associated with load points within the utility system. NUG capacity additions can have considerable impact on adequacy at both the individual load points and the overall system. The opportunity to wheel energy/power through the transmission facilities of one system in order to serve another system is one of the many possible uses and benefits of interconnection between neighbouring electric power systems. Wheeling of energy can also occur within a system when an independent power producer in a local utility system serves a load located at some other point in the system. Power wheeling transactions are recognised to have a definite impact on the utility's system losses depending upon the system topology, the amount of power/energy wheeled and the wheeling distance involved. These factors currently form the basis for determining service charges associated with power wheeling

Inherent and external factors influencing the distribution of PAHs, hydroxy-PAHs, carbonyl-PAHs and nitro-PAHs in urban road dust

The distribution and fate of hazardous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their associated transformed PAHs products (TPPs) notably carbonyl-PAHs (CPAHs), hydroxy-PAHs (HoPAHs), and nitro-PAHs (NPAHs) on urban road surfaces are influenced by diverse factors to varying extent. The pollutants are eventually transported to urban receiving waters via stormwater runoff posing risks to human and ecosystem health. In order to formulate an effective mitigation strategy, it is essential to comprehensively examine the role of both inherent and external factors in the distribution and fate of these hazardous pollutants, and thus, the need for this study. The research study showed that commercial land use has the highest cumulative concentration of PAHs and TPPs. Antecedent dry days (ADDs) has an inverse influence on the distribution of the total concentrations of low-molecular weight PAHs (LMW-PAHs), PAHs, and (PAHs + TPPs) irrespective of the type of land use, whilst there was no major influence on the total concentrations of high molecular weight PAHs (HMW-PAHs), and TPPs. The high volatility of LMW-PAHs compared to HMW-PAHs is considered to account for the decreasing concentration of LMW-PAH with increasing ADD. Particle size range has significant inverse influence on the cumulative concentration of pollutants across all land uses, since smaller particles are characteristically associated with larger surface area leading to the higher sorption of pollutants. Multivariate analysis of the influential factors indicated that two particle size ranges (0.45–150 μm and 150–425 μm) constitute the major influential factors on the distribution and fate of PAHs and TPPs in urban road dust. Greater quantum of pollutants are sorbed to the 0.45–150 μm particles due to the relatively higher specific surface area (SSA), concentration of total organic carbon (TOC) and total suspended solids (TSS) concentration. Therefore, it is critical to effectively remove finer particles from road surfaces in order to reduce exposure to hazardous pollutants.</p

Application of multivariate data techniques in photochemical study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and transformed PAH products in road dust

Road dust is a key repository for PAHs and transformed PAH products (TPPs) generated from natural and anthropogenic sources in the urban environment. Eventhough PAHs and TPPs are prone to post-emission photochemical processes, very limited studies exist on the subject for road dust. This knowledge gap is of particular concern since some of the resultant TPPs are notably more carcinogenic than their precursor PAHs. This study evaluated the role of 254 nm ultraviolet (UV) photons on the photochemistry of PAHs and TPPs in road dust. The findings show that UV irradiation had varying effects on the fate of analytes, particularly naphthalene (NAP), phenanthrene (PHE), 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA), 1-hydroxypyrene (HPY), 1-nitropyrene (1NPY), pyrene (PYR) and 5-nitroacenaphthene (5NAC). Photochemical relationship was identified between PYR, 1NPY and HPY, and DMBA and benzo(a)anthracene. Unlike carbonyl-PAHs, parent PAHs, nitro-PAHs and hydroxy-PAHs can originate from photolysis. Photon irradiation durations of 3, 6 and 7.5 h had the most intense influence on the photolytic process with 7.5 h as optimum. The photochemical rate at optimum irradiation duration shows an increasing trend of NAP −1 hr−1. Physicochemical properties of analytes such as index of refraction and vapour pressure (in logarithmic form) had an inverse effect on photolysis. The knowledge generated is significant for the in-depth understanding of the fate of PAHs and TPPs on urban road surfaces and contributes to the greater protection of human health and the environment.</p

Dataset for the quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) modeling of the toxicity equivalency factors (TEFs) of PAHs and transformed PAH products

Sixteen significant physicochemical predictor variables for thirty PAHs and transformed PAH products (TPPs) were retrieved individually prior to collation from ChemSpider.com [1] whilst their corresponding toxicity equivalency factor (TEF) end-point was obtained from published articles by Bortey-Sam, Ikenaka [2] and Wei, Bandowe [3]. In order to achieve a 5:1 ratio of the number of observations to predictors which is vital for an effective quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) modelling, factor analysis was used to reduce the data. Four fundamental predictors were obtained whilst the observations were found to cluster into two main groups of nitro-PAHs and other analytes. It is anticipated that the data presented here is highly relevant for future studies on the toxicity and health effects of the analytes in the environment. Secondly, the fate and distribution patterns of PAHs and TPPs are influenced by the parameters in the dataset. In this regard, studies on the behaviour patterns of these environmental pollutants require this information for a comprehensive evaluation and interpretation of results. Researchers across varied fields of environmental science and toxicology will find this dataset very useful. This data currently serves as supplementary information for the research article in the Journal of Hazardous Materials by Gbeddy, Egodawatta [4].</p