Assessment of Intrapartum Nurses\u27 Beliefs Related to Birth Practices

Intrapartum nurses’ beliefs influence nursing behavior and nursing interventions during labor and birth. Assessing these beliefs in a regional hospital in the Southeastern United States was the focus of the doctoral project. Before the project, there was no objective data that assessed individual nurse’s beliefs and birth practices in the labor and delivery unit, or among the nursing staff as a whole. A knowledge gap existed in understanding if the nursing culture valued, promoted, and supported intended vaginal birth. Nursing leadership recognized that the overall cesarean birth rate and primary cesarean birth rate in the hospital were similar to State statistics and desired implementation of Safe Reduction of Primary Cesarean Births: Supporting Intended Vaginal Births (2015) patient safety bundle in the labor and delivery unit. Establishing a clear understanding of whether nurses’ beliefs aligned more with medicalized birth practices or normal birth practices provided valuable information for leadership and began the first step of implementation, Readiness. The Intrapartum Nurse’s Beliefs Related to Birth Practices (Adams, 2012) instrument was utilized to establish that 93% of nurses who participated in the survey have birth beliefs that more closely align with normal birth practices. The results of the survey illustrate that the nursing culture values normal birth. Study results indicate that the intrapartum nurse culture is ripe for presenting education and training that builds knowledge and skills to support intended vaginal birth. Understanding the relationship of beliefs related to practice is key to predicting future intentions of care. Recommendations and the next steps to utilizing the patient safety bundle are discussed

The Problem of Suffering: Universal Health Coverage as a Partial Solution

Universal Health Coverage is evaluated from a Christian Biblical perspective and found that it meets an appropriate standard of service to the poor. Christians should consider its benefits and drawbacks compared to doing nothing. The issue of diminished access to healthcare, burdensome medical costs, reduced coverage, and discrimination against impoverished individuals with specific regards to healthcare are all conquerable challenges

The Cost of Organizational Change for Rural Community Colleges

This qualitative study will investigate the unintended consequences of implementing structural change in a rural community college in the mid-South region of the United States. Specifically, this study will examine the unanticipated outcomes of merging student affairs and academic affairs into one division. Scant empirical evidence exists about the benefits of this structural change or literature reviewing assessments of the unanticipated financial and nonfinancial costs to the institution. This critical case study is situated in a rural community college that recently changed its organizational structure by combining the academic and student affairs divisions. A purposeful sample, from different levels of the organization, who were stakeholders in the change, will be interviewed and asked to describe the unintended positive and negative outcomes of the change, how they managed those consequences, identify the costs to the institution, identify the value to the institution, and share what was learned from the change initiative. The study uses Bolman and Deal’s (2013) four frames model as a framework to explore the phenomenon and interpret participant data. This study will provide empirical literature about structural change and unintended consequences to replace the anecdotal knowledge currently used for organizational decision making. The study will inform organizational leaders of the tangible and intangible costs associated with change. Information from this qualitative study could be useful for trustees, chief executive officers, divisional heads, mid-level administrators, and frontline personnel to identify the potential emotional, financial, temporal, and relational costs associated with making a significant organizational change in a small, rural community college

The Cost of Organizational Change for Rural Community Colleges

This qualitative study will investigate the unintended consequences of implementing structural change in a rural community college in the mid-South region of the United States. Specifically, this study will examine the unanticipated outcomes of merging student affairs and academic affairs into one division. Scant empirical evidence exists about the benefits of this structural change or literature reviewing assessments of the unanticipated financial and nonfinancial costs to the institution. This critical case study is situated in a rural community college that recently changed its organizational structure by combining the academic and student affairs divisions. A purposeful sample, from different levels of the organization, who were stakeholders in the change, will be interviewed and asked to describe the unintended positive and negative outcomes of the change, how they managed those consequences, identify the costs to the institution, identify the value to the institution, and share what was learned from the change initiative. The study uses Bolman and Deal’s (2013) four frames model as a framework to explore the phenomenon and interpret participant data. This study will provide empirical literature about structural change and unintended consequences to replace the anecdotal knowledge currently used for organizational decision making. The study will inform organizational leaders of the tangible and intangible costs associated with change. Information from this qualitative study could be useful for trustees, chief executive officers, divisional heads, mid-level administrators, and frontline personnel to identify the potential emotional, financial, temporal, and relational costs associated with making a significant organizational change in a small, rural community college

Student Perspectives on Application of Theory to Practice in Field Practicums

The field practicum is designed to offer students the opportunity to integrate knowledge and practice prior to graduation; however, students continue to lack the ability to connect theory to practice within the field practicum. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives of social work students regarding the application of theory to practice within the field practicum. The conceptual framework included concepts of empowerment, empowerment theory, and social constructivism. The research question addressed how social work students at a local university described the issues related to connecting theory to practice within the field practicum. Data collection involved interviews with 6 social work practicum students, observations, and document analysis. Data were coded and analyzed to identify 4 themes: learned theories, concerns, theory to practice, and student beliefs related to theory and practice. Findings confirmed students\u27 inability to connect theory to practice. Findings were used to develop a project incorporating simulated learning environments in social work curricula to increase the connection of theory to practice. Findings may be used to enhance students\u27 ability to integrate theory into practice, which may strengthen the profession of social work through improved service delivery at local, state, national, and global levels

Synthesis and selected reactions of [pi]-(arene) chromium tricarbonyls

This project was concerned wit hthe preparation of two pi-(arene)-chromium tricarbonyl compounds that could serve as a synthetic intermediates to more complex systems. These intermediates would be particularly well-suited for the preparation of mono-complexed diaryl compounds. The two intermediates selected were pi-(acetophenone) chromium tricarbonyl and pi-(benzyl bromide) chromium tricarbonyl. After the intermediates had been synthesized, their utility in several selected reactions was to be examined