UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Health Sciences, Nursing

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    Giving Up Their Place in the Wall: The Lived Experience of Community College Nursing Faculty Who Leave the Profession of Teaching
    (2007-12-18) Karl, Cherry A; Hultgren, Francine; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: GIVING UP THEIR PLACE IN THE WALLS: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE NURSING FACULTY WHO LEAVE THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING Cherry Ann Caldwell Karl, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation directed by: Professor Francine H. Hultgren Department of Education Policy Studies Community college nursing faculty members are essential to the continuation and growth of the profession of nursing. Every loss of a nursing faculty member represents an even greater loss to the practice of nursing within the health care system. Previous research has documented the serious and inter-related shortage of both nursing professionals and nursing faculty. This phenomenological study explores the underlying themes leading to the decisions made by nursing educators to leave the practice of teaching, and presents strategies for preserving and strengthening the position of nursing faculty within the community college. The guiding question for this inquiry is: "What is the lived experience of community college nursing faculty who leave the profession of teaching?" Text for this study comes from narrative sources such as reflective writings and one-on-one conversations with six former full-time community college nursing faculty members. In chapters two and three, I turn to the literature and am guided by the phenomenological philosophers such as Heidegger, Gadamer, and Casey. Nursing leaders and their work provide me with grounding for the study and to help me to draw out the phenomenon for investigation. The six research activities of van Manen provide the methodological framework for the research. Chapter four is a meeting place for those who tell their stories. The nursing faculty members who offer up their stories journey with me as I explore the meanings of their experiences. These conversations help to unravel the experiences of being a teacher of nurses and offer a place for their voices to be heard. Several themes that were uncovered showed a lack of a welcoming into teaching, unrealistic workload expectations and work-family conflict. Using the metaphor of sheltering walls, the study explores the needs of nursing faculty members to find, claim and maintain an appropriate dwelling place in order to sustain professional growth and well-bring. Pedagogical insights serve as a challenge to nurse educators to fortify the bonds of community within nursing education programs. Program administrators and faculty alike must accept the responsibility to look beyond what is most apparent, communicating awareness of individual and common needs and strengths in order to continue to enrich the lives of their students and of each other.
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    Older Gardeners as Keepers of the Earth: A Phenomenological Study
    (2007-04-26) Collins, Carole Staley; Hultgren, Francine H; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study explores what the lived experience of gardening is like for older, community-dwelling gardeners as it is uncovered through conversations, garden visits, and written notes from seven older gardeners. Over a two-year sequence, multiple in-depth individual conversations at the homes of the co-researcher participants unearth themes reflective of their gardening lives. Drawn forward by the methodology of hermeneutic phenomenology, the rich text of our dialogue mingles like compost and becomes something newly created that shows their passion for interacting with plants and living habitats. Using the existentials of lived place, lived body, lived time and lived relation we dig into how gardening is lived. Home and volunteer places for gardening keep these older adults curious and creatively engaged-characteristics of healthy agers. Their worn body parts go unnoticed in the presence of beauty they co-create, suggesting knowing the Earth through the senses is a source of tranquility and wakefulness that brings a renewed appreciation for the wonder of nearby nature. With interpretive literature, poetry, and cultural understandings of the gardeners' lives, we relate to metaphors surrounding gardening; the seasons and the circle of life are ever-present. Autobiographical stories of sustained volunteerism, land trusts, and conservancies for future generations reveal their caring for the planet and spiritual aspects of this physical activity, which they love. Reaching out beyond their gardens to share their bounty and wisdom about their relationship with living earth, the gardeners model a vision of respect for the planet and an ecological consciousness. Witnessing nearby nature, they blossom in the Fall of their lives. As a community health professional, my task is to educate and raise awareness about nature for human health and well-being; thereby building on current initiatives to foster accessible nearby nature. The study also sheds light on the value of environmental activism through autobiographical notions. In supporting a gardening life for older gardeners, we advocate the importance of interacting with nearby nature that we long to preserve. Our planet needs more earth keepers like these to bring us back into balance.
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    Following the Yellow Brick Road: The Lived Journey of Nurses Becoming Nurse Practitioners
    (2007-04-25) Ogle, Kathleen Theresa; Hultgren, Francine H.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In this phenomenological study, I explore the lived experiences of registered nurses who become nurse practitioners. Text for this study comes from narrative sources such as reflective writings, one-on-one conversations, and group conversations with seven new nurse practitioners. The guiding question for this inquiry is: "What is the lived journey of nurses who become nurse practitioners?" Phenomenological philosophers such as Heidegger, Gadamer, and Casey guide this work. Other authors are drawn upon for grounding the study and to draw out the phenomenon for examination. The six research activities of van Manen (2003) provide the methodological framework for the research. The "yellow brick road" traveled by the registered nurse to nurse practitioner is the metaphor that has revealed itself as we reflect on the journey. Literature from the disciplines of nursing and education, poetry, and narrative accounts complement the stories told by nurse practitioners and open up new ways to think about the lived experience. Stories are the bricks that form the yellow road that lead us to a new way of being. Nurses who become nurse practitioners experience the journey from school to beginning practice and finally to comfort in the new place. Conversations reveal the meaning of the journey. The webs of support woven with other students are found to be very important. Before reaching the end of the road, many detours are encountered that slow, but never stop, the journey. During this journey new nurse practitioners find that the nurse part of nurse practitioner is as important as the new skills they have learned. At the end of the journey they find that the greatest source of strength is from themselves. Both teacher and students are transformed as we travel together on the path. A call is made for a revolution in nursing curriculum as narrative leads to a new way of teaching and learning. The journey reveals a new way of living curriculum and being with students as mentor and teacher.
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    An Examination of the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
    (2006-04-25) Nicholas, Amy Lynne; Beckman, Paula J; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This investigation was designed to examine the needs of a diverse group of mothers with infants in an urban hospital's NICU. Forty-six mothers were asked to rate the importance of having various types of needs met while their infants were hospitalized using the NICU Family Needs Inventory. The five need subscales addressed on the inventory are Support (emotional resources needed by the family), Comfort (the need for personal physical comfort), Information (the need to obtain realistic information about the infant), Proximity (the need to remain near the infant), and Assurance (the need to feel confident about the infant's outcome). Overall, while mean differences were relatively small, the participants viewed needs in the area of Assurance as most important and needs in the area of Support as least important to have fulfilled. Various parent and infant characteristic data were also collected and used as predictor variables in a series of multiple regression analyses to determine the degree of their relationships with the needs that mothers viewed as most important to have fulfilled. There was a positive correlation found between annual household income and mothers' needs in the area of Support. Infant length of stay in the NICU was also found to be inversely correlated to mothers' Information needs. In depth discussions about these results are provided, including linkage to Maslow's theory pertaining to the hierarchy of human needs. The findings from this study can be used by providers when interacting with families, as well as during the design and implementation of parent support programs in the NICU. Further investigation of parents' needs with larger samples, including fathers, is needed.
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    CASE STUDIES OF RESILIENT RETURNING WOMEN OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN AN RN TO BSN COMPLETION PROGRAM AT AN HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY: PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC LIVED EXPERIENCES
    (2006-02-10) Peoples Veiga, Carolyn; Robertson-Tchabo, Elizabeth A.; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this research was to construct from "their own words" a comprehensive description of the personal and academic lived experiences of resilient adult women of African descent who had been identified by a standardized academic diagnostic instrument, the Nurse Entrance Test (NET), as educationally at-risk for failure to complete the course requirements necessary to earn a Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing at a Mid-Atlantic Historically Black College/University. Six case studies based on multiple, focused, personal, semi-structured, audiotaped interviews were presented that capture the phenomenological perspectives of these women. Thematic analyses of these personal interviews indicated that the conceptual framework of Personal Investment Theory (Maehr & Braskamp, 1986) was a "good fit" to describe the behavioral and achievement motivation patterns (direction, persistence, continuing education, intensity, and performance) of these returning students. Moreover, the outcomes of achievement, personal growth, and life satisfaction identified by Personal Investment Theory also were addressed consistently by these women. The case studies were organized around developmental stages and special attention was paid to Robert Havighurst's developmental and educational tasks. The developmental stages were utilized to emphasize an orderly progression for human development while allowing for flexibility and overlap across the life span. Psychosocial development theory advanced by Erik Erikson provided an organizing framework that suggested negotiation of continual challenges allowed these resilient women to persist and to overcome the negative NET prediction. It appeared that these resilient women had learned through numerous life experiences to reject such negative feedback, and believed that with sufficient effort their educational goals could be and were attained. Academic experiences placed in the sociocultural context of personal life events provided a clearer understanding of the challenges of successful completion of an RN to BSN Program. The implications of these findings for higher education policies regarding returning students were discussed.