Baby boomer employees who leave the workplace without sharing tacit knowledge create a knowledge gap within the organization. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore strategies local government leaders use to retain tacit knowledge of baby boomer employees. Six government leaders who worked in the Midwest United States participated in the study and shared their experiences and perceptions. Building upon systems theory, transformational leadership theory, and knowledge management theory, research was conducted to identify strategies to retain tacit knowledge from retiring baby boomers. Physical artifacts and participant interview data were collected and analyzed using traditional text analysis. Adjoining terms were highlighted and clusters of repeated and related words were coded into themes. Three themes emerged: (a) mentoring, (b) generational differences, and (c) lack of structured systems. Mentoring was the most critical strategy leaders used to retain tacit knowledge from baby boomer employees. Acquiring collaborative leaders who foster a knowledge-sharing environment, create a structured system for retaining knowledge, and encourage communication between multigenerational teams remained imperative to retain tacit knowledge. Implications for positive social change include taking advantage of the human capital and resources the baby boomer population characterized, and educating other government leaders to improve performance within government agencies. Other social change implications include the potential of leaders to train older workers to share tacit knowledge with new workers, and of managers to incorporate strategies to mentor new workers replacing the older workforce.

The old practice of separating the mother-baby-dyad was without measurable benefits to mothers or their infants. Evidence has shown that skin-to-skin care (SSC) prevents hypothermia and hypoglycemia, decreases crying during painful procedures in newborns, and reduces maternal anxiety, stress, and postpartum depression. Rooming-in care (RIC) has been linked to an increase in the rate of breastfeeding and mother-infant interaction, as well as a decrease in the infant morbidity rate. This project assessed the effect of an educational intervention to increase rates of SSC and RIC in an obstetric unit, in addition to measuring nurses' attitudes and barriers in relation to SSC and RIC. The obstetric nurses received educational content related to SSC and RIC based on Kotter's model of change. A pre and postintervention evaluation showed a significant increase in the rates of SSC and RIC from pretest of 10%, to posttest of 96%; and RIC from pretest of 10% to posttest of 92%. Using a Wilcoxon test, a significant difference was found from pretest to posttest for every subscale score of the Mother-Newborn Skin-to-Skin Contact Questionnaire and Nurse Attitudes and Barriers to nonseparation Scale (p < 0.001), with the exception of belief about obstacles for SSC, which yielded a nonsignificant change (p = 0.57). This DNP project led to changes in the organization's culture, including the closure of the well-baby nursery. This project promoted social change across the organization, in that the team health care providers delivered evidence-based, standardized, unbiased, and family-centered care to the mother-baby dyad.

Atypical sexual behavior is often viewed from a perspective of pathology and non-clinical samples are not typically used in research. The current exploratory research is a qualitative study that examined the etiological perspectives of Adult Baby/ Diaper Lover (ABDL) behavior from members of an online ABDL community. Archival survey data from an online sample (N = 1,795) of ABDL participants were used. The theories informing this research included attachment theory and the sexual health model. Research questions included an examination of: (a) what we can be learn from the way an ABDL individual perceives the origin of ABDL behavior, (b) differences in the way participants find their ABDL interests, and (c) the origin beliefs of participants from a community sample compare to the results from historical data. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the archival survey data, and grounded theory was used to forward a theory about the etiology of ABDL. Participants suggested that ABDL may not be the result of a mental health condition or a trauma history. The majority of participants believe their ABDL behaviors are connected to childhood experiences, which partially dovetails with current theories on the etiology of paraphilias. Although some participants believe ABDL behaviors are related to toilet training, most do not. Most participants endorse a wide range of explanations for their ABDL interests and behaviors. The environmental shaping theory of ABDL is based on data from this study and both supports and conflicts with historical research on paraphilia. This study contributes to positive social change by allowing clinicians and scholars the opportunity to hear the voices of a stigmatized group and understand them better. An increased awareness of sexual diversity can allow for greater acceptance and less stigmatization in the mental health and medical fields.

Job satisfaction in law enforcement is important because it promotes continuity of a professional and cohesive police force that works well together, follows proper policy and procedures, and provides the services needed to the public. Given multigenerational law enforcement officers are now working together, its impact on job satisfaction is not known. This study focused on how generational cohort membership impacts the job satisfaction of law enforcement officers based on Mannheim's theory of generations and Locke's range of affect theory. It utilized a survey design where job satisfaction was assessed using the Job Descriptive Index, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, and Job Task Questionnaire. A quantitative analysis was employed using a correlation design, multiple regression, and an ANOVA. Findings showed significant differences at the .05 level in frequency ratings on the job task questionnaire on patrol, traffic enforcement, and warrant service between the generations. A logistical regression of Job Descriptive Index scores showed a significant relationship between generational cohort membership and job satisfaction scores on the promotion scale, supervision scale, and the job in general scale. Lastly, a logistical regression of the Occupational Commitment Questionnaire showed significance between Generation X and Millennial officer's overall scores with Millennial's having lower organizational commitment. Implications for social change include increasing knowledge for patrol officers and their supervisors regarding these generational differences. Other social change includes training programs for current and future officers on understanding and working with these generational differences in law enforcement.

The transition of organizations' workforces from a baby-boomer to a millennial majority in the 21st century has created work-engagement strategy challenges for management. The purpose of this study was to explore the engagement strategies that business managers design and implement that effectively address the generational differences within the workforce. The case study design was appropriate for addressing this study's purpose of exploring the successful experiences of approximately 125 healthcare business managers within a business organization in Huntington, West Virginia. Transformational leadership theory constituted the conceptual framework for this study. Methodological triangulation was used to identify key themes from the participants' interviews, employee training manuals, and job descriptions of the healthcare organization. The key themes that emerged were reverse mentorship, employee work-life balance, and employee feedback expectations. Social change could result from implementing the recommendations of this study to enhance employees' individual qualities such as worth, dignity, and a strong work ethic, thereby catalyzing employees' support of their local communities.

This thesis weaves together disparate sources of theoretical knowledge with the lived experience of 11 women to illuminate the mysterious world of pre-natal relating - the foundation for postnatal life and the beginnings of the capacity to love. Love and supportive relationships can ameliorate stress and trauma post-birth, but do they operate prenatally, and if so how? This research clearly shows that mothers relate to their preborns and from the rich detail of their stories, the author proposes a schema that captures the complexity and changing nature of prenatal relating. The basic physiological and neurological structures are formed from conception, making the preborn vulnerable to the effects of direct and maternal experience. Preborns have extensive capacities that include the potential for interaction. These capacities and experiences affect infant development post birth. This evidence supports the author's initial hypothesis that prenatal stress is a significant factor in the attentional and behavioural problems of childhood, and challenges purely genetic explanations. 'Normal' life events have greater potency during pregnancy, making the transition to parenthood stressful even for many women in low risk situations. Feeling supported is essential for the health and well-being of the mother and preborn. This thesis reports a phenomenological and prospective study of 11 pregnant women as they lived the prenatal journey. From the interviews, it describes the development of the prenatal relationship and the range of stressful and supportive factors that should be considered in the creation of child and family friendly communities. / Master of Science (Hons)

As the baby boomer generation move inexorably towards retirement and the requirement for health care services increases, the supply of nurses available to provide care at the patient bedside is forecast to fall significantly short of demand. This thesis has explored the perspectives of midlife nurses, asking what it would take to keep them in bedside practice until retirement. These nurses have provided insights which offer employers of valuable senior nurses, suggestions for maximising their potential. Through the use of questionnaires and focus groups nurses aged 45 years and over were asked what the employer can do to ensure that they are able to continue to work at the patient bedside until they reach the age of retirement. The results of this research demonstrate a workforce of nurses who are passionate and committed to their profession, but feeling disillusioned and disempowered. The nursing environment has changed over the span of their career and they find the increased workload, together with increasing professional demands, too hard to cope with. They feel they have no control over their workload, their shift patterns, or the expectations of their patients and colleagues. They want their experience to be recognized but they do not want to have to prove competency; they want to have a voice but they are unwilling to pursue postgraduate education to learn how to become visible and emancipated.

Becoming a mother is a challenging time and for some women the lifestyle adjustment can be very stressful. In combination with the changes in family structure mothers are increasingly seeking professional support and assistance in the care of their infants and children. Child and family health services in NSW offer varying levels of professional support and education, including 24-hour residential care. The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the mothers' perceptions and experiences of residential admission to a Child and Family Health Unit - Karitane. This study is descriptive in nature. Sixteen English speaking mothers admitted to Karitane in 1998 took part in the study. Focus groups were the main source of data for the study. The focus groups were undirected, conversations recorded and written notes taken. Additional data were collected by a questionnaire to determine the demographic characteristics of the mothers. The mothers' indicators of depression were scored using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Each mother completed the EPDS during the admission period and at the time of the focus and respective comparison was made. Data analysis revealed that the mothers' EDPS scores had decreased significantly at the time of the focus group meeting. The key concepts that emerged in the mothers' descriptions of their experiences were the importance of the development of the professional relationship, equity and access to parenting services, particularly for the partner, and the need for services to promote and provide realistic parenting education with an early intervention focus. The implications of the findings lend support to health care professionals in lobbying government for the necessary funds, in providing increased access to quality parenting services. / Master of Nursing (Hons)

The impact of population ageing on the social budgets of the future is a phenomenon confronting many of the world's wealthiest and most advanced nations. The impending retirement of the 'baby boomers' has raised concerns about the inadequacy of budgetary frameworks (both conceptual and real) to fulfil the financial commitments of demographically sensitive programs, namely old age pensions. Pension schemes represent, by far, the largest social welfare commitment of first world nations. Old age pensions are also demographically sensitive. Furthermore, pension systems play a crucial role in alleviating poverty, in recognising the previous contribution of an individual and in maintaining of the social and economic wellbeing of democratic polities. The financial stability of pension schemes and the ability of governments to meet future commitments will become significant issues of public policy as the pressures from population ageing intensify. Yet, committing resources, or budgeting, for longer-term pressures is an inherently problematic exercise both from an intellectual and a practical perspective. For long-term resourcing to be successful it requires perfect foresight and a level of political commitment that typically eludes most politicians and governments. Longer or medium-term budgetary pressures are often ignored or avoided until they impact on the immediate chances of either fiscal or electoral success. As such, societies face the prospect of looming financial burdens, but only have a box of short-term tools at their disposal and a limited body of scholarship to guide them through this ticking political 'time bomb'. This research tackles a significant omission in the existing literature on budgeting, public policy and social welfare, by proposing a conceptual framework for the anticipation, conceptualisation and analysis of future budget pressures. In doing so, it brings together analytical frameworks of government budgeting and social policy from a number of disciplinary areas and weaves them into a conceptual framework that allows for diagnostic and prescriptive analysis of budgetary pressures within a particular policy/spending area. The framework is also compatible with existing budgetary frameworks and decision-making processes. Through the analysis of the old age pension systems in Australia, Canada and Sweden this thesis makes an important contribution to the understanding of how demographic transition will impact on the future stability of pension schemes. The thesis contends that ageing populations will place significant pressure on each pillar of the pension system to meet its future financial commitments. This pressure will, in turn, have important implications for national budgetary processes and old age pension policy over the coming decades. In particular, governments will be required to implement a range of techniques that sit both within and beyond the traditional bounds of most budget processes. It will be imperative for researchers to explore the complexities and political possibilities of budget reform and to search for ways in which the longer-term needs of society can be adequately satisfied through the budget process.

Sexual excess is one of an increasing list of ‘excessive’ behaviours which have in recent times been pathologised by the psycho-medical establishment, increasing regulation and control of spheres previously accepted as ‘normal.’ This study analyses the genealogy of the events, institutions, organisations and individuals in post-World War II United States of America to the present which made it possible to think scientifically and nosologically about ‘excessive’ male sexual behaviour as ‘sexual addiction.’ / The grass-roots twelve-step ideologies of Alcoholics Anonymous in the mid-1970s gave birth to twelve-step programs for ‘sex addicts’ predicated on admitting powerlessness over sex and lust rather than over alcohol as the key to recovery as the first step. The publication of Patrick Carnes’ Out of the Shadows: Understanding and Treating Sexual Addiction in 1983 created the academic concept and discourse of sex addiction, which in turn paved the way for widespread scientific debate and investigation of the concept. The AIDS phenomenon offered a platform for many groups to highlight their own causes amid the chaos of illness and death. The sex addiction movement was one such group which made use of the hysteria by pathologising homosexuality and the gay lifestyle as symptomatic of ‘sexual addiction.’ This forged an inexorable conceptual nexus between sexual addiction and AIDS and death motifs, thereby legitimising the concept of sexual addiction as a harmful and often fatal disorder. / Analysis of psycho-medical and public discourse on the sex lives of two American presidents, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, in two different eras revealed changing understandings of male sexual excess. Journalistic mores, socio-cultural values and psycho-medical ideologies (or the lack thereof) played a great role in pathologising Clinton’s behaviour while leaving Kennedy’s, at the time of his presidency but not so in the decades following it, unscathed. / This study has far-reaching implications because sex is an issue affecting and involving people from all walks of life, irrespective of gender, race, colour, creed or religion. Analyses demonstrated how the sexual addiction movement’s assault on traditional conceptions of masculinity predicated on promiscuity as a rite of passage or envied and admired behaviour has precipitated a convergence of the genders in respect of prescriptive sexual behaviour. The pendulum of power is subtly shifting from males embracing notions of sexual liberation and sexual self-determination to mental health professionals whose new diagnostic labels pathologise and stigmatise.