Background Nurses complete tasks during patient care to promote the recovery, or to maintain the health, of patients. These tasks can be routine or non-routine to the nurse. Non-routine tasks are characterized by unfamiliarity, requiring nurses to seek additional information from a variety of sources to effectively complete the tasks. Nurses’ perception of their problem-solving skills, as characterized by the attributes of personal control, problem-solving confidence, and avoidance-approach style, influences how information is sought. Objectives/Research Questions Guided by the information-seeking behaviour model, this study was designed to: (1) examine how the non-routineness of the task affects nurses’ information-seeking behaviour and the use of accumulated knowledge; and, (2) explore nurses’ perception of their problem-solving abilities. Methods An exploratory cross-sectional survey design was used. A random sample of critical care nurses who worked in a hospital setting were selected from the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) research participant database. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the proposed relationships. Results Avoidance-approach style and, problem-solving confidence did not have a significant relationship with nurses’ information-seeking behaviour. None of the variables explained use of accumulated knowledge (F = 0.902, p > 0.05). Previous training (p = 0.008), Non-routineness of the task (p = 0.018), and Personal control (p = 0.040) had a positive relationship with information-seeking behaviour (Adjusted R2 = 0.136). Implications The study results provide evidence that problem-solving ability, and in particular the attribute of personal control, influences nurses’ information-seeking behaviour during the completion of nursing tasks. They reveal how information is sought from resources, and what specific information resources are necessary to promote access to, and use of, evidence-based information. The results also help direct efforts towards training nurses in issues related to problem-solving and information-seeking by targeting the development of personal control and retrieving evidence-based information.

The overall objective of this dissertation is to contribute to knowledge and theory about the influence of information technology (IT) on organizations and their members. This dissertation is composed of three related studies, each examining different aspects of the relationship between IT and organizations. The objective of the first study is to provide an overview of the dominant theoretical perspectives that IS researchers have used in the last five decades to study the influence of technology on organizations and their members. Without being exhaustive, this study seeks more specifically to identify, for each decade, the dominant theoretical perspectives used in the IS field. These dominant theoretical perspectives are illustrated by the selection and description of exemplars published in the decade and their implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed. This review is useful not only for understanding past trends and the current state of research in this area but also to foresee its future directions and guide researchers in their future research on the influence of IT on organizations and their members. The objective of the second study is to theorize how IT artifacts influence the design and performance of organizational routines. This study adopts organizational routines theory as its theoretical lens. Organizational routines represent an important part of almost every organization and organizational routines theory is an influential theory that explains how the accomplishment of organizational routines can contribute to both organizational stability and change. However, the current form of this theory has several limitations such as its neglect of the material aspect of artifacts and the distinctive characteristics of IT artifacts, and its treatment of artifacts as outside of organizational routines. This study seeks to overcome these limitations by extending organizational routines theory. The objective of the third study is to develop a better understanding of information security standards by analyzing the structure, nature and content of their controls. This study investigates also the mechanisms used in the design of information security standards to make them both applicable to a wide range of organizations and adaptable to various specific organizational settings. The results of this study led to the proposition of a new theory for information systems called generative control theory.

Le concept de routine organisationnelle a été avancé par Nelson et Winter en 1982 pour expliquer le comportement des firmes dans une perspective évolutionniste. La thèse propose une interprétation et redéfinition du concept qui permet d'intégrer dans la routine elle-même la dimension institutionnelle de l'économie. La routine est rattachée à un principe général d'explication du comportement, en termes d'habitudes. Ce principe appliqué aux organisations conduit à distinguer des "répertoires" de routines (ou dépôts) qui mémorisent des connaissances productives situées, (2) et les performances actuelles ou "routines en acte" qui en sont l'expression dans un certain contexte. Les connaissances ainsi stockées sont articulées ou tacites, et cet aspect de la théorie sépare cette approche d'autres théories de l'organisation (Simon, March, Cyert, etc.). les routines permettent d'expliquer la performance d'ensemble de la firme dans une hypothèse de trêve du "conflit intra-organisationnel", car la trêve maintient l'ensemble des membres de l'organisation dans le cadre du circuit routinier inscrit dans les répertoires. En levant cette hypothèse, on aboutit à une redéfinition des routines organisationnelles selon deux dimensions, cognitive et sociale. Les répertoires cristallisent alors aussi des relations sociales, qui une fois stabilisées deviennent institutions. Le cognitif et l'institutionnel ne relèvent pas des mêmes logiques de formation, ce qui oblige à envisager différemment les processus de transformation des différentes routines.

This research involves a legal impact study of the State College Nuisance Property Ordinance and an assessment of State College Rental Property Managers in the role of place manager/intimate handler of offender. The impact of the Ordinance was assessed by employing an interrupted time series design which examined five years of pre-ordinance violations against five years of post-ordinance violations. The assessment of State College Rental Property Managers in the role of place manager/intimate handlers of offenders was assessed through a mail survey. The survey contained items that measured the level to which State College Rental Property Managers have assumed this role. This level was then regressed against the offenses covered under the Ordinance in order to determine if this role has an impact on reducing and/or deterring offenses in rental units. The data suggest that the Ordinance was successful in reducing violations in nuisance rental units. In addition, the analyses of the survey revealed that a higher level of place manager/intimate handler of offender was positively correlated with criminal and ordinance violations. / Dr. Randy L. Martin Dr. Kathleen J. Hanrahan Dr. Jennifer J. Roberts Dr. John A. Lewis

Hard-to-heal ulcers are resource intensive due to the fact that they are difficult to treat and especially vulnerable to bacterial invasion. The bacterial culture contaminating these wounds often consist of several different bacterial organisms that originate from endogenous sources. Necrotic material in ischemic ulcers provide nutrition which support bacterial reproduction, increasing the risk of infection. Determining causative pathogen in infected ulcers proves to be difficult when culturing swab samples, however Staphylococcus aureus and hemolytic streptococci generally act as primary pathogens.     The aim of the study was to investigate if the detection rate increased for S. aureus and hemolytic streptococci when culturing swab samples from ulcers on Columbia CNA; a media selective for gram-positive bacteria. In the experimental procedure the inhibitory action of CNA upon gram-negative bacterial growth was evaluated, using simulated ulcer samples (n=6) containing bacterial quality control strains in arbitrary concentrations. Additionally, patient samples (n=51) were cultured and screened for primary pathogens to investigate differences in the detection rate for CNA and the current culture media; Blood agar, Chocolate agar, Gentian violet blood agar and CLED agar.    Results from simulated ulcer samples showed excellent inhibitory function regarding the antibiotic substances of the CNA agar. Culturing patient samples from lower leg- and pressure ulcers on CNA, provided indications of diverse circumstances yielding higher respectively lower detection rate concerning S. aureus and hemolytic streptococci. Samples containing mixed flora with gram-negative bacteria generated higher detection rate and samples containing S. aureus yielded a lower detection rate when culturing on CNA, compared with that of the routine method.

This study seeks to expand the scope of assimilation theory by integrating it with elements of routine activities theory to better understand what influence assimilation has in regard to violent victimization. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to determine whether or not differences in victimization rates between foreign-born and native-born Hispanic youth are related to variations in emotional guardianship. Emotional guardianship refers to the aspect of relationships (i.e., affection and communication) between Hispanic youth and their parents that serve to protect the youth from being victimized. I hypothesize that foreign-born Hispanics have greater emotional guardianship than native-born Hispanics, and as a result foreign-born Hispanics have lower probabilities of victimization. To test this hypothesis and others, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) is utilized, as it provides data about the various aspects of assimilation (e.g., country of birth, language spoken at home), routine activities (e.g., sports, clubs, and family outings), and emotional guardianship (e.g., communication of problems, expectations, and satisfaction of parental bond), which are each believed to contribute to the likelihood of being victimized.

In recent years, a growing proportion of the population has moved into gated communities in response to an increasingly pandemic fear of crime. While a sizable body of research has addressed fear of crime and perceived safety in gated communities, few studies have investigated actual rates of victimization. The studies that do compare victimization in gated and non-gated communities tend to be localized assessments and present mixed findings on the effectiveness of community gating as a form of protection from crime. The present study utilizes a cross-section of National Crime Victimization Survey data to investigate the micro-level effects of living in gated communities across the United States. Additionally, a routine activities approach is used to determine whether increasing levels of guardianship exhibit differential effects in gated versus non-gated communities. Findings from logit and rare events logit regression analyses generally suggest that living in a gated community does not significantly influence the likelihood of victimization, although in some cases the odds either increased or decreased. Other measures of guardianship exhibit a variety of positive and negative effects on victimization likelihood. Suggestions for future research on gated communities and victimization include more comprehensive measurement of community- and household-level security as well as taking account of community characteristics such as informal social control and residential solidarity. Policy implications from this research include greater attention to gated community design and layout in order to reduce the likelihood of residents being victimized. In addition, residents may benefit from education on the actual risks of crime and realistic steps to reduce the likelihood of being targeted by potential offenders.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur elever klarar att lösa problem som inte kan lösas rutinmässigt och där de inte har tillgång till hjälpmedel. Dessutom vill jag undersöka hur elevens betyg och antal matematikkurser eleven har läst påverkar resultatet. För att få svar på detta lät jag eleverna i två klasser ifrån det naturvetenskapliga programmet, en ifrån årskurs ett och en ifrån årskurs tre, svara på ett frågeformulär bestående av uppgifter som inte går att lösa rutinmässigt. Resultatet visar på att eleverna i årskurs tre klarade testet poängmässigt klart bättre än vad eleverna i årskurs ett gjorde och i båda klasserna visade elever med höga betyg ett bättre resultat än elever med lägre betyg. Det mest överraskande var att båda klasserna trots höga matematikbetyg visade på vissa brister i taluppfattning. / The purpose of the paper is to examine how students are capable of solving problems that can not be solved routinely and where they do not have access to facilities. In addition, I want to examine how the student's grades and number of Mathematic courses pupils have read affect the result. In order to get the answers I let students in two classes from the natural sciences programme, one from grade one and one from grades three, respond to a questionnaire consisting of problems that can not be solved routinely. The result shows that students in grade three passed the exam clearly better than students in grade one did, and in both classes’ students with higher grades performed better than students with lower grades. The most surprising was that both classes despite high grades in Mathematic revealed some shortcomings in number sense.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a competition routine intervention on youth swimmers’ competition anxiety, confidence and performance. Participants of this study were youth swimmers (n = 4; female) between the ages of 12-16. Through the use of a multiple-baseline, single-subject design, participants received a competition routine intervention involving imagery, positive self-talk and a relaxation deep-breathing technique. Mixed methods were used, with participants completing the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory for Children questionnaire prior to their swim race and a reflective questionnaire following their swim race. Participants also took part in a follow-up interview upon completing the study. Participants showed no considerable decrease in cognitive and somatic anxiety, or increase in self-confidence or performance following the intervention. However, reflective questionnaire and interview results showed that participants perceived a positive improvement in all of these areas and found the intervention beneficial.

Adapting to change in a constantly changing environment is a challenge that organisations face on a daily basis. In order to stay competitive globally, the management of resistance to change becomes crucial. Research done on leadership reveals the very strong effect that leaders have on followers’ behaviours and attitudes and it is emphasized the role leadership plays in the implementation and supporting of change. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine whether a relationship between leadership and resistance to change exist within the higher education sector. The study obtains data of 75 participants within the faculty of engineering. The survey was done by means of a questionnaire. The statistical analyses included frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlations, independent t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests, ANOVAs and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results indicated that employees’ reactions toward change could be influenced by the type of leadership style present in the organisation, therefore it is necessary that the correct leadership style within an organisation cannot be underestimated. It could mean the difference between success and failure. For the purpose of this study, the researcher considered the scales of the Resistance to Change questionnaire sufficiently reliable, but further exploration of the scales and its adaptation to this context may be needed in future to enhance reliability measures. An important insight of this research is that, to be more effective in creating and supporting change within organisations, managers need to learn to recognise and understand resistance within them as well as in others. This research contributes to the already vast content of research on leadership and resistance to change and does so by being focused on studying these constructs under a unique set of circumstances. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013