Forty-six million individuals in the United States used tobacco products. People who use tobacco products attempt numerous strategies before giving up smoking habit altogether. The goal of this project was to evaluate the impact of a tobacco cessation program by evaluating pre-and post-cessation program data, and hospital records of participants attending the hospital smoking cessation program over a 6-month period to ascertain the degree of reduction in tobacco use and hospitalization from smoking-related diseases. The population sample comprised of both men and women between the ages of 18 years and above. The project question addressed whether the smoking cessation program had an impact on reducing the rate of tobacco use and hospital readmissions after attending a cessation program at a medical center. A paired samples t-test was conducted to analyze the pretest and posttest results. There was a statistically significant decrease (p <.001) in the participants' (N=49) rate of smoking after completing the smoking cessation program that lasted 6 months. The mean on smoking cessation pre-participation was 13.7 (SD = 1.56). The mean on smoking cessation post-six months participation was 6.67 (SD = 1.81). There was a statistically significant decrease in the rate of hospital admissions among participants. The mean on pre-participation hospital admissions was 4.18 (SD = .727). The mean on post-participation hospital admissions was 1.41 (SD = .643). Smoking cessation programs impact social change by improving the quality of life of participants and their families and decreasing the financial impact of hospital readmission cost

Across the United States, higher education institutions increasingly employ a holistic review of prospective students’ application materials. In a holistic review process, admissions offices consider a student’s personal and academic context when reviewing applications for admission. A key feature of a holistic review is a student’s application essay, or personal statement. However, admissions offices rarely standardize their essay review process and very little research exists regarding whether student essays predict successful outcomes in college. This paper summarizes a quality improvement study conducted within the University of Vermont Admissions Office. It examines the extent to which non-cognitive student characteristics present in student admissions essays (e.g., grit, creativity, intrinsic motivation, leadership, community engagement, cultural fluency) are correlated with pre-admission factors and subsequent college outcomes. The study involved developing a new essay scoring rubric and evaluating the usefulness of this rubric by scoring 320 undergraduate admission essays. Findings suggest that the rubric is useful in identifying evidence of non-cognitive factors in student essays, but that overall scores do not strongly correlate with pre-admissions characteristics or first-fall college GPA. The study supports the practice of holistic review and provides insight into how admissions offices can begin to operationalize the review of essays and non-cognitive factors in their admissions processes.

This study compares selected social characteristics of first admissions to a private psychiatric hospital in the calendar years 1940 and 1960 with the white populations of Texas and Dallas County. In addition, this study compares selected background characteristics of first admissions to determine what, if any, change occurred in these characteristics between 1940 and 1960.

This study concerns the role of admissions officers in the marketing activities of Texas Colleges and universities. The purposes of this study are to identify the marketing activities of Texas colleges and universities for admissions and recruiting, to determine if these marketing activities vary according to identified characteristics of the colleges and universities, to determine the role of admissions officers in marketing activities, and to determine the organizational structure for marketing activities in Texas colleges and universities.

The problem of academic failure has been of real concern to the administration and faculty at Syracuse University. The study at hand is concerned specifically with the problem in the College of Home Economics. Through a study of the data known about students at the time of entrance into the College, it was thought that a better basis for selection night be recommended for the admission of students to the College. Such questions as the following arise in the mind of the research worker: 1. Do the group psychological tests given at the University at the time of entrance give us one basis by which we may predict probable academic success or failure? 2. Are the known high school quartiles dependable bases for selection of successful students? 3. Are there factors in the family backgrounds of these students that.may be significant in their selection? 4. Does an objective personality test have validity as a predictive factor in the success of a student? 5. Do we have any anecdotal records that reveal significant differences in personal adjustment between successful and failed students? 6. Are we able to predict the probable success of failed students upon readmission? 7. Do we have any combination of factors that may be significant in predicting the probable success of a student?

Each year, admissions officers throughout the United States commit many intense months to reviewing applications to their college/university. According to the College Board, there are established key elements considered in admissions decisions, including grades in college prep courses, standardized test scores, overall academic performance, and class rank. Approximately half of high schools in the U.S. provide class rank, yet it has maintained importance as the number four factor for over a decade, trumping other factors such as extracurricular accomplishments, teacher recommendations, and interviews. A student’s rank-in-class can be used to determine their relative achievement within his or her school, to compare them to the entire applicant pool at a college or university, and to rate students for scholarship selection, along with selections for countless other accolades and financial awards. Rank is calculated across a wide span of methods using grade point averages (GPAs) that sometimes account for course rigor, and sometimes do not. So that colleges/universities might evaluate rigor and competitiveness of each applicant based on the school’s institutional priorities, I contend that colleges/universities should recalculate GPAs as provided from the high school, giving weight to what they value as an institution. Over the past year, I have dramatically shifted my belief in the way rank ought to be used. Earlier in my admissions career, I believed rank was accurate and useful. Now that I have taken significant time to consider the role of rank from the perspective of a school counselor, I realize that it is not the beacon of precision. It has become increasingly clear to me that it is the job of colleges/universities to rank high school students; it is not the job of high schools. During months spent speaking with current and former school counselors, and my own motivation to become a school counselor, I realized that it does not ultimately benefit high schools to provide colleges with rank and it does not benefit colleges to use a precise rank that is born out of one specific context.

Class of 2007 Abstract / Objectives: Medication reconciliation is a formal process of obtaining a complete and accurate list of each patient’s current home medications. This process is done to prevent errors of omission, therapeutic duplication, dosing/frequency errors, or drug-drug/drug-disease interactions. As of January 1, 2006, University Medical Center (UMC) implemented a new, comprehensive medication reconciliation form which was intended to prevent medication-related discrepancies upon admission. The purpose of this study was to compare the percent of missing required prescription information upon hospital admission before and after the implementation of the medication reconciliation form. Methods: This study was an inferential retrospective chart review of patients admitted to UMC in Tucson, Arizona, between January 1, 2005 and August 1, 2006. While the overall goal was to measure the impact of a new medication reconciliation form on the completeness of a patient's medication history, the specific study objectives were to: (1) evaluate medication reconciliation form utilization and compliance and (2) compare the completeness of medication information upon hospital admission before and after the implementation of the comprehensive medication reconciliation form. Patients were included in the study if they were over 18 years of age and admitted to UMC at least once in 2005, and at least once between January 1, 2006 and August 1, 2006. The following patients were excluded: patients that were institutionalized in an assisted living facility or nursing home, admitted to the emergency room, intubated, transferred to the hospital from a nursing home or a long term care facility, and discharged from the hospital within 24 hours of admit. Two hundred and thirty-four patients, who met the inclusion criteria, were randomly selected from a UMC hospital census. The researchers reviewed each medical chart and recorded the physician-reported medication history, reason for admit, length of stay, and demographic information. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was completed using SPSS Version 11.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). After collecting the data, counts were taken on missing prescription information, such as missing medication names, dose, route, and frequencies. If the collected data were normally distributed and were interval/ratio level data, a paired t- test was used for analysis. If the data were not normally distributed or were of nominal/ordinal level, a McNemar test was used. An a priori alpha level of 0.05 was used for all statistical tests. Results: A total of 234 patients were included in both the pre and post analysis. Approximately 53.8% of the sample was male. Fifty-one percent of the population was categorized as white in the patient’s chart. The average age at time of first admit was 50.3 years. Fifty-three percent of the population had a past medical history that included cardiovascular disease. Over 28% of the patients in the sample had diabetes and over 18% had pulmonary disease. The most common admit diagnoses for the population included shortness of breath, chest pain, and abdominal pain. Medication reconciliation forms were found in the chart 71.4% of the time. Of the 71.4% of the forms present in the patient’s medical chart, the form was utilized 66.6% of the time. The percentage of allergies recorded in the patient’s chart decreased from 89.3% before implementation of the form to 65.9% after implementation. This movement repeated itself with the recording of social history, which fell from 92.3% recorded before the form to 52.6% after implementation. Introduction of the new medication reconciliation form at UMC resulted in significantly fewer drug names missing, incorrect, or illegible from the patient’s medication history between pre and post (p=0.034), as well as a greater amount of medications recorded in the patient’s medication history (p=0.006). However, the use of the form did not result in significant differences between pre and post in the route, frequency, and dosing information being recorded. It also did not result in a significantly greater amount of non- prescription drugs recorded. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate the need for a systematic approach to ensure the process of obtaining accurate medication histories at the time of hospital admission. Utilization of a new comprehensive medication reconciliation form in this academic institution is far from optimal, and could have significant healthcare implications. Better methods of ensuring medication reconciliation at the time of hospital admission are needed.

M.P.H., Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

MPH, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / Introduction: The study analysed the admission trends at six adult medical wards in a regional hospital in Gauteng over 2005 and 2007. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of data from admission ward registers and patient case notes. Information obtained included age, gender, duration of stay, clinical outcomes and disease profile. The study population comprised of all patients admitted to the adult medical wards at Tambo Memorial Hospital for the period 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2005 and 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2007. Results: The number of medical admissions increased by 2.07% during the years of study. The male admissions were slightly higher than the female admissions. The mean age of male patients decreased from 42.30 years to 40.41 years. In contrast the mean age for female patients increased from 38.00 years to 40.50 years. The average length of stay decreased from 6.16 days to 5.33 days. The younger age groups (15-34 years of age) accounted for the majority of admissions. Based on the ICD 10 coding, infectious and parasitic diseases accounted for the majority of the admissions followed by respiratory disorders. Tuberculosis became the most frequent diagnosis and was prevalent in the younger age groups followed by pneumonia. Hypertension was a common diagnosis in the older age groups (55 years and older). As was expected the majority of patients (86-95% in 2005 and 80.24% in 2007) were discharged home but a considerable number of patients were transferred to other institutions. Importantly, a decrease in the mortality rate from 4.02% to 0.03% was also demonstrated. Conclusions: An increase in the number of patient’s admissions, a decrease in the average length of stay and a decrease in mortality rate were noted during the study period. Changing trends with regards to gender, age and disease profile were also observed. The challenges and recommendations identified by the study will provide valid information that would be meaningful to hospital management as well as potential users such as budget planners, resource allocators and efficient referral pathways designers.