Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 240-253). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Topic of the thesis is to clarify the aims of living and values of the handicapped people. In the theoretical part the work deals with definitions of the basic terms related to a corporal defect, course and model of crisis as a radical change regarding physical image of human being, it highlights the main crisis starter, thus stress, and emphasizes the factors which have the greatest effect on mental state of the handicapped patient. Also, this work refers to sources of one{\crq}s reason for living, right to life and possibilities of social assistance for the handicapped. The empirical part is focused to find out in what extent the handicapped people experience their life as a meaningful, in what extent they are satisfied with their life and what values they prefer.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Academic hospitals do recognise that all patients have basic human needs. Nurses have been obliged to pay attention to conditions that destabilise patient's health. An academic hospital in the Western Cape is dedicated to living up to its vision to deliver excellent nursing services, which include the fulfilment of the basic needs of patients who are making use of surgical emergency department. Emergency surgical departments should be created in a manner that provides safety and comfort to patients. Patient satisfaction is influenced by the manner in which their expectations about the successful addressing of their basic needs are met. At the moment, the extent of meeting these basic needs during the delivery of nursing care in the surgical emergency department of the academic hospital is unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the perceptions of patients about the fulfilment of their basic needs during nursing care in a surgical emergency department at an academic hospital in the Western Cape. The study was conducted according to a quantitative non-experimental descriptive survey design. A convenience sampling method was used to select patients (n = 150) after they were discharged from a surgical emergency department. A self-administered questionnaire was compiled within the framework of Alderfer's theory, with closed and a few open questions, that was for distribution to respondents. Descriptive statistics were extracted. The responses to items were indicated on a continuum starting at 1 (never) to 7 (always) on a 5-point Likert scale. Respondents signed informed consent before they completed the instrument in a private room that took around 30 minutes. In this study, validity and reliability were maintained during the research process, and ethical principles were adhered to. Descriptive data was presented through mean values and standard deviations and a factor analysis performed. The findings were presented according to six factors that indicated that the responses varied on the basic existence, relatedness and growth needs of patients in a surgical emergency unit. From the findings, recommendation was described for the operational nursing managers in the surgical emergency department to take action during addressing patients' basic needs in the delivery of nursing care. It can be concluded that patients perceive that many of their basic needs are not being met while receiving surgical emergency care.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Clinical learning experiences form an integral part of the 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses' training, because it is in the clinical placement that nurses should acquire the knowledge, skills and values that are necessary for professional practice competency. Nurses who are working night shift routinely feel deserted and left out of the information sphere. In most cases, these nurses find themselves in situations of staff shortages, diminished resources and reduced managerial direction. This situation is leading to demotivation. Maslow’s theory in relation to the hierarchy of human needs is regarded as the basic motivators of human activity. Maslow’s theoretical framework of the hierarchy of basic human needs was employed to compare the motivational needs of 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses who were working either night or day shift at the time of data collection. The purpose of the study was to compare the motivational needs of 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses who were working day and / or night shift. The researcher followed a quantitative, descriptive and comparative survey design with a sample of the population. A sample of 2nd year (n = 103) and 3rd year learner nurses (n = 103) was drawn from each group and a 100 fully completed questionnaires were submitted by each group. The researcher gathered the data with the assistance of a self-administered questionnaire that comprised primarily of closed-ended questions and a 5-point Likert scale was employed to capture their responses. The researcher used a structured questionnaire to explore the perceptions of the 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses about their needs to acquire motivation in the workplace in the context of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The researcher used descriptive and inferential statistics to analyse the data. Data was plotted and expressed by means of frequency tables. Descriptive statistical analysis and associations between various variables were completed by using parametric tests. The findings of the study were related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; i.e. the physiological, safety, social, self-esteem and self-actualisation needs to motivate the 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses during day and night shift. The findings include significant differences between the needs of 2nd and 3rd year respondents in relation to working day and night shift at the health service institutions in the Western Cape Province. In Item 27, the perceived needs of the 2nd and 3rd year respondents to be placed in their units of preference during night shift varied between never to sometimes. The 2nd year respondents (n = 74, 74.0%) and (n = 74, 76.8%) of 3rd year respondents on night shift experienced their need to be placed in a unit of preference to be considered. From the descriptive statistics (Tables 4.15 – 4.220), it was evident that the 2nd year respondents did neither have the highest nor lowest mean values across the study; the observation for the 3rd year respondents was similar. The mean values of night shift respondents mostly scored lower than the day shift mean values. The inferential statistics indicated significant differences between 2nd and 3rd year day shift respondents and between 2nd and 3rd year night shift respondents with night shift depicting more significant differences than day shift. That confirmed that both 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses’ motivational needs of night shift respondents were more pronounced than the needs of day shift respondents. Emerging from this research, recommendations were formulated for clinical educators, nurse educators, unit managers and professional nurses in accordance with Maslow's hierarchy of needs with the purpose of meeting the motivational needs of the 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses at the health service institutions in the Western Cape Province. Validity and reliability principles were applied during the entire research process. The reliability and validity of the research instrument was determined by applying Cronbach's alpha test. The Cronbach alpha coefficients were 0.93 and 0.93 for the day and night shift respondents respectively. Those values were above 70% and close to 100%, which indicated that the questionnaire had been a reliable research instrument. All coefficients of the pilot study were above 70% which indicated that the instrument was consistent and reliable. The reliability of the questions were tested for content and face validity. The researcher observed ethical considerations during the entire research process. Ethical considerations of beneficence, avoiding undue intrusion, the right to privacy, confidentiality, fair treatment, respect for the respondents, the right to freedom and the right to withdraw from the study at any stage, informed consent and protecting respondents from any harm were adhered to. The respondents provided written consent that acknowledged those ethical principles.

Physical activity-based positive youth development (PA-PYD) programs can serve to empower and alleviate barriers to development for at-risk youth. Youth leaders may play an important role in these programs to foster the development of their younger peers, while mutually benefiting from the program as they foster and apply skills such as leadership, communication, and self-direction. Currently, there is a gap in literature as very few studies have examined youth leadership within PA-PYD programming. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to explore the perspectives and experiences of youth leaders and their fellow program participants in relation to youth leadership within the context of a PA-PYD program for at-risk youth. Data were gathered from 16 youth leaders (Mage= 13.37, SD = 1.36) and 15 program participants (Mage= 10.53, SD = 1.12) across four different program locations, using semi-structured, one-on-one interviews. This thesis is composed of two articles. The first article used a deductive-inductive thematic analysis to better understand the experiences that youth leaders had in the program. Three themes were identified: (a) building youth leaders is a process, (b) mentorship is perceived as critical for one’s leadership development, (c) trust is important for enhancing youth leader engagement. The second article also used a deductive-inductive thematic analysis to examine how youth leaders perceive the influence they have on younger peers who participate in the physical activity-based youth development program, as well as how these program participants perceive the role and impact of the youth leaders. Five themes emerged from the analysis, which were: (a) learning and building skills, (b) receiving support, (c) enjoyment, (d) relatability, and (e) lack of maturity. This research contributes to current gaps in the literature on youth leadership within physical activity-based youth programming and provides practical recommendations to improve such programming.

Bibliography: leaves 199-204. / This thesis is concerned with developing a method for determining the Quality of Life of a group or community in quantitative terms. The method devised is aimed at providing decision-makers with a useful tool when allocating public funds. The method involves setting critical values for indicators and then applying a mathematical formula, in order to standardise information gathered from several different sources. A value for the indicator of a particular group or community is thus calculated. This procedure made it possible to compare data from these different sources. Arising out of this the values for individual indicators were aggregated to produce indices evaluating the Quality of Life, which are in a form that may be readily used by decision-makers. Surveys were run in Elsies River, a coloured suburb of Cape Town, and in Basuto QwaQwa, a homeland in the Orange Free State, using two questionnaires. The results were computed and the method developed here used to compare and aggregate the data. Other sources of data included opinions from experts and objective data concerning the two survey areas which were also standardised and aggregated. The results show that the method is pragmatic and could be useful to decision-makers. The standardisation provided the means for arriving at the indices which show how different aspects of the Quality of Life may be assessed. The results, however, are not absolute and could change through a process of negotiation: in fact this is an essential qualification.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the communication of six different non-governmentalorganizations present in the refugee camps in the Aegean Sea, to understand which problemsthey identify as critical and how the communication may be interpreted in the light of theneeds of the organizations. The second purpose is to review the discrepancy between thehumanitarian perspective and the justification perspective, by applying the theoreticalframework consisting of framing theory and two discourse-theoretical theories on the resultsof the content analysis. According to the non-governmental organizations, the camps do not meet seven of the ninebasic needs identified by Sphere and UNHCR. The material does not provide enoughinformation regarding the last two needs, the right to non-refoulement and accessibility forpeople with disabilities. While the organizations might have an interest in existing, theanalysis shows that the most evident receivers of the reports are political stakeholders and thegeneral public, and the most evident intent is to conduct advocacy and raise awareness. The theoretical analysis shows that the camps cannot be considered justified as theprerequisites for a fair and functioning decision-making process where every individualsubject to the decision is recognized are not fulfilled. Hence, there is a discrepancy betweenthe humanitarian perspective and the justificatory perspective, in which the justificatoryperspective sets higher requirements focusing on equal humanitarian preconditions andpolitical rights, while the humanitarian perspective solely focuses on basic needs fulfillment.

The motivation behind the revival and development of roller derby may provide valuable insight to the structure of established sports regarding athlete engagement, drop-out, and well-being. To investigate the relationship of the cross-theoretical concepts, self-reported satisfaction and thwarting of basic psychological needs, and peer motivational climate of 255 high-level flat track roller derby athletes was examined in a cross-sectional design. Hierarchal regression analysis showed low effects of basic needs satisfaction on performance. Basic psychological need satisfaction and thwarting predicted 63% of the experienced task-involved motivational climate variance and 25% of ego-involved motivational climate. Relatedness proved strongest in predicting both types of peer motivational climates. In conclusion, the employed study method, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research are discussed. / Motivationen bakom återuppväckandet och utvecklingen av roller derby kan bidra med värdefull insikt i etablerade idrotters struktur gällande idrottares engagemang, avhopp, och välmående. Studiens syfte var att undersöka relationen mellan tvär-teoretiska koncept. Med en tvärsnittsdesign undersöks självrapporterad upplevelse av tillfredsställda och nedtryckta psykologiska behov, samt motivationsklimat hos 255 högpresterande flat track roller derby idrottare. Hierarkisk regressionsanalys påvisade svag effekt av behovstillfredsställelse på prestation. Grundläggande psykologisk behovstillfredsställelse och nedtryck förklarade 63% av variansen i det uppgiftsorienterade motivationsklimatet, och 25% av det ego-orienterade motivationsklimatet. Samhörighet visade på störst förutsägbarhet på båda typerna av motivationsklimat. Avslutningsvis diskuteras studiens metod och begränsningar, samt förslag på framtida studier.

A comunicação escrita na enfermagem constitui-se de uma importância crucial para a continuidade dos cuidados prestados ao paciente, objetivando melhor qualidade na assistência enfermagem. Trata-se de uma pesquisa, descritiva, retrospectiva com abordagem quantitativa que tem por objetivo, classificar o conteúdo das anotações segundo as necessidades psicobiológica, psicossocial e psicoespiritual; identificar a categoria profissional responsável pelo registro e o número de anotações por turno de trabalho. A amostra foi composta por anotações efetuadas pela equipe de enfermagem no prontuário dos pacientes do sexo masculino internados na unidade de gastroenterologia e urologia de um hospital escola no período de 01 de setembro a 31 de outubro de 2003. De acordo com os critérios de inclusão, foram selecionados, 62 prontuários contendo 1.448 anotações executadas pela equipe de enfermagem. Verificou-se nos dados que 35,0% das anotações foram realizadas no período da manhã, 33,4% no período da tarde e 31,6% o que no período noturno. A categoria profissional auxiliar de enfermagem obteve maior freqüência na produção de anotações, perfazendo um total de 97,7%, seguida do enfermeiro com 2,9% das anotações. Os registros relacionados às necessidades de nível psicobiológico compõe 68,2% das anotações, seguidos daqueles do nível psicossocial com 31,8% das anotações, o nível psicoespiritual não foi contemplado em nenhuma anotação. Concluiu-se neste estudo que as anotações realizadas pela equipe de enfermagem necessitam ser aprimoradas e compostas de forma integral garantido qualidade na assistência prestada ao paciente. / Written communication in Nursing has displayed crucial importance in care continuity administered to the patient in order to improve the quality of the assistance given by the nursing professionals. It is a descriptive and retrospective research with a quantitative approach that attempts to classify the notes content according to the psychobiological, psychosocial and psychospiritual needs and to identify the professional category responsible for the notes and the number of notes at each work shift. The sample consisted on notes made by the nursing team on records of male patients registered into the gastric and the urinary wards in a school hospital from September 1st to October 31st, 2003. According to the inclusion criteria, 62 records were selected including 1,448 notes made by the nursing team. Results showed that 35.0% were made during the morning, 33.4% during the afternoon and 31.6% at night. Auxiliary nurse was the professional category with higher rates of notes production accounting for 97.7%, followed by the registered nurses with 2.9%. The psychobiological need accounts for 68.2% of the notes and the psychosocial need sums up 31.8%. The psychospiritual need wasn’t mentioned in any of the analyzed notes. As a conclusion, the nurse’s notes must be improved and entirely composed to guarantee the quality in the assistance given to the patient.

Thesis (D.Phil (Sociology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the internet via the World Wide Web.