Doctor en Ciencias con mención en Biología

The aim was to elucidate the social construction of chronic pain as a cause of work absence in the UK, focusing on negotiation of sickness certification and return to work, in the context of recent policies to tackle rising sick-listing rates, including a national educational programme about the health benefits of work, and introduction of the ‘fit note’. Following a literature review, two qualitative studies were conducted from a symbolic interactionist perspective. The first comprised semi-structured interviews with doctors and chronic pain patients, leading to a second study in which employers and employees with chronic pain were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed according to constructivist grounded theory principles. The first study revealed tensions in the doctor-patient relationship as the process of sickness certification was negotiated. The indeterminacy of chronic pain rendered the biomedical approach to diagnosis and assessment of capability for work problematic, while a shift to the psychosocial model could generate feelings of invalidation in patients. A wide range of moral and socio-cultural factors was invoked by doctors and patients to contest sick-listing decisions. The second study identified difficulties that can emerge when chronic pain patients return to work. Employees discussed how managers failed to understand their problems or make sustained adaptations; employers reported difficulty reconciling the needs of employees with organisational imperatives and argued that employees and doctors colluded in sanctioning low resilience. All stakeholder groups supported the fit note’s focus on capacity not incapacity, but were skeptical about whether it would surmount the tensions and difficulties that arise in sickness certification and return to work for chronic pain patients. Struggles for meaning and construction of identities are difficult for policy to address, but deeper understanding of the processes behind them and rich accounts of stakeholders’ views, may nudge the system towards more appropriate responses.

Some owners of small to medium-sized managed care businesses lack strategies to address the effects of healthcare regulations on their businesses. The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify strategies that owners of small to medium-sized managed care businesses used to address the financial effects of healthcare regulations on their businesses. The conceptual framework for this study was profit maximization and adaptation in changing contexts. Data were gathered from company documents, observations, and semistructured interviews with 5 home healthcare business owners in Los Angeles County, California. Data were coded to identify themes from the narrative segments. Key themes that emerged from the data analysis include home health strategic management, application of business strategies, healthcare reform, and strategic business processes. The implications of this study for social change include the potential to catalyze economic, intellectual, and social developments that improve community health and wellness programs and related activities in home health.

The paper examines ??red packets?? ?? a form of informal payment ?? in the Chinese health-care system from the perspectives of power and ??inxit?? theories. Drawing on qualitative data collected from focus groups, interviews and documentary sources, the research investigates, from doctors?? perspective, the giving, taking, declining and disciplining of and solutions for red packets. Findings testify to four hypotheses developed from the theoretical perspectives, leading to the conclusion that red packets emerged from and can exert an influence on the power relationships between doctors, the Party-state and patients, and are a response to distrust and quality shortage in the health-care system.

Abstract not available

A Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) is any device that releases radioactive material into the environment (e.g. Dirty Bomb). Depending on the size of the explosion, location, and the weather conditions the affected area could be several city blocks. In such an event there could be hundreds, even thousands of contaminated victims seeking medical treatment. One concern in the healthcare industry is the uncertainty of the level of radiation exposure to the healthcare providers from these contaminated patients. The intention of this study is to estimate the levels of skin contamination for victims arriving at the hospital needing conventional medical treatment. Given a skin contamination of the victim the effective dose rate to the healthcare providers can be estimated in certain scenarios. The effective dose rate will determine how long the healthcare provider would be able to care for the victims.

In this thesis, we investigated charge carrier properties of two series of organic semiconductors with time of flight measurement. Charge carrier mobility is calculated in different electron filed and fitted to Poole-Frenkel model. In the first part, we investigated carrier properties of pyrrole derivatives .The mea- surement result of pyrrole derivatives with different functional group indicate that trans- port properties may effected by this different functional group and the bonding position. There have two different type of transport properties that is single transport and bipolar transport. In addition, carrier mobility have more than two order difference with this different functional group. Finally, we investigated carrier properties of anthracene derivatives. The measure- ment result indicate that the intermolecular aggregation can be solved by synthesizing another functional group to form polymer. This method not only perform excellent thin film stability but also keep bipolar transport property after synthesizing.

Thesis (D.Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2007. / Includes abstract. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-203). Issued also in microform.

Nurse practitioners (NPs) have been undergoing a rapid transition in their entry-level degree, from Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) to Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). At this time, it is important to establish research evidence on the effects of doctoral education on NP practice. Therefore, a qualitative study of practicing NPs that have returned for the DNP degree was conducted. The purpose was to describe NPs' perceptions of their DNP education, and particularly its influence on their professionalism and patient care. A literature review and evidence synthesis process showed that the available body of research provides little insight into the question of how DNP education affects NP practice; therefore, qualitative description methodology was used to describe this phenomenon. The research questions that guided the study were: 1) What changes do practicing NPs describe about their clinical practice after the experience of completing a DNP?; and, 2) What are the NPs' perceptions of and concerns about the influences of their DNP educational experience on their clinical practice? Two published models and the DNP Essentials (AACN, 2006) informed and guided the data collection and analysis process. Purposive sampling and analyses continued concurrently until data saturation was achieved. Ten DNP prepared NPs were interviewed, and there was wide variation in the sample. The overarching theme Growth into DNP Practice summarizes the participants' perceptions of the changes that have occurred as a result of their DNP educational experience. Four major themes that support the overarching theme are: (a) Broader Thinking and Work Focus; (b) New Knowledge and Interests; (c) New Opportunities; and, (d) "Doctor" Title an Asset. Conceptual categories under each major theme are described. Participants were overwhelmingly positive about the influences of their DNP education on their practice, but the role of the DNP graduate in knowledge translation has yet to be fully operationalized.

No description available.