The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge level of nutrition and physical activity among rural school-age children in a north Florida coastal community. There is evidence to support a correlation between nutrition and physical activity with obesity in children. The children who participated were living in a rural, coastal community in north Florida. They were school-age ranging from 3rd grade to 7th grade. This was a convenience sample from an after-school program (The Boy's and Girl's Club). The group was given a questionnaire to obtain demographic information, knowledge level, and behaviors of nutrition and physical activity. The children were tested pre and post a program that involved education on nutrition and structured physical activity. The pre test was given on Monday and followed by 30-minute nutrition counseling sessions and a fifty-minute exercise counseling with activities. These activities continued Tuesday through Friday with the post test administered the following Monday. Findings showed an increase in knowledge scores pre to post test however because of some study limitations, this result must be viewed with caution. It was noted by the researcher that those who did participate clearly enjoyed the structured activity. Implications for nursing suggest that this approach, integrating education and structured physical activities is doable in this population and has the potential for positive long-term health benefits in children. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Nursing In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2005. / Date of Defense: October 28, 2005. / Overweight, Behavior, Knowledge, Children, School Age, Nutrition, Physical Activity, Exercise, Obesity, Rural / Includes bibliographical references. / Deborah Frank, Professor Directing Thesis; Linda Sullivan, Committee Member; James Whyte IV, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-123). Also available online through Digital Dissertations.

This was a comparison study which examined health beliefs and locus of control among African American and Caucasian women concerning breast cancer in North Florida. The instrument used to collect data was the Health Screening Questionnaire developed by Sugarek, Deyo and Holmes. Part I of the questionnaire was a health belief questionnaire and part II a health locus of control questionnaire. In addition, there was a demographic questionnaire used to collected information on the following: age, race, education status, employment and type, household income range, previous history of breast cancer and location of survey completion. Women recruited included 38 African-American and 53 Caucasian women from several health care and public settings. Significant differences were found demographically in the area of income and education levels between the two groups. African-American women were found to have significantly lower income levels and moderately significant lower levels of education. Significance differences in health belief were found in the Health Belief Model construct of 'Perceived Susceptibility'. Caucasian women were found to have higher levels of perceived susceptibility to breast cancer than African American women. No significant differences were found in the analyses of locus of control between the groups. The majority of African-American and Caucasian women in the study had an internal locus of control. These results add to a better understanding of behavioral and sociocultural factors that may influence breast cancer detection, prevention and possible causes of health care disparities among African-American and Caucasian women. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Nursing in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing. / Summer Semester, 2008. / April 22, 2008. / North Florida, Health Beliefs, Locus of Control, Caucasian Women, African-American Women, Breast Cancer, Socioeconomic Factors, Percieved Susceptiblity / Includes bibliographical references. / Susan Porterfield, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Mary Beth Zeni, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Laurie Grubbs, Committee Member.

Thesis (M. Heal. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2009. / "January 2009." Typescript (photocopy). Some forms in the appendix in Japanese. Abstract in English and Japanese. Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-100). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.Nurs.)--Washington State University, December 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Mar. 2, 2009). "College of Nursing." Includes bibliographical references.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2001. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-167).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on September 18, 2009). Research advisor: Carolyn Graff, Ph.D., RN. Document formatted into pages (x,105 p. : ill.). Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-89).

The health of the individual affects all family members, and families influence the process and outcome of healthcare. Nurses attitudes about the importance of involving the patients families in nursing care, greatly influences the quality of the meeting between the family and the nurse. Nurses working inTanzania feel they can not provide adequate healthcare due to heavy work load and limited resources. Tanzanian nurses and patients are highly dependent on the help of the patients' families. The aim of the study was to investigate Tanzanian nurses' attitudes towards involvement of patients' families in nursing care. In this quantitative, descriptive study, a questionnaire called "Families'importance in NursingCare-Nurses'Attitudes" (FINC-NA) was handed out to registered nurses working at a regional hospital inTanzania in 2009. The results were analysed and presented by descriptive statistics such as charts, tables and central values. The 47 nurses who answered the questionnaire had in general supportive attitudes towards the involvement of the patients' family in nursing care. One fifth of the nurses however viewed the patients' families as a burden. One third of the nurses feel that the presence of the patients' families holds them back in their work. Nurses above 40 years of age and nurses with no experience of a familymember being seriously ill had less supportive attitudes towards patients family involvement compared to other subgroups in this study. The nurses with least years of nursing experience had the most supportive attitudes of all the subgroups. Besides nurses own experience of an ill familymember, this study suggests that attitudes are affected by culture, working environment and education.

Introduction: Past studies have indicated that nursing support reduces parental stress and anxiety during a child’s NICU hospitalisation and therefore fosters the parents’ abilities to cope with the difficulties they are facing. The importance of parental support has been emphasised in numerous studies in Western countries, however the nursing support which is responsive to the parents may vary between different cultures. The cultural norms of medical and nursing care environments can affect parental stress-related experiences as well as nursing roles in the NICUs across different countries. The aims of this study are, first, to compare the medical and nursing care environments of the two NICUs. Second, the study establishes any similarities and differences in sources of parental stress in the two NICUs. Third, the study illustrates the underlying philosophy of Doane and Varcoe’s (2005) relational approach to family nursing and highlights the importance of relational inquiry in the process of determining the parental support which best responds to individual families’ needs in the NICU. Methods: This study analyses the nursing roles that support parents of children hospitalised in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). It is a cross-cultural comparison between two NICUs, one in Christchurch, New Zealand and the other in Tokyo, Japan, with both quantitative and qualitative components. Thirty-one families participated voluntarily in the study from each NICU (n=121). The three main sources of data were a NICU staff interview, parental interview, and parental questionnaire using the Parental Stress Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU) (Miles, 2002). A thematic analysis was used in order to examine parental comments. Results: The differences between the two NICUs in terms of the NICU care environment, including NICU regulations and routine nursing care, were identified by the staff interviews, highlighting the contrasting dominant ideologies of individualism and collectivism reflected in each culture. The three sources of parental stress, measured by PSS: NICU: Sights and Sounds; Baby’s Appearance and Behaviour; the Parental Role Alteration, were examined. The sources most responsible for parental stress differed between the four groups of parents. Overall, The Tokyo parents seemed to be most concerned about the infant’s condition. The Christchurch parents, however, perceived the change in parental role to be most stressful. Additionally, only the Tokyo fathers experienced stress in association with Sights and Sounds more often than other areas of stress. The infant’s medical/nursing care requirements, oxygen therapy and/or tube feeding, were associated with a high degree of stress for each of the parents’ groups except that of the Christchurch fathers. There was a positive relationship between parental NICU visiting and stress level among the Tokyo parents while this was not the case for the Christchurch parents. The infants’ and parental characteristics were found to be associated with stress level for the Tokyo mothers and Christchurch fathers only. The thematic analysis of interview data revealed three key themes of NICU parental experiences: Uncertainty, NICU contexts and Communication with staff. These themes were identical between the two NICUs. Discussion: This study highlighted the influence of the norms of each NICU, particularly the NICU regulations and nursing care on parental stress-related experiences, and the importance of reflecting upon these norms to critique those professional beliefs which may hamper parental coping abilities. The areas of parental support needing attention were different between the two NICUs. These areas were: the establishment of oral feeding, and infants’ nursing care-related decision-making for the Christchurch NICU whilst parental information/involvement in the early stage of hospitalisation, the influence of visiting regulations, and importing Western-based NICU intervention for the Tokyo NICU. In providing these areas of parental support, the importance of effective, meaningful communication between parents and staff was equally evident in the two NICU settings. In the light of the relational approach to family nursing, this study demonstrated that how nurses communicate with families is not universal: one way to reach across the differences is to listen to parents, and this, it is clear, is crucial to the role of nurses in NICU settings.