<p> Leaders within the long-term care industry face a myriad of challenges as the U.S. population ages at exponential rates. Long term care is an industry that requires strong, well-developed leaders; yet, while Directors of Nursing (DONs) are viewed as key leaders in the long term care setting, few studies have focused on their leadership styles. The goal of this quantitative, non-experimental research was to determine if a relationship existed between leadership styles, personnel retention, and job satisfaction. Based on findings from this study, the `PST2 Leadership Model' was developed. This model is unique as it conceptualized various leadership theories and offers suggestions for implementation of specific leadership styles. This model may prove useful as an important teaching instrument within the long term care arena. As healthcare leaders and stakeholders continue to evaluate salient matters within the long term care community, it is prudent to utilize research such as this and comparable studies to guide the decision making process as this evidence may contribute to the viability of a challenged long term care system.</p>

<p>Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of work stressors and perceived organizational support on front line nurse manager work engagement. A non-experimental descriptive, cross sectional design examined the relationship in a convenience sample of 97 front line nurse managers from the New York tri-state area and members of the American Organization of Nurse Executives. Instruments used to measure work engagement, work stressors and perceived organizational support, were: (1) the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES); (2) Challenge-Hindrance Stressor Scale and (3) Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (SPOS). Pearson's correlation and linear regression analyses indicated support for the relationship between all variables. There was a negative direct relationship between work engagement and work stressors and a positive significant relationship between perceived organizational support and work engagement. The conceptual framework of Kahn's work engagement and the Job Demands-Resources Model revealed that organizational support is needed to promote front line nurse manager work engagement. Work engagement, perceived organizational support and work stressors are professional environmental factors that impact the leadership and well-being of FLNM. These factors, properly promoted and implemented, lead to FLNM's success, retention and job performance.

<p> The elderly population, defined as 65 and older, is the fastest growing demographic group in the United States. As baby boomers' reliance on healthcare systems increase, housing with medical accessibility becomes a vital need in today's economy. As the market appears to signal an increase in the need and desire for home and community based services, important questions arise about how assisted living executives' leadership styles affects his/her entrepreneurial orientation. This study analyzed the relationship between the full range of leadership model as measured by the multifactor leadership questionnaire and entrepreneurial orientation (innovativeness, proactiveness, and risktaking) of executives within the licensed assisted living facility industry in Indiana. The researcher used the multifactor leadership questionnaire and the entrepreneurial orientation questionnaire to determine whether assisted living executives were innovative, proactive, and risk-taking based on their leadership style. </p>

<p> The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) delineated four criteria for management of perinatal care and discharge (DC) of high-risk neonates: 1) physiological stability, 2) tracking and surveillance of growth and development for each infant, 3) active parental involvement with the infant's care, and 4) follow-up care arranged with experienced primary care provider. Registered Nurses in California Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) were surveyed about NICU DC transitioning programs to 1) identify current common standards of care used in DC transitioning and 2) define the nature and extent of additional criteria and procedures used in DC transitioning. Useable surveys were obtained from 32 of the 79 facilities queried (41%): 17 (53%) Level II, 10 (31%) Level III, and 5 (16%) Level IV. All responding facilities were located in communities of 100,000 people or more. All but one of the facilities (97%) used all four AAP criteria for determining readiness for DC. Facilities differed in whether they also used weight, corrected gestational age, or both as criteria for DC. They differed in the definition of active parental involvement with care, the degree to which parents participated in DC planning, who arranged for post-DC primary care, and how outcomes of DC planning practices were evaluated. Profiles derived from these data can be used to expand procedures, guidelines, and policies for DC transitioning of the NICU graduate.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast four age cohorts to determine: (a) if they have any preexisting knowledge about The Blue Zones Power 9 lessons for longevity, (b) if they are currently practicing any of the Power 9 lessons, and (c) to what extent they intend to adopt all or some of the Power 9 lessons in the future. The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (DiClemente &amp; Prochaska, 1982) guided exploration of the respondents&rsquo; adoption of the Power 9 lessons. There were four significant findings in this study. Physical activity and stress relief had similar results in that both the youngest and oldest age cohorts&rsquo; expressed higher frequencies than the two middle age cohorts. Wine consumption and adoption/intention to adopt the Power 9 also had similar results, demonstrating that as age increased, so did the frequency of wine consumption and adoption/intention to adopt the Power 9.</p>

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the impact of accreditation committee recommendations on graduate programs in health services administration from 1982 to 1988. A second purpose was to determine the extent of compliance by graduate programs in health services administration with the criteria-related recommendations made by visit committees. A third purpose was to determine whether the characteristics of graduate programs awarded accreditation for five years or longer differ from those awarded accreditation for three years or less. A content analysis of site visit reports and progress reports substantiated the following conclusions: (1) Graduate programs met a relatively high degree of the ACEHSA criteria. (2) Curricula-Related deficiencies presented the most problems for graduate programs. (3) Research and Program Evaluation were found to be relatively high priorities for visit committees and for the ACEHSA. (4) Visit committees made recommendations consistent with the premise that graduate programs located in business schools have qualities which came closest to satisfying the ACEHSA criteria. These programs received the fewest number of criteria-related recommendations. (5) Graduate programs auspicious to acquire the human and financial wherewithal from their respective universities and external funding sources received longer lengths of accreditation. These programs, at minimum, had substantial budgets, critical masses of faculty, and considerable bases of full-time students. (6) ACEHSA follow-up procedures fostered a relatively high degree of compliance by graduate programs with recommendations made by visit committees. (7) Graduate programs granted longer lengths of accreditation met more recommendations than those programs awarded shorter lengths of accreditation. (8) The ACEHSA criteria made little or no provision for differences / between traditional and non-traditional programs, United States and Canadian Programs, and programs by administrative locations. (9) ACEHSA granted lengths of accreditation consistent with the premise that schools of public health, medical schools and graduate schools came closest to meeting the ACEHSA criteria. These programs were granted the longest lengths of accreditation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-03, Section: A, page: 0754. / Major Professor: Allan Tucker. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

This study examined the relationship between the adoption of technological innovations and firm financial performance using Barney's (1991) framework of firm resource-based theory. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant and positive relationship between the adoption of technological innovations and firm financial performance. It was further hypothesized that this relationship would be moderated by the extent to which the technological innovations were simultaneously valuable, imperfectly imitable, and rare. The hypotheses were tested in the hospital industry. A sample of 189 Florida hospitals was used in the study. The results supported the hypotheses. A positive and significant relationship was found between the adoption of medical technological innovations and hospital financial performance, and the relationship was found to be strongest when the hospital's medical technologies were simultaneously valuable, imperfectly imitable, and rare. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-12, Section: A, page: 3914. / Major Professor: James J. Hoffman. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

MODAS, an acronym for Method of Designing Action Systems (Ingham, 1972), was the method chosen for this action research project. This twelve step procedure was used to explain and control turnover (the dependent variable) of security specialists in a psychiatric hospital. / During the fiscal year 1988-1989, 34% of the security specialists voluntarily resigned from SFSH. The general resignation rate for the hospital was 24.1%. / The observed phenomena was classified as an instance of turnover. Knowledge statements from the Price and Mueller (1986) nurse turnover model were used to develop an explanatory system. Multiple methods (document analysis, survey questionnaires, interviews and observation) were used to determine which knowledge statements best explained turnover of security specialists at SFSH. The following independent variables were identified: Intent to leave, commitment, job satisfaction, distributive justice, and centralization. / A plan of action was developed, and exogenous variables identified (environmental opportunity, promotional opportunity, and general training). An evaluation mechanism was designed prior to the implementation of the plan of action. Stufflebeam's (1973) context, input, process and product approach to evaluation was selected. Pre-intervention and intervention measures (survey questionnaire) using a time-series model, coupled with monthly site visits and interviews of key hospital personnel, were the primary data gathering methods for the evaluation of the project. / The monthly intervention measures indicated the following trends: (a) increased turnover of security specialists was consistent with increased intent to leave and decreased commitment, and (b) increased job satisfaction was consistent with an increase in distributive justice, and decrease in centralization. It is possible that although commitment and job satisfaction were associated, they were also separate constructs that were influenced by independent events. / Recommendations were made in a revised plan of action to continue the action research project. Activities were designed to reinforce the developing job satisfaction and to reverse the trend of decreasing commitment. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-08, Section: A, page: 2607. / Major Professor: Roy J. Ingham. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Six factual series were unobtrusively telephoned to fifty-one U.S. academic health sciences libraries and hospital libraries. Previous unobtrusive studies of reference services in public and academic libraries have shown that the accuracy of short answers to factual queries is approximately 55 percent. In this study, the majority of the queries, 63 percent, were answered accurately. Referrals to another library or information source were provided for 25.2 percent of the queries. Eleven answers, 3.6 percent, were inaccurate, and no answer was provided for 7.8 percent of the queries. / No significant relationship was found between the accuracy of answers and either the type of health sciences library, the region in which the library was located, the size of the monograph collection or the number of subscriptions. There was a correlation between budget and the accuracy of answers provided. While no significant correlation was found between the accuracy of answers and the total number of library staff, there was a correlation between the number of accurate answers provided and the presence of at least one staff member with a master's degree in library and information science. There was a significant correlation between employing a librarian certified by the Medical Library Association and the accuracy of answers provided by the library. / Although some referrals were to unspecified libraries or individuals, the majority were to specific sources for which the librarian provided a name, address and/or telephone number. If these "helpful referrals" are counted with accurate answers as correct responses, they account for 76.8 percent of the answers. / Four libraries answered all queries accurately. In a follow-up survey, five libraries (9.8 percent) stated that accurate answers were not provided because they did not own the appropriate source. Staff related problems were given as reasons by 17.6 percent of the libraries, while 25.5 percent indicated that library policy prohibited providing answers to the public. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0565. / Major Professor: Gerald Jahoda. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

<p> Self care is more than a requirement for life. Working in a high stress hospital environment lends itself to having many personal and professional stressors that go beyond medical professionals job requirements. The purpose of this study was to explore how hospitals support medical staff through self care programs. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews of five medical professionals who work in various specialties. Results of this study indicated that self care was represented in various unstructured formats. Additionally, this study demonstrates the need for more support in the medical field to allow for more opportunities for self care to take place. Furthermore, this analysis of self care explains the importance of this practice to be implemented by medical professionals as it helps to reduce the high rates of burnout and compassion fatigue.</p><p>