<p> Both compassion and employee engagement are determined to have positive impacts in a healthcare setting. Previous research indicates that patients who receive compassionate care from healthcare providers may recover more quickly from illnesses and better manage long-term health issues. Additionally, high employee engagement has been shown to have a positive relationship with quality of patient care, patient safety, and patient-centered care. Due to the far-reaching impact of both variables, an association between compassion and employee engagement would enable healthcare providers to leverage the relationship for improved patient outcomes. </p><p> This study explored the relationship between compassion and employee engagement. Qualitative data was collected from 118 nurses through the International Nurses Society on Addictions. All participants completed a 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Participants were then distributed by engagement category and volunteers were contacted to complete a semi-structured interview to discuss their experiences with compassion in the workplace. This qualitative data was obtained from nine interviewees. </p><p> A review of the research data and previous academic research led to four findings. First, previous academic research findings were confirmed. Second, the participant&rsquo;s connection to compassion in their work indicated the importance of this emotionally charged topic. Third, a trend between the average frequency of daily acts of compassion and engagement level indicated a potential relationship or confounding variable. Fourth, the research data indicated an inconclusive relationship between compassion and employee engagement.</p><p>

<p> Donor behavior in the non-profit organizational environment is a complex matrix of social influences that include social expectations from social media sites, direct cohort and peer influence, and perceptions of organizational performance, transparency and fundraising expenditures. A widespread general problem in non-profit organizations (NPOs) is that organizational members (cohorts) can exert an influence on the donor behavior of others, and organizational fundraising objectives can be adversely impacted. The purpose of this research was to identify those predictor characteristics that negatively influence donor behavior and would assist in minimizing costs associated with fundraising. I employed a quantitative study using a correlational design of multivariate analyses to identify a set of predictor characteristics originating from the influence of organizational cohorts on donor behavior. This study used a modified original survey to collect data from 244 non-randomized participants from the State of Colorado who donated to non-profit organizations (NPOs) in the last year. </p><p> A series of backward regressions produced five statistically significant models that showed positive correlations among the fifteen dependent variables that were included in the survey. In addition, the statistical evidence (p >.001) provided additional support for the three alternate hypotheses in all three research questions. In this study, I attempt to provide correlations that serve as predictor characteristics of cohort influence in the non-profit organizational environment. This data also provides additional information on donation behavior patterns for the three-key areas of interest: Donation Amounts, donation frequency, and volunteer hours. Additional research across other demographic and geographic areas is recommended.</p><p>

<p> A healthy working environment has been an area of interest for occupation health providers. There is anticipation that a safe working environment improves patient safety, which is associated with reduction in clinical nurse errors. Issues with medication errors and poor working environment pose a greater risk to patient safety. The aim of this qualitative study was to provide a broad understanding on nurses&rsquo; perceptions on the processes that influence a healthy working environment and the impacts of a healthy working environment on patient safety. An interpretive grounded theory methodology was used in this study to evaluate nurses&rsquo; perceptions in acute care settings. The study was carried out in a large city of Southern California and the participants consisted of a community-based purposive population of registered nurses (RNs) in a telemetry. A total of 10 participants with three years working experience in surgical units were recruited and tiered scheduled approach was used for the analysis and refinement of interview questions. The participants were all female registered nurses with three years working experience in acute care settings. The majority of the nurses had a bachelor&rsquo;s degree (44%), masters degree (22%) and 11 % had associate degree. Grounded theory method was used to identify the relevant themes from the interview responses. The transcripts revealed nurses&rsquo; perceptions on the process that facilitate a healthy working environment and HWE impacts on patient safety. The findings of the study showed that communication, teamwork and collaboration within healthcare environment are the most important factors for the development of a healthy working environment. The findings also showed the influence of a health care working environment on medication errors. Nurses reported that lack of communication, nurse shortages and micromanagement increases the chances of medical errors. Nurses reported that effective communication with the nurse leaders, managers and patients provide a stress-free working environment that result in a better care for patients. Enough nursing staff s well as teamwork and collaboration also influences patient safety.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [56]-59).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliographies.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

<p> In this two-part quantitative and qualitative descriptive study, the phenomenon of being engaged at work by physicians currently employed by health care organizations (HCOs) was explored. A purposive sample of eight physicians practicing medicine in the US in a variety of specialties and at seven different HCOs participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences of work engagement. The job demands-resources (JD-R) model served as the theoretical framework of the study. The JD-R model was developed to describe factors associated with both work engagement and burnout, indicators of positive and negative employee well-being, respectively, with implications for individuals and their employing organizations. This study focused on identifying antecedents of positive experiences of work engagement rather than on the negative state of burnout. </p><p> Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data and identify those main job demands, job resources, and personal resources that were described as associated with being engaged at work by employed physicians. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES)^&copy; was used to assess physicians&rsquo; relative levels of work engagement, a three-dimensional construct which included vigor, dedication, and absorption. The most commonly identified patient-care-related job demand was patient volume, while the most commonly identified HCO demands were RVUs/financial targets and work pressure. The only job resource theme found across all participants&rsquo; interviews was their physician colleagues, while the personal resource theme of self-efficacy was common to all participants. Job resources and personal resources, individually and in combination, lead to work engagement according to the JD-R model. Implications for physician work engagement and well-being in HCOs include improved quality of patient care, safety, and satisfaction.</p><p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [157]-172). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [157]-172). Also available on the Internet.

<p> This study examined the influence of personal networks on the career decision-making of African-American professional women through the lens of social cognitive career theory. A review of the career development literature shows growing interest in social networks, both online and face-to-face, and their relationship to individual career development. While research has been conducted on the career development of African-American women, the network research on African-American women is relatively scarce (Combs, 2003; Young, 2013). Combs (2003) noted that informal socialization activities impact career advancement and that few studies have examined the intersection of race and gender on informal networks. This study sought to address that gap. Furthermore, research on the influence of personal networks on the career decision-making of African-American women could both add to the network literature on African-American women and have implications for the career counseling of African-American women.</p><p> The primary research question addressed in this study was: What is the relationship, if any, between informal personal networks and the career decision-making of African-American professional women? A basic qualitative study was conducted with semi-structured interviews serving as the primary method of data collection. Ten African-American women with at least ten years of professional experience and a minimum of two career decision points were purposefully selected for this study.</p><p> Data was analyzed using coding and thematic analysis to understand and interpret the meaning that each participant construed from their experiences with career decision-making and their personal networks. Themes emerged in four primary areas: (1) the career decision-making process, (2) the composition of the participants' personal networks, (3) the influence participants' personal networks had on their career decisions, and (4) key learnings. Based on the findings, conclusions and recommendations for future research and practice are presented.</p>