Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Gary M. Fournier, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Dept. of Economics. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Mar. 1, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. S.)--Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Sabir Khan, Committee Member ; Craig Zimring, Committee Chair ; Sonit Bafna, Committee Member ; David Cowan, Committee Member.

MPH, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / Poor retention rates and a lack of human resource management capacity have led to a critical shortage of nurses and serious disparities in their distribution between urban and rural areas in Zambia. The Zambian government is faced with the challenge of developing retention schemes that address the most pressing needs of nurses in rural service. The aim of the study is to contribute to the body of work in Zambia that looks at the influence of non-financial incentives on the retention of nurses in rural areas. The study also aims to show what factors nurses think would keep them in rural posting. The objectives of this study are to determine the perceptions of nurses in two rural hospitals in the Copperbelt province of Zambia about non-financial incentives that could influence retention in rural areas and to determine which factors nurses perceive to be the most important for retention. The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Forty nurses were conveniently sampled. Data was collected by means of structured interviews using a questionnaire and was analysed using stata10. The majority of nurses strongly agreed that individual, institutional and local environmental factors play a significant role in retention. Factors identified as the most important for retention were motivation to work (n=26), appreciation from the community (n=33), ability to make decisions about work (n=17), satisfactory accommodation (n=32), availability of schools for children (n=26), managable distance to work (n=13), access to continuing education and iv professional development (n=26), having good relationships with colleagues (n=15) and, availability of essential equipment, tools and supplies (n=14). Factors ranked first choice according to level of importance by the majority of nurses were satisfactory accommodation (n=25), access to continuing education and professional development (n=20) and motivation to work (n=18). There are no straight forward answers to the problem of retention in rural areas. The development of appropriate strategies requires an understanding of the interaction of factors which influence nurses’ decisions to work in a rural and remote post. Successful retention strategies will require strengthening and upgrading of human resource management capacity. The response must be all inclusive, engaging relevant stakeholders, including non-health and nongovernmental group

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 26, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 27-29).

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 48 p. : ill. (some col.) Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-39).

The purpose of this project was to identify the current status of education/training of rural health care providers and identify gaps in training/education to better prepare rural providers to care for victims of disasters. A survey was conducted and distributed to 21 physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants employed at rural clinic/critical access hospital. The survey consisted of quantitative and fill in the blank questions. The survey was distributed through the electronic survey engine “Qualtrics.” Participation in the survey was voluntary and responses were anonymous. The survey addressed/identified: basic demographic information, knowledge of disaster/emergency preparedness and care of victims as a first receiver, experience and education related to disasters/emergencies, perceptions of emergencies/disaster types most likely to impact their facility, future education/training preferences, and barriers to participation in disaster/emergency education/training. The survey also assessed the providers’ comfort level with suggested disaster/emergency core competencies put forth from professional emergency/trauma organizations. The response rate to the survey was 57.14%. Of those that responded 41.67% reported experience in caring for victims of disaster. Participation in previous disaster education/training was reported by 83.3% and these same respondents were familiar with their role according to the facility’s Emergency Operations Manual (EOM). The providers perceived that natural disasters were most likely to affect their community (83.33%) in relation to events from the facility’s Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA). Respondents that reported having not participated in disaster education/training indicated a lack of time and new employment as barriers. For future training 66.66% of those that responded would prefer hands on training and were willing to spend one hour per year on disaster training/education. In regard to their ability to care for disaster/emergency victims, participating providers considered themselves novice (25%), advanced beginner (25%), competent (16.67%), proficient (25%) and expert (8.33%). Overall, results indicate that most respondents had experience and are currently participating in education/training. However, the majority still consider themselves novice or advanced beginner in their ability to care for disaster/emergency victims. Most felt that there was little likelihood for most disaster events to occur in their community other than natural disasters.

Background and objectives: The purpose of the study was to develop strategies to facilitate nurses’ motivation for rendering quality patient care in a rural hospital using an Appreciative Inquiry approach. The objectives of the study were to determine the positive aspects that the nurses value about the work environment, the nursing profession and their organisation and to develop strategies to facilitate nurses’ motivation to render quality patient care in rural hospitals. The strategies that were developed may be used to motivate nurses in rural hospitals or be used by nurse managers and supervisors in similar poorly resourced rural hospitals in developing countries. Methods: An Appreciative Inquiry approach with a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research design was used. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Twenty participants were interviewed. The researcher employed Marshall and Rossman’s model and that of Tesch to analyse the data. The principles of Guba and Lincoln were used to ensure the trustworthiness; credibility; transferability, dependability, conformability and authenticity of the findings. Results: The findings revealed that factors that motivated nurses were effective feedback about their performance and for them to be involved in decision making. Conclusions: The strategies to facilitate motivation of nurses were intended for use by all managers in rural hospitals. They would also be useful to motivate nurses in similar poorly resourced rural hospitals in developing countries. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Nursing Science / PhD / Unrestricted

Thesis (M.S.N.)--Marshall University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 56 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-45).

Among 10,384 rural Colorado female patients who received MDC 14 (obstetric services) from 2000 to 2003, 6,615 (63.7%) were admitted to their local rural hospitals; 1,654 (15.9%) were admitted to other rural hospitals; and 2,115 (20.4%) traveled to urban hospitals for inpatient services. This study is to examine how network participation, service scopes, and market competition influences rural women's choice of hospital for their obstetric care. A conditional logistic regression analysis was used. The network participation (p < 0.01), the number of services offered (p < 0.05), and the hospital market competition had a positive and significant relationship with patients' choice to receive obstetric care. That is, rural patients prefer to receive care from a hospital that participates in a network, that provides more number of services, and that has a greater market share (i.e., a lower level of market competition) in their locality. Rural hospitals could actively increase their competitiveness and market share by increasing the number of health care services provided and seeking to network with other hospitals.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued over 144,000 payments totaling $7.1 billion to medical facilities that have adopted and successfully demonstrated meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR). Hospital organizations can increase cost savings by using the electronic components of EHRs to improve medical coding and reduce medical errors and transcription costs. Despite the incentives, some rural health care facilities are failing to progress. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies rural hospital leaders used to implement an EHR. The target population consisted of rural hospital leaders who were involved in the successful implementation of an EHR in South Texas. The conceptual framework chosen for this study was the sociotechnical systems theory. Data were collected through telephone interviews using open-ended semistructured interviews with 5 participants from 4 rural hospitals who were involved in the EHR implementation. Data analysis occurred using Yin's 5-step process which includes compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding. Data analysis included collecting information from government websites, company documents, and open-ended information to develop recurring themes. Several themes emerged including ongoing training, provider buy-in, constant communication, use of super users, and workflow maintenance. The findings could influence social change by making the delivery of health care more efficient and improving quality, safety, and access to health care services for patients.