M.Tech. (Homoeopathy) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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D.Cur. (Community Nursing Science) / Aggression becomes such a part of people’s daily lives that it is viewed as normal. As in the society nursing students at a higher education institution (HEI) also experience aggression in their lives. This exposure to aggression is of concern as it can be a possible obstacle in the personal and professional development and interpersonal relationships of the nursing students. The essence of this concern is that nurse educators need to gain knowledge of, insight into and awareness of the aggression experienced by nursing students to empower these students to manage aggression in their lives. The purpose of this study was to develop and describe a model as a frame of reference to facilitate the health of nursing students at an HEI in Johannesburg, South Africa, who experience aggression in their lives. The objectives of this study were as follows:  To explore and describe the experience of nursing students at an HEI in Johannesburg of aggression in their lives.  To generate a model from the results that will facilitate the promotion of health of the nursing students at an HEI in Johannesburg who have experienced aggression.  To formulate strategies for the implementation of the model.The research design was theory-generative, qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual in nature. Nursing students were purposefully sampled as they added to the richness of the data collected for the purpose of this research. Data was collected firstly through respondents drawing a picture and writing a self-reporting story, and secondly, through phenomenological interviews. Data analysis in this research was done by means of Tesch’s method of identifying themes and categories as described by Creswell. Ethical considerations were adhere to throughout the research and consent was obtained from the nursing students participating in the research. Lincoln and Guba’s method of trustworthiness was used. Two themes with categories were identified that reflected the nursing students’ experience of aggression in their lives. The first theme is that the nursing students experienced aggression as an integral part of their life and viewed it as a normal part of their life. The second theme is that nursing students experienced aggression as detrimental to themselves as a whole person and their interpersonal relationships. A model as a frame of reference to facilitate the health of the nursing students who have experienced aggression to self-manage aggression constructively,was developed. The findings of this research are relevant to the world of nursing practice, nursing education and research.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-49).

Professional nurses working at a campus health service have to cope with challenges such as staff shortages and budgetary constraints associated with working in a complex environment providing primary health care. The aim of primary health care includes promoting health, preventing disease and the early detection and treatment of illness. Mental health services form an integral part of the integrated primary health care package as implemented in the campus health service. Students attend the Campus Health Service for help related to their health. Health care is provided by professional nurses and counsellors through a comprehensive primary health care service which serves students as well as staff. Some students may state that they experience feelings of being stressed or depressed. Other students may complain of physical symptoms such as headache or upper backache. Upon further investigation emotional problems may be identified as the cause of the psychosomatic symptoms. The professional nurses working in the campus health service verbalised that it is sometimes difficult to identify a mental illness or mental distress as there is no effective assessment tool that they can use. Management of conditions is also problematic as there are no protocols indicating the therapeutic interventions that can be taken. The research question in this study was therefore: What information should be included in a protocol to assess and manage a student experiencing mental distress that can be used by professional nurses working in a Campus Health Service? The aim of this study is to develop a mental health care protocol for campus health service professional nurses to assess and manage university students who are experiencing mental distress. The research design of this study was qualitative, explorative, descriptive, explanatory and contextual. In this study the Delphi research technique was used to create an instrument to standardise mental health care in a campus health service. The Delphi technique is a series of sequential questionnaires or “rounds” interspersed with controlled feedback that seeks to gain the most reliable consensus of opinion of a group of experts. A questionnaire was developed based on an extensive literature review. The research population of this study consisted of two groups: professional nurses with knowledge of student health care needs and expert psychiatric nurses. The study was conducted at the Campus Health Service at a university in the Eastern Cape. The data collection and analysis was done utilising the Delphi technique. Trustworthiness was ensured by using the Lincoln and Guba Model utilising the criteria of credibility, applicability, dependability and conformability. In this study the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and self determination were applied to ensure that participants are treated with respect and consideration and ensured high ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from the participants in this study. The findings of this research were utilised to assist the researcher in developing a protocol for mental health care of students in campus health service settings.

The present study compared the academic stress levels of 450 college sophomore students at a public university and a public two-year college. This investigation also explored the levels of academic stress by institutional type, age, gender, and ethnicity. Data were obtained from having the subjects complete the Academic Stress Scale, a questionnaire which lists thirty five stress items found in the college classroom. Analysis of variance and t-tests were used to analyze the data. There were 225 subjects each in the community college group and the university group. The university group had a statistically significant higher mean stress score than the community college group. 294 traditional age (23 and younger) and 156 nontraditional age (24 and over) subjects stress levels were compared. It was found that the traditional age college student group experienced a statistically significant higher academic stress level in both academic settings. Group means were compared between the stress scores of 245 female and 205 male subjects. At both the community college and university levels, the female group had a statistically significant higher level of academic stress. The academic stress levels were also compared according to ethnicity. The minority group consisted of 104 subjects and 346 subjects comprised the non-minority group. At the community college, the minority group had a statistically significant higher level of academic stress. However, at the university level, there was no statistically significant difference by ethnicity. Examinations, final grades, term papers, homework, and studying for examinations were ranked as being stressful by the largest percentage of all the subjects. It was found in this study that levels of academic stress differ significantly by institutional type, age, gender, and ethnicity. Implications for college students, instructors, and administrators , based on this study's conclusions, are offered.

Abstract This study proposes a model for meeting increasingly mandated outcome research objectives in a university counseling center setting. It is proposed that counseling centers utilize their existing intake forms, along with an annual satisfaction survey to determine the effectiveness of counseling services. Effectiveness is defined as improvement and measured by the reduction of the symptoms or presenting concerns with which the client initially presented. It also introduces the Relative-Change Index (R-Chi) as an objective way to quantify intra-individual change occurring as a result of therapy. This new mathematical procedure allows for a more meaningful assessment of the client's degree of improvement, relative to their potential for improvement. By re-administering the problem checklist, routinely included as part of the initial paperwork for each client at intake, again post-therapy, it is possible to quantify improvement by measuring the difference in distressing concerns. Additionally, including a subjective, retrospective survey question asking the client to indicate their perceived rate if improvement at follow-up provides construct validity and allows for correlational comparisons with R-Chi. Results suggest that student/client ratings of the degree to which the services they received satisfactorily addressed their presenting concerns were significantly rated to their R-Chi score. This model suggests that the framework guiding client outcome research should include measures of the client's level of distress, improvement in reducing the distress, and satisfaction with services.

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Psychological Science

The present thesis investigated correlates of psychosocial and academic adjustment to University life among students. Five cross-sectional and one longitudinal study were undertaken. During the first 3 studies the focus of interest was both on home and non-home students. During the latter three studies the focus shifted to first year home students only. Data was collected by means of a number of self-report questionnaires consisting mainly of a number of standardised and widely used personality, social support and wellbeing/ adjustment measures. Results indicated that: (a) prior to arrival at University, non-home students, in comparison to home students, appear to be quite well equipped for the transition, in terms of social and personality attributes; however, they appear to lack substantial information regarding life in Scotland and academic standards of the host University, which might adversely affect their ability to cope with eventual academic demands; (b) Cultural Distance appears to affect non-home students' psychosocial adjustment during the early stage of the transition; (c) Non-home students experience not only the problems that home students report but also a number of additional difficulties which are closely related to cultural differences; (d) Correlates of Homesickness appear to differ for home and non-home students; (e) Personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Self-esteem, Social Inhibition and perceived Social Competence) and Dysfunctional Attitudes strongly influence the development of new satisfactory social networks, and the eventual psychosocial adjustment to University life; (f) Perceived Social Support is a significant predictor of psychosocial adjustment; (g) Academic performance does not appear to be related to any personality, social support or psychosocial adjustment variables; (h) Personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion), perceived Social Support and Loneliness appear to change significantly (in absolute terms) over the first academic year, but at the same time they remain relatively stable. Results are discussed in relation to the relevant literature, practical implications for students Counselling, and suggestions for further fruitful research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-93). Also available on the Internet.