It is generally recognized that a serious illness with concurrent hospitalization in an ICU will have an impact on family members. Few researchers, however, have described the ways in which spouses are affected when their mates are hospitalized in an ICU. Therefore, this study aimed to describe and explain the spouses' experiences of having a mate in an ICU following coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Kleinman's conceptual framework guided the development of the research question and provided the focus for data collection and analysis. Kleinman proposes that an understanding of the client's perspective is necessary for the provision of effective health care. A qualitative research method based on the theoretical perspective of phenomenology was used to answer the research question. The spouses' viewpoints were elicited through unstructured interviews. The sample consisted of seven spouses, four women and three men. The spouses were interviewed on two occasions, once while their mate was still in the ICU and once shortly following their mate's discharge from the ICU. A total of 13 in-depth interviews were conducted over a 3 month period. Data were analyzed simultaneously with and following data collection. Responses that were similar were grouped together into categories. After the data were examined and sorted into categories, the researcher defined the theme that dominated each category. The themes that emerged from the data were clarified, validated, and/or rejected by the participants during subsequent interviews. As relationships between the categories were identified, the important aspects of the spouses' experiences became apparent. The findings revealed that the spouses located the ICU experience within the context of their experience with their mate's coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The spouses understood and made sense of the ICU experience by attaching meaning to specific events that related to the entire surgical experience. They perceived the surgical experience as consisting of three distinct but interrelated phases: pre-surgery; waiting during surgery; and post-surgery. During each phase, the spouses described and explained how they reacted to and coped with each new situation. These two themes, "reaction to the situation" and "coping with the situation," appeared as threads throughout the entire surgical experience. By organizing the data in relation to phases and themes, the researcher was able to meaningfully understand and communicate the spouses' entire surgical experience. In view of the study findings, implications for nursing practice, education and research are delineated. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

The increased incidence of chronic illness among the elderly makes long-term care a health concern as the population ages. Little is known about the impact of chronic confusion on the family. This study used a qualitative approach to look at the impact on the caregiving wife of caring for a chronically confused, elderly husband. Six wives whose elderly husbands experienced chronic confusion and who lived alone with their husband were interviewed using the phenomenological method described by Giorgi (1975). The findings indicated that there is a substantial impact when the husband depends on his caregiving wife to remain in the home, especially when the wife is older and experiences chronic illness herself. Overall, these negative effects were congruent with those reported by other researchers, suggesting that the general impact of long-term care is burden. The themes in the caregivers' accounts revolved around three main concerns: the management of the husband's dependency, the maintenance of the family as a unit, and the acceptance of the caregiving situation. Chronic confusion occurred with other chronic illnesses and compounded the husbands' impairments. Interpersonal relations were also adversely affected, and the wives had to learn to take control of the family amidst physical strain and social isolation. The caregiver found that her life came to revolve around the needs of her husband; she derived meaning from fulfilling her perceived duty as a wife. The presence of chronic illness and aging intensified her experience of burden. Despite the costs to her well-being, the wife was devoted to maintaining her husband at home. The caregiving wife needs support to deal with the husband's care and its negative consequences, but her desire to remain as independent as possible appears to conflict with her utilization of outside support. Nursing intervention should be directed toward assisting the caregiver to cope with the husband's care and with its negative effects on her. Nursing education should prepare the practitioner with a broad background in community health nursing, gerontology, and geriatrics to enable her to provide nursing care to these kinds of families. Future nursing research should focus on furthering the understanding of the impact of caregiving as a basis for planning the most helpful interventions to support the caregiver. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

Over 1.5 million U.S. soldiers have deployed oversees since the beginning of the War on Terror in 2001; consequently, spouses are faced with new physical, emotional, and psychological challenges. Many researchers have documented the effects of deployment on marriages and families. However, few researchers have explored the correlates of trust, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction for wives during deployment. This quantitative study, grounded in risk and resilience theory and interdependence theory, used a web-based survey to investigate the relationship between perceived likelihood of spousal infidelity, trust, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction in a sample of 127 military wives whose husbands were deployed oversees. The 'Events with Others' questionnaire, Dyadic Trust Scale, Commitment Inventory Revised, Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, and Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale were used. Results indicated that length of deployment did not have a statistically significant impact on marital satisfaction. Bivariate correlation analysis indicated statistically significant relationships among wives' perceived likelihood of spousal infidelity, trust, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction. After controlling for wives' attachment style, marital commitment and trust were significant explanatory variables of marital satisfaction. The findings from this study can inform establishing effective programs to support military marriages during deployment. Such programs will promote social change by improving satisfaction, decreasing relationship conflicts, and reducing the rate of divorce. The Armed Forces may benefit from the results of this study by addressing marital commitment and trust issues prior to deployment, thereby supporting wives, husbands, and children during deployment.

After an extensive survey of available literature in Readers Theatre and Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, the purpose for this thesis was to cut and convert The Merry Wives into the twentieth century idiom from the authorized version found in the 1623 folio.

The subject of my Thesis and accompanying Monograph Document in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Fine Arts degree / Performance Track is my work in the role of Mistress Quickly from William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. In my research, I will be focusing on a number of issues, many of which will bear direct relevance to and undoubtedly, more fully inform, my interpretation in performance. A key element of the performance-related side of my research will be an exploration of the cultural, historical, political, economic, and religious attributes of Shakespeare's times and how these factors drive Mistress Quickly's interactions with others, her perspectives of the society in which she lives, and her personal behavior. The directorial concept, as initially explained to the cast, will be keeping us within the English Renaissance and Shakespeare's time. Any variation within this initial concept will also be elaborated upon. Finally, I would like to explore the overall place of women at the time Shakespeare wrote, as well as during the specific time frame in which our production is set. Furthermore, I will look at Mistress Quickly as a character and how she is either reflected in or at odds with that societal placement.

After marriage and child rearing, women are returning to the labor field in growing numbers. There are increasing opportunities and responsibilities on the part of educational institutions to provide these women with an opportunity to fit them for useful and satisfying lives, to give them a chance to make a contribution to the social order. This study has revealed that the majority of faculty wives are interested in raising their educational status. Sixty-six per cent of these faculty wives were dissatisfied with their educational backgrounds. At the time of this study only six per cent of these women were attending classes. Ninety-two per cent of the faculty wives were Blacksburg residents; therefore, propinquity is not a handicap. Sixty-seven per cent of the husbands were willing to help with household tasks to free their wives for classes. One of the reasons for some of these women not being in class is that the education of their husbands and children is their first concern. However, 145 of these faculty wives felt they could pay for full- or part-time education. Another major factor that enters into women returning to classes is their place in the life cycle. Women, on the average, have their last child in school by the age of 35. This study revealed that the median age bracket of this sample to be 30 to 34. In a few more years these women will have the time available to pursue further study if they so desire. / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-202).

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-142). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.