Workplace violence against nurses causes stress, job dissatisfaction, injury, and financial burden. The purpose of this project was to examine training for nurses on violence, risk factors and on reporting workplace violence. The practice-focused question was designed to examine the effectiveness of educating nurses regarding violent patients and how to report episodes of violence. Benner's novice to expert theory guided the skill acquisition training of a convenience sample of 25 Midwestern medical nurses. The nurses participated by completing a survey prior to and following a violence simulation. A qualitative design was used with the 25 nurse participants who completed the pre-and post-simulation education surveys to assess for increased knowledge. Data were manually tabulated by coding responses into categories. Categorical themes of risk factors related to violence included environment, behavior, and illness-related; and themes related to interventions to prevent violence included awareness, education, communication, de-escalation, and calming. Overall results indicated that nurses saw the importance of reporting all injuries and violence to supervisors. The project makes a meaningful contribution to nursing practice by informing nurses how to report violence and injury from violence, and by informing administrators of the need for education in the recognition of risk factors for violence. The positive social change impact of this study for nurses is increased awareness that violence is not acceptable, and that a healthy work environment benefits nurses and promotes a safer healthcare work environment for patients and visitors to the healthcare setting.

Workplace bullying has detrimental effects on victims and organizations. Research from the bully's perspective is lacking resulting in unknown causes for the aggressive behavior. Research indicates some child bullies have histories of maltreatment and that bullying may persist throughout adulthood. The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to examine associations between workplace bullying and childhood abuse/neglect, actual or perceived current victimization, attachment style, and the desire to gain social dominance. An examination of the possible influence of social dominance on the relationship between abuse and workplace bullying was also included. Social dominance theory and attachment theory provided the framework for the study. The sample consisted of 126 adult men and women. The survey instrument included the Bullying Behavior Scale, Social Dominance Q-Scale, Social Dominance Orientation Scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Coercion and Conflict Scale, and Adult Attachment Scale. Data analysis included ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and linear regression. ANOVA results indicated significant associations between low- to mid-range incomes and certain industries and workplace bullying. There was a negative correlation between the relationship workplace bullying and childhood abuse/neglect. Results for domestic violence, social dominance need, and attachment style were not significant. There were no moderating effects of social dominance on the occurrence of workplace bullying and childhood abuse/neglect. Improvements to workplace environments and coping programs for bullies might result from this study's outcome.

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Today, the workplace is undergoing dramatic changes, featuring increased team activities and informal interactions. The work place neighborhood is a design concept derived from a city planning theory that may solve the workplace design problems arising from these changes, and provided a focus for this project. The Educational Technology office area of the Advanced Communication and Information Technology Center (ACITC) possesses the features representing the general workplace tendency today. The purpose of this project was to develop a workplace neighborhood space prototype for this office area. This prototype will provide a work environment conducive to team efforts and informal interactions and a workplace neighborhood space model for future reference. The project had three design phases: design programming, design development, and design evaluation and revision. During the design programming, a survey questionnaire was distributed to all of the 12 Educational Technology employees and behavioral mapping observations were conducted. Then, a conceptual plan, a series of workplace space patterns and a floor plan were developed for the workplace neighborhood space prototype. Finally, computer models were prepared for three neighborhood units for design evaluation. The result of the design evaluation indicated that the concerns between individual and group work spaces were not solved. The space prototype was revised, and a computer model of the revised space prototype was prepared. The revised space prototype met the work patterns of the employees more closely and reflected the design concept of workplace neighborhood more clearly / Master of Science

Postsecondary graduates often do not have the skills needed for entry level employment in today’s workforce. Postsecondary students should have a curriculum that is relevant to today’s workforce needs to increase the graduates marketability and success in our global economy. This study examined the workplace readiness skills desired by the high-tech industries in Alabama compared to the perceived importance of those skills from educators in Alabama’s Two-Year College System and the integration of those skills in the curricula. It was believed that there was no significant difference in the perceptions of educators and industry supervisors in reference to their perceptions of workplace skills and integrating those skills into the curricula. A web-based survey was sent to a select group of high-tech industry supervisors and educators from technical programs in Alabama. A total of 161 responses were received from the educator group for a 51% response rate while there were 62 industry supervisors that responded for a 31% response rate. The findings indicate that high-tech firms are looking for people who have basic workplace skills and competencies that include but are not limited to the following: honesty and integrity, service to customers, responsibility, ability to work in teams, listening skills, and the ability to solve problems. There was general agreement among the educators and supervisors on the importance of 22 of the 36 workplace readiness skills. However, for 14 of the workplace readiness skills, there was sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis. Industry supervisors indicated that a worker having the following workplace skills were not as important to their operation as the educator group thought they were: 1) selecting materials and facilities usage, 2) acquiring and evaluating information, 3) organizing and maintaining information, 4) understanding systems, 5) selecting technology, 6) maintaining and troubleshooting equipment, 7) reads well, 8) making good decisions, 9) seeing things in the mind’s eye, 10) knows how to learn, 11) knows how to reason, 12) applies technology to tasks, 13) does simple arithmetic, and 14) has self-esteem. Future research is needed to determine whether the findings in this study can be replicated. The researcher recommends expanding the research to include more participants in the study.

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Yes / Given the large proportion of time spent at work, it is surprising that relatively little research has been devoted to understanding food selection in the work place. A growing literature suggests that stress, particularly occupation-related stress, negatively impacts upon food choice and may contribute to population ill health. The consensus is that work stress induces consumption of foods that are high in sugar, fat and salt which are likely to contribute to overweight and have long-term detriment to health. The interaction between stress and eating appears to vary by sex and type of work undertaken. This paper argues an imperative for further longitudinal and intervention research to understand interactions between food choice and stress in the work context with a view to the design of dietary health promotion and the development of nourishing food products targeted at those experiencing stress and which could be made accessible in the work place.

The study explored incidental learning in the workplace. Three research questions guided the study: 1. What is the nature of incidental learning in the workplace? 2. How does professional context impact incidental learning? 3. How do incidental learners know they know in the workplace? A series of three interviews were done with seven human resource professionals and with seven engineers following Seidman's phenomenological interview protocol. The first interview focused on the participant's life history concentrating on the context of the participant's early learning experiences and their professional choices. The second interview provided details of the participant's current incidental learning experiences and an example of their current professional tasks. The third interview provided an opportunity for the participants and me to explore the meaning of their experiences. Analysis of individual experiences was done via profiles, and an analysis of thematic findings was done across all participants. Findings showed that in the "lived world" the experience of the participants and the nature of incidental learning is mediated by the individual's conception of learning and by the individual's learning style. At a professional level, frames and reflection-in and on-action further guide the focus of and validation of the incidental learning. For the researcher -- and perhaps for co-workers or for participants themselves -- incidental learning is easy to overlook; lessons learned often appear to be simply common sense after the fact. This may, in part, be due to the fact that the stories of incidental learning ultimately had successful outcomes. This study confirmed and expanded the importance and impact of context on incidental learning, showing how the elements of an individual's personal and professional context also impact incidental learning. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice were provided. Recommendations for future research included: replicating the study to explore incidental learning in more professions and to explore of the impact of formal higher education on incidental learning. Process recommendations include studying incidental learning as an adjunct to other studies of organizational learning and as a part of an action research project. These methods allow the researcher to study the construct indirectly and as it happens. / Ph. D.

The workplace and workforce have evolved and taken on a different personality than in the past. For employees the office environment has moved from a place where you must work, to a place where you want to work, to a place where you do your most productive work. Advances in technology continue to blur the lines between home and work. Although mobile devices had suggested they could set us free to work from anywhere, the reality is technology necessitates proximity. Employees need to be together to share ideas, to innovate and to collaborate. Although employees can work from anywhere, people are working together in closer proximity to each other. Additionally, the workplace environment is not as orderly and procedural as it was in the past. Today it's creative, innovative and collaborative. This thesis explores the intersection of health and wellness within one's workplace, as a means to create a more productive, collaborative and healthy environment through a design intervention located in Alexandria, VA. The key drivers of the design include natural light, active design, biophilic elements and circadian lighting. Access to natural light creates happier and more productive employees. Staircases are readily accessible and inviting, encouraging occupants to walk up and down. Nature is brought indoors offering psychological benefits, connecting employees to the outside as well as recharging mood and focus. Lighting design works in line with our internal body clock, enabling our body to perform at the right time. This workplace improves the well-being of people by placing health and wellness at the center of the design. / Master of Architecture / The workplace and workforce have evolved and taken on a different personality than in the past. For employees the office environment has moved from a place where you must work, to a place where you want to work, to a place where you do your most productive work. Advances in technology continue to blur the lines between home and work. Although mobile devices had suggested they could set us free to work from anywhere, the reality is technology necessitates proximity. Employees need to be together to share ideas, to innovate and to collaborate. Although employees can work from anywhere, people are working together in closer proximity to each other. Additionally, the workplace environment is not as orderly and procedural as it was in the past. Today it’s creative, innovative and collaborative. This thesis explores the intersection of health and wellness within one’s workplace, as a means to create a more productive, collaborative and healthy environment through a design intervention located in Alexandria, VA. The key drivers of the design include natural light, active design, biophilic elements and circadian lighting. Access to natural light creates happier and more productive employees. Staircases are readily accessible and inviting, encouraging occupants to walk up and down. Nature is brought indoors offering psychological benefits, connecting employees to the outside as well as recharging mood and focus. Lighting design works in line with our internal body clock, enabling our body to perform at the right time. This workplace improves the well-being of people by placing health and wellness at the center of the design.