This grounded theory driven study explored the predominant categories and concepts involved with perceptions of exercise among school aged children with asthma. Ten children (five males, five females), ages 8-12, with various asthma disease severity, were interviewed in their homes. In addition, nine parents completed a health history questionnaire. The emergent grounded theory: The process of creating perceptions of exercise was identified from the data. The ongoing creation of perceptions of exercise was influenced by four predominant categories: perceived benefits, striving for normalcy, exercise influences, and asthma's influence. Because process is an ongoing occurrence, the four predominant categories may influence the creation of exercise perceptions simultaneously, or at different times and in various ways dependent upon the characteristics of the child and their unique situations and experiences (context). Perceived benefits, striving for normalcy, exercise influences, and asthma's influence were identified categories involved with the interactions, actions, and consequences interwoven throughout the creation of perceptions of exercise process. These categories help explain how exercise perceptions are developed from the participants' perspective. The process of creating perceptions of exercise is a continuous, circular, happening with the consequences leading to the development of exercise perceptions. The context may change but the overall process retains applicability to creating perceptions of exercise. The subjective insight gained throughout the development of the theory: the creation of perceptions of exercise, gives light to numerous areas for future nursing research and practice in hopes of improving the overall quality of life among this population.

Nursing is uniquely demanding work and occupational stress in the nursing profession has been well-documented. Many theories of stress-related disruptions among helping professionals have been proposed. Although these theories differ slightly in their origin of stress, they share similarities in nurses’ response to the patient relationship. Depersonalization, withdrawal, and avoidance all serve to create relational distance between the nurse and the patient. Despite the prevalence of these responses, there are not any theories on the nurses’ process of disengagement from patient relationships. Using Strauss and Corbin’s (1990) grounded theory method, this study explored acute care nurses’ experience of disengagement in patient relationships. The purpose of the study was to develop a mid-range theory of nurses’ process of disengagement from patient relationships as it occurred in acute care. Through purposive and theoretical sampling, 12 acute care nurses participated in open-ended individual interviews. The process of open, axial and selective coding discovered seven categories related to nurses’ experience of disengagement from patient relationships. These categories were emotional experience, behavioural expression, environmental influences, relational distance, professional identity and work spillover. Although these categories were exclusive, conceptual elements were interwoven into more than one category. The categories were interrelated around the core category, ‘Doing and Being’, and the process of nurses’ disengagement from patient relationships was delineated. Participants in the study experienced dissonance when they were unable to act in accordance to their caring beliefs. Conditions in the work environment, such as the lack of time, the culture of productivity and patient characteristics influenced and promoted their process of disengagement. Disengagement was manifested in the nurse-patient relationship by decreased eye contact, increased physical distance and increased task focused behaviour. These behaviours increased relational distance between the nurse and the patient. Nurses’ experience of dissonance had the potential to foster feelings of professional dissatisfaction and alienation from self, leading to increased turnover behaviour and depression. Implications and recommendations for practice and future research are discussed.

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Elever med funktionsnedsättning har under sin skoltid varit med om många förändringar. En del av dem har börjat i grundskolan för att sedan efter sin diagnos blivit mottagna i särskolan, andra har från tidig ålder fått sin diagnos och mottagits direkt i särskolan. Med införandet av den nya skollagen har förfarandet ändrats.  Skollagen (SFS 2010:800) (2010) menar att personer med enbart autism eller autismliknande tillstånd bara får tillhöra särskolan om de även har en utvecklingsstörning. En konsekvens av detta är att grundskolan fått ta emot elever med autism eller autismliknande tillstånd i de vanliga klasserna, utan större omorganisation eller förberedelse. Syftet med arbetet är att belysa hur eleven visar delaktighet i sin undervisning.  Resultatet visar att eleverna visar sin delaktighet genom att ständigt vara med och påverka hur arbetet ska utföras och i detta blir de delaktiga i utformningen av undervisningen tillsammans med övriga elever. Det behövs en tydlig, trygg och tillåtande lärmiljö för att eleverna skall kunna utveckla sina förmågor och växa som människor. En elev som får vara delaktig och inkluderad, i enlighet med Skollagen (2011), ges möjlighet till att bli en inkluderad samhällsmedborgare. Resultatet visar också att vi måste samtala och ta del av elevernas upplevelser av sin lärmiljö och studiesituation för att skapa miljöer som fungerar för eleverna.

Due to increasing emergence of social needs and problems throughout the world, accompanied by reduced government ability to provide the funding necessary to effectively combat these problems, it is expected that social enterprises will grow in number and importance. Because of this growing importance and the lack of research concerning marketing practices in such organizations, the purpose of this thesis is to develop a deeper understanding of both marketing in social enterprises and the context in social enterprises that has the potential to affect the marketing strategies employed in such organizations. Based upon this enhanced understanding, I develop and propose a model of marketing strategy in social enterprises. To develop this enhanced understanding and model, I conducted empirical qualitative research consisting of a comparative study of fifteen cases of social enterprises. Results show that four major dualities represent the critical context of social enterprises that influence the marketing strategies employed. Marketing is viewed as important by these enterprises and the strategies employed are quite well developed in the areas of market research, product quality, branding, and promotion.

Many applied academics, within and outside anthropology, have called for the incorporation of cultural knowledge in public policy and decision-making, and for the “bridging” of knowledge systems in knowledge coproduction. Yet critiques of the academic treatment of cultural knowledge have indicated that research has focused on the content not the epistemologies of cultural knowledge systems. To what extent does the social science literature characterize knowledge systems as systems? Does the literature on cultural knowledge systems provide us with tools for translating cultural knowledge? Conclusions derived from this thesis research (a grounded theory approach to an academic literature sample) indicate that substantial work has been done to characterize cultural knowledge epistemologies. However, language used to describe knowledge systems is inconsistent, and analyses of social structures are patchily developed. In an effort to synthesize the literature, I have compiled the best practices and methods used by academics in hopes of influencing future cultural knowledge systems research.

I employed classical grounded theory methodology to formulate a theory of establishing therapeutic relationships in the context of public health nursing practice. Targeting Essence: Pragmatic Variation of the Therapeutic Relationship emerged as the theoretical model that elucidates how public health nurses develop therapeutic rapport with vulnerable and potentially stigmatized clients, specifically lower income lone-parent mothers. Data sources consisted of interview transcripts and dyadic observations. Public health nurses and lower income lone-parent mothers were the primary participants. During analysis, other sources for data were sought to achieve saturation of conceptual categories and theoretical integration. Targeting Essence: Pragmatic Variation of the Therapeutic Relationship is a six-stage process that evolved from theoretical interpretive analysis of the participants general pattern of relating. Public health nurses strategically modify the therapeutic relationship during their efforts to ascertain main concerns of mothers within the constraints of contemporary practice. Lower income lone-parent mothers with heightened sensitivities enact interactional behaviours to discern the intent of public health nurses. The studys focused context elicited a nuanced explanation of the dynamic process that builds on the fundamentals of communication. Targeting Essence: Pragmatic Variation of the Therapeutic Relationship has the potential to enhance relational practice capacity, to advance nursing communication training curricula, and, ultimately, to promote maternal/child health and well-being.

Nursing is uniquely demanding work and occupational stress in the nursing profession has been well-documented. Many theories of stress-related disruptions among helping professionals have been proposed. Although these theories differ slightly in their origin of stress, they share similarities in nurses’ response to the patient relationship. Depersonalization, withdrawal, and avoidance all serve to create relational distance between the nurse and the patient. Despite the prevalence of these responses, there are not any theories on the nurses’ process of disengagement from patient relationships. Using Strauss and Corbin’s (1990) grounded theory method, this study explored acute care nurses’ experience of disengagement in patient relationships. The purpose of the study was to develop a mid-range theory of nurses’ process of disengagement from patient relationships as it occurred in acute care. Through purposive and theoretical sampling, 12 acute care nurses participated in open-ended individual interviews. The process of open, axial and selective coding discovered seven categories related to nurses’ experience of disengagement from patient relationships. These categories were emotional experience, behavioural expression, environmental influences, relational distance, professional identity and work spillover. Although these categories were exclusive, conceptual elements were interwoven into more than one category. The categories were interrelated around the core category, ‘Doing and Being’, and the process of nurses’ disengagement from patient relationships was delineated. Participants in the study experienced dissonance when they were unable to act in accordance to their caring beliefs. Conditions in the work environment, such as the lack of time, the culture of productivity and patient characteristics influenced and promoted their process of disengagement. Disengagement was manifested in the nurse-patient relationship by decreased eye contact, increased physical distance and increased task focused behaviour. These behaviours increased relational distance between the nurse and the patient. Nurses’ experience of dissonance had the potential to foster feelings of professional dissatisfaction and alienation from self, leading to increased turnover behaviour and depression. Implications and recommendations for practice and future research are discussed.