The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of a homogeneous group of frontline child welfare workers in Los Angeles, CA. Data were collected using recorded in-depth, open ended interviews with 10 participants. Critical incident technique was used to collect data on specific incidents. Symbolic interactionism was the theoretical framework used. Five themes emerged during the analyses which are the main findings of this study: (1) Organizational factors contributed to the challenges and stress of the job, (2) participants shared a belief that management did not value them, (3) participants' morale and workloads were adversely affected by a highly publicized child fatality, (4) the job was rewarding and meaningful when participants felt they had protected children and helped families, and (5) participants reported being socialized to accept abusive behavior from clients through the omission or minimization of safety as a training topic in college and work sites. The positive social change implication includes information that may help facilitate a paradigm shift in the professional and academic socialization of social workers. The realistic picture on public child welfare work that participants shared has the potential to be useful to future social work students, researchers, professors, law enforcement, and administrators of public child welfare agencies. Realistic expectations may also increase retention of employees.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka vad kliniskt verksamma allmän-sjuksköterskor anser att god omvårdnad innebär. Studien är av empirisk kvalitativ art och baseras på fjorton legitimerade sjuksköterskors dagboksanteckningar under en fjortondagarsperiod. Aktuell metod är inspirerad utifrån Flanagans critical incident metod. Materialet från dagboksanteckningarna analyserades och resulterade i fyra överkategorier lindring av patientens smärta, oro och ångest, synliggöra patienten, delaktiggöra patienten samt lyhördhet för patienten. / The aim of this paper was to research how clinically active general practitioning nurses perceive good nursing. The study is of an empirical qualitative nature and is based on the diary notes of fourteen authorized nurses during a fourteen-day period. The employed method is inspired by the Flanagans critical incident method. The material from the diary notes was analyzed and resulted in four over-categories relief of the patients pain, worry and anxiety, making the patient visible, increasing the participation of the patient and sensitivity of the patient.

Inom ambulanssjukvården ingår det i den vardagliga arbetsmiljön att utsättas för stressiga situationer. Det krävs att ambulanspersonalen är alert, förberedd och flexibel för att hantera det oväntade. Regelbunden exponering för trauman kan bidra till känslomässiga svårigheter. Vilket kräver stöd och hjälp för att hantera de stressreaktioner som kan uppstå till följd av en allvarlig händelse. Syftet var att belysa ambulanspersonals copingstrategier och upplevelse av krisstöd i samband med en allvarlig händelse. Som metod användes en allmän litteraturöversikt där 15 artiklar inkluderades i resultatet. Artikelsökningen gjordes i databaserna PubMed, CINAHL och PsykInfo, resultatet analyserades med hjälp av Forsberg och Wengströms analysprocess. Analysen genererade fem kategorier. I resultatet framkom fem kategorier; Före händelse - förberedande copingstrategier, under händelsen - copingstrategier för omhändertagande, efter händelsen - copingstrategier för bearbetning och upplevelsen av krisstöd, ledning och organisation samt kulturella skillnader. Där framkom det att emotionellt fokuserad coping var den mest förekommande metoden för att hantera stress i samband med en allvarlig händelse. Det mest uppskattade stödet erhölls av en nära kollega, familj eller vänner. Ambulanspersonalen uppgav att det fanns ett missnöje med ledningens stöd och omhändertagande efter en allvarlig händelse. Som slutsats var det huvudsakliga fyndet att ambulanspersonal främst använde sig av emotionellt fokuserad coping och en erfaren kollega var ett viktigt stöd för att hantera stress då de bidrog till en känsla av trygghet, säkerhet samt stärkte kompetensen. Studiens resultat påvisade vikten av tid för återhämtning och reflektion. Litteraturöversikten identifierat en rad olika förbättringsåtgärder såsom ett förbättrat krisstöd samt ett ökat behov av utbildning och kunskap i stresshantering. / In ambulance care, it is part of the everyday work environment to be exposed to stressfulsituations. The ambulance staff is required to be alert, prepared, and flexible to manage theunexpected. Regular exposure to trauma can contribute to emotional difficulties, whichrequires support and help to deal with the stress reactions that can occur because of a seriousincident. The aim was to highlight the ambulance personnel coping strategies and experience of crisissupport in the event of a serious incident. As a method, a general literature review was used where 15 articles were included in theresult. The article search was performed in the databases PubMed, CINAHL and PsykInfo,the results were analyzed with the help of Forsberg and Wengström's analysis process. The analysis generated in five categories. The results revealed five categories; Before the event - preparatory coping strategies, duringthe event - coping strategies for caretaking, after the event - coping strategies for processingand the experience of crisis support, management and organization as well as culturaldifferences. Emotionally focused coping was the most common method when dealing withstress after a serious incident. The most appreciated support was received by a closecolleague, family, or friends. The ambulance staff stated that there was dissatisfaction in themanagement's support and care after a serious incident. In conclusion, the main finding was that ambulance mainly used the emotionally focusedcoping and an experienced colleague as support for managing stress as they contributed to asense of security, safety, and strengthens competence. The results of the study demonstratedthe importance of the need for recovery and reflection. The literature review identified anumber of different improvement measures such as improved crisis support and an increasedneed for training and knowledge in stress management.

The primary goal of this case study using qualitative and quantitative methods was to investigate pre-service elementary teachers’ initial self-efficacy beliefs about science and science teaching by exploring the K-12 science experiences of these prospective elementary teachers. Of the 108 participants who completed the science teaching efficacy belief survey (STEBI-B) (Enochs & Riggs, 1990), 12 participants were selected to be interviewed using Flanagan’s (1954) critical incident technique. Participants were asked to share their past positive and negative incidents during their K- 12 years with science and science teachers. They were also asked to report how past incidents affected them at present and how they believed they would impact them as future teachers of science in elementary schools. The past positive and negative incidents were analyzed using Bandura’s (1977) four sources of self-efficacy (mastery, vicarious, social persuasion, and physiological/emotional) and by school level; and the impact of the past science incidents on the subjects’ present and future beliefs as science teachers were categorized. The results of this study revealed that pre-service elementary teachers’ self-efficacy and beliefs were largely influenced by their past experiences with science in the K-12 years, and mastery experiences dominated as a source of self-efficacy. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research were made based on the findings of the study.

This study aims to examine how study participants at the International Library in Sweden work with multilingual literature. Interviews with members of the staff were performed by using the critical incident technique. Qualitative content analysis was used to find themes and categories in the interviews. The following research questions are used in this study: According to the informants, what governs their work, how is it organized and who, according to them, are the library’s users? How do the informants work with multilingual media, what challenges do the informants encounter and how do they work with these challenges? The theoretical framework used to analyze the results originates from models of collection development, theories of strategies in organizations and theoretical frameworks of learning in organizations. The results of the study show that the informants face several challenges in the process of working with multilingual media. The study also presents different strategies used by the informants to meet these challenges. The results suggest that the International library in Sweden is an organization characterized by adhocracy and learning with a strong occurrence of emergent strategies. Many times the informants must make their way up as they go along. The results suggest that working with multilingual collection building demands experience and adaptation to new situations and highlight the importance of language skills and support between colleagues

Introduktion: Antalet interhospitala transporter med intuberad patient eller där intubationsberedskap krävs ökar i Sverige och internationellt. Detta betyder att specialistsjuksköterskan i större grad kommer att få ansvara för dessa transporter. Studier visar att specialistsjuksköterskan kan uppleva sig utelämnad, tappa kontrollen, jobba i en ovan miljö och även känna en känsla av oro. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka anestesi- och intensivvårdssjuksköterskors erfarenheter av betydelsefulla strategier för en patientsäker interhospital transport med intuberad patient eller där intubationsberedskap krävs. Metod: Studien genomfördes med kvalitativ ansats där tolv semistrukturerade intervjuer med retrospektiv ansats genomfördes. Intervjuerna transkriberades ordagrant och data analyserades enligt Critical Incident Technique. Resultat: Fem slutkategorier med övergripande strategier för en säker interhospital transport identifierades: att kontrollera och behärska utrustningen samt de läkemedel som används, att förbereda sig genom att bilda sig en uppfattning och identifiera risker och problem i förväg, att stabilisera patienten och optimera förutsättningarna innan avfärd för en säker transport, att ha en plan för oförutsedda händelser och att vara vaksam på förändringar under transporten samt att inse sina begränsningar och begära förstärkning. Slutsats: Det finns flera viktiga strategier som bidrar till en ökad patientsäkerhet under interhospitala transporter, bland annat noggrann förberedelse och planering. Dessa strategier bidrar med kunskap och lärdomar till verksamma specialistsjuksköterskor och ger mindre erfarna specialistsjuksköterskor en viktig grund att stå på. Studiens mycket konkreta och praktiska strategier kan användas som en grund när rutiner och checklistor till interhospitala transporter tas fram.

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While countless studies have collected data on the effectiveness of various problem- solving models, few have attempted to identify which components of the training process are helpful to participants. Two teacher teams consisting of seven participants were trained in an adapted version of the Team-initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) model, observed each meeting, and provided performance feedback regarding how well they had adhered to the model. A mixed method approach was used to collect quantitative data in the form of the teams' adherence to the TIPS model and qualitative data once successful adherence to the model had been shown. Researchers interviewed each participant and used some strategies from the critical incident technique (CIT) to identify which components the training and performance feedback process were helpful, unhelpful, and which components they wished had been there that weren't. Themes among incidents reported as helpful were the expectation of meeting in professional learning community (PLC) teams to solve problems and consistent feedback on how closely they were adhering to the model. Unhelpful and wish list incidents included the difficult to use problem- solving form, structural components of meetings and training, and a desire to have more participants in meetings, particularly ones from other grades. Researchers and administrators who are looking to train teams with the TIPS model are recommended to use consistent performance feedback, include participants in the planning of the study, and have more question- and-answer style mini-trainings spaced throughout the observation phase. Lastly, two alternate problem-solving forms are presented as options to be used in place of the current meeting minutes form provided by the TIPS model. Both alternate versions aim to retain the components of the model, but with increased usability.

While driver distraction has been extensively studied in laboratory and empirical field studies, the prevalence of driver distraction on our nation's highways and the relative crash risk is unknown. It has recently become technologically feasible to conduct unobtrusive large-scale naturalistic driving studies as the costs and size of computer equipment and sensor technology have both dramatically decreased. A large-scale naturalistic driving study was conducted using 100 instrumented vehicles (80 privately-owned and 20 leased vehicles). This data collection effort was conducted in the Washington DC metropolitan area on a variety of urban, suburban, and rural roadways over a span of 12-13 months. Five channels of video and kinematic data were collected on 69 crashes and 761 near-crashes during the course of this data collection effort. The analyses conducted here are the first to establish direct relationships between driving inattention and crash and near-crash involvement. Relative crash risk was calculated using both crash and near-crash data as well as normal, baseline driving data, for various sources of inattention. Additional analyses investigated the environmental conditions drivers choose to engage in secondary tasks or drive fatigued, assessed whether questionnaire data were indicative of an individual's propensity to engage in inattentive driving, and examined the impact of driver's eyes off the forward roadway. The results indicated that driving inattention was a contributing factor in 78% of all crashes and 65% of all near-crashes. Odds ratio calculations indicated that fatigued drivers have a 4 times higher crash risk than alert drivers. Drivers engaging in visually and/or manually complex tasks are at 7 times higher crash risk than alert drivers. There are specific environmental conditions in which engaging in secondary tasks or driving fatigued is deemed to be more dangerous, including intersections, wet roadways, undivided highways, curved roadways, and driving at dusk. Short, brief glances away from the forward roadway for the purpose of scanning the roadway environment (e.g., mirrors and blind spots) are safe and decrease crash risk, whereas such glances that total more than 2 seconds away from the forward roadway are dangerous and increase crash risk by 2 times over that of more typical driving. / Ph. D.

Academic freedom is a much-discussed topic in the literature. However, little empirical research has been performed that describes the faculty perceptions of academic freedom at Christian colleges and universities, a unique segment of institutions within US higher education. Specifically, little recent research has shown how faculty members at Christian colleges and universities define academic freedom, how they describe experiences where they encountered issues of academic freedom, and how they navigate the interaction between academic freedom and institutional religious doctrines (as found in official statements of faith). The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze how faculty members at Christian colleges and university perceive academic freedom. For this qualitative study, I employed the Critical Incident Technique (Flanagan, 1954) to collect data from full-time faculty members of Christian institutions. I present the findings discovered through this study, discuss their ramifications, offer recommendations, and draw conclusions. / Ph. D.