<p> Through advancements in modern medicine, human beings worldwide are living longer. The increase in life expectancy creates a need for a more qualified and knowledgeable nursing workforce for the delivery of quality geriatric health care. Although nurses are the primary care providers for vulnerable older adults, they are generally not well trained or prepared in geriatric care. Therefore, the purpose of the project was to develop an education program aimed at improving nursing knowledge of geriatric care in the long-term care (LTC) setting. The goal of the project was to answer the research question: What impact would attendance in the program have on improving nursing geriatric knowledge, retention, and job satisfaction by project end? Guided by the advancing research and clinical practice through close collaboration (ARCC) model for evidence-based practice (EBP), the learning needs of nurses in the LTC setting were assessed. The 6-week education program was designed to provide education on the basics of geriatric care, pharmacology and aging, symptom evaluation, dementia care, and geriatric physical assessment. Project participants consisted of 8 nurses who volunteered to take part in the program. The program was evaluated using a pre-test and post-test method to examine nurse&rsquo;s knowledge before and after the education program. Using a paired <i>t</i> test, the results indicated a significant increase (<i>p</i> &lt; .05) between the mean pre-test (3.75) and mean post-test (4.25) scores of nurse knowledge of geriatric care. The education program improved participant knowledge of geriatric care. Positive social change will be achieved with this scholarly project as nurses with greater knowledge gain confidence, strengthen decision making and clinical skills, and improve patient outcomes in the LTC setting.</p><p>

In large American corporations, even though women comprise almost 50% of the workforce and over 30% of management, less than 5% of senior managers are reported to be women. Successful senior executive women have developed strategies, skills and leadership styles to overcome challenges and barriers throughout different phases of their careers. Many complex factors contribute to executive women achieving senior positions. Several corporate barriers have been reported which may prevent senior executive women from being promoted to even higher positions. This study explained internal barriers, including self-confidence or personality traits, and external barriers, including gender biases or the 'old boys' network'. The purpose of this study was to explore how senior executive women cope with diffcult situations, perceive challenges and overcome barriers and to identify some of the factors that facilitated their advancement to senior executive positions. A related purpose was to examine developmental career patterns or stages that may have evolved during senior executive women's careers and compare these stages with other reported career stages. This qualitative descriptive inquiry consisted of interviews with twelve senior executive women located on the east coast of the United States. They described their perceived experiences, skills, coping styles and self-concepts. The key findings in this study included: (1) the complex way senior executive women developed and maintained self-confidence as well as educational and professional support systems; (2) their approaches to meeting challenges and overcoming barriers within the corporate culture; and (3) the way they developed their dynamic and eclectic leadership styles and skills needed to cope with difficult situations. The participants in this study were action-oriented and took charge of their careers, gathering the required resources and education to achieve senior level positions. They navigated within the corporate environment, avoiding obstacles and confronting challenges or overcoming barriers within the corporate culture to succeed. The results of this study were discussed in terms of five major themes that contributed to senior executive women's advancement: (1) navigating within changing corporate environments; (2) evolving into flexible leaders who make a corporate impact; (3) developing learning strategies and support systems vital for success; (4) reframing corporate barriers into challenges, and, (5) overcoming gender bias in the corporate culture.

Becoming a psychotherapist has generally been understood in terms of a passage through phases of professional development. Recently, however, structural models of adult development have begun to inform a new literature on developmental approaches to psychotherapy supervision. Using a structural developmental lens transforms one's understanding of psychotherapist development, suggesting that there is not just one process of becoming a psychotherapist, but many. It shifts the focus from the phasic tasks of skill development to the transformations which therapists undergo when development includes a fundamental shift in one's way of making sense of the world. How might the experience of key issues in clinical work be different, depending on the structural developmental lens with which we view our experience? This research explores the applications of Robert Kegan's (1994, 1982) model to this question. Twelve female psychologists were interviewed using a semi-structured format focused on six areas of clinical practice. Data was analyzed according to the coding scheme for Kegan's model and a qualitative analysis of emergent themes. The results of this study generally support the utility of Kegan's model for explaining differences in therapists' understandings of their clinical work. Developmental differences were found for four of the six areas studied. Therapists at Kegan's stage four were contrasted with those in transition from stage three to stage four in the following areas: responses to manipulative clients, dealing with the termination of psychotherapy, changes experienced as a therapist and perceptions of therapeutic challenges. Developmental differences were not apparent in therapists' manner of dealing with dual relationships or in their perceptions about clinical supervision. Kegan's model has significant implications for psychotherapy supervision. It can address the complexity involved in becoming a psychotherapist, while providing an organized schema for understanding the challenges therapists are likely to face at each stage of development. Kegan's model adds another dimension to Carl Rogers' person centered approach by illuminating the particular structures of meaning by which people understand their experience. For clinical supervisors, this new understanding might serve to deepen one's empathy for the different experiences of becoming a psychotherapist.

This study examines how civilian workers managed stress at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, after the 1991 Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) selected the post for closure. The post shut down operations in September 1995, two years ahead of the schedule mandated by related legislation. After the closure announcement in April 1991, a number of events further compounded the problem of base closure. First, there was a deep recession in New England. Second, general downsizing of the federal government and of the Department of Defense, in particular, severely decreased potential job opportunities for many workers. These events created a climate of stress at Fort Devens. At the same time closure was announced, Fort Devens made available to all civilian employees the opportunity to attend a lifestyle management course called Fit to Win, the purpose of which was not stress management but better fitness through exercise and proper nutrition. This study examines how employees coped with the stress of losing their jobs at Fort Devens, and to what degree the Fit to Win program was an effective tool in helping them manage their stress. Qualitative research methods were used. A case study with in-depth interviewing was the primary mode of inquiry. The study was composed of a purposeful sample of six civilian Fort Devens employees who also attended the Fit to Win course of instruction. In addition to taped and transcribed interviews, an interviewer's journal was also used to conduct the research. The findings suggest that Fit to Win is an effective lifestyle management program. All of the participants thought the course content was sound and the results were worthwhile. Those individuals who fully engaged in the program, theoretically and in application, reaped the greatest rewards. The findings also suggest that Fit to Win has varied impact on participants: temporary, permanent, and no change. Additionally, the findings suggest that a lifestyle management program comprised of exercise and nutritional guidance can effectively help individuals to cope with stress. Furthermore, the findings suggest that Fit to Win education can be a vehicle for successful transition from stress management to lifestyle management, or improved wellness.

This study investigates the "the cost of caring" (Figley, 1995) for educators who teach and work with traumatized children; that is children who live in challenging social environments with ongoing stressors, such as family physical abuse, sexual assault, neglect, community violence, bereavement and loss issues, parental mental health and substance abuse, and homelessness. This study examines the theoretical framework of Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). The phenomenon of STS has been investigated in depth for professionals, such as social workers, counselors/therapists, hotline/crisis workers, law enforcement officers, nurses, emergency medical technicians/paramedics, firefighters, and disaster relief workers (Bride et al, 2007). This study explores how teachers address the emotional stressors of teaching traumatized children, the impact of their work on them both personally and professionally, if teachers are able to incorporate self-care strategies, and explores the applicability of STS to elementary educators.

The study of work and family has taken on increasing importance in corporate America. This has been attributed to the growing feminization of the workplace, the increasing numbers of dual-career families, and changing societal values. To date, most of the research concerning work and family issues has been from a conflict perspective. Such research is based on the assumption that work and family are mutually incompatible in some respect. This study broadened the scope of the conventional work/family research program through the use of the larger, more inclusive construct of work/family fit. Data were gathered from 265 respondents in order to develop a measure of work/family fit. The factor analysis of this measure indicated the following four factors: work interfering with family, work benefiting family, family interfering with work, and family benefiting work. While the first and third factors are already present in the work/family literature, the second and fourth factors represent a new addition to the study of the work/family relationship. This measure of work/family fit was then incorporated within an overall model and compared to a traditional model of work/family fit. LISREL results supported the use of the modified work/family model as being more robust and explanatory. Finally, the constructs of work/family fit and work/family conflict were compared concerning the predictive ability of each. Regression analysis indicated that work/family fit was the better predictor of turnover intentions, organizational citizenship behavior, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and family satisfaction. Study limitations and future research are also discussed.

The transition from professional sport marks the beginning of what has been found to be a difficult and stressful experience (Park, Lavallee, & Todd, 2013). Exiting a career serves as a major life change that requires one to adjust to numerous changes (Erpic, Wylleman, & Zupancic, 2004). Research has highlighted a number of personal and contextual factors that affect the quality of the transition experience (Knights, Sherry, & Ruddock-Hudson, 2016; Park et al., 2013); however, no studies to date have examined players who are in the midst of the transition. This qualitative, phenomenological study was undertaken to address the research question: What is the lived experience of NFL free-agent players as they transition from an active NFL player to a retired NFL player? In-depth interviews completed with 12 NFL free-agent players found a three-phase process of transitioning, consisting of the initial reaction, “no-man’s land,” and the final realization. Six themes emerged that described the players’ experience: (1) participants identified a trigger event prior to deselection; (2) being deselected was sudden, leaving participants shocked, isolated, and angry; (3) the subsequent period was dynamic, emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally; (4) players reached a point of realization about their future; (5) the loss of the NFL community was a significant challenge; and (6) four protective factors helped participants. The study offers recommendations related to theory, practice, and future research.

No description available.

This study investigated two different training schedules for a stress management course offered to 36 child care workers. The study included three groups, a massed training group, distributed training group, and an untreated control group. Based on learning theory as presented in the paper, it was hypothesized that the distributed format (1 hour per week for 8 weeks) would yield greater changes in reported stress than would the massed format (4 hours in 2 sessions) or the wait-list control. Results indicated that statistically the training was effective in changing the number of hours absent from work, that the distributed format was superior to the massed in changing number of hours absent from work, and that the massed format was preferred by participants. Trends further tended toward support for the hypothesis that the distributed format would be more effective, particularly with the Emotional Exhaustion pre-/post-training scores. Critique and suggestions for further study are included in this paper.

No description available.