Students’ intention to stay within the higher education system is decreasing by the year, and even though more students are enrolling at universities annually, the percentage of students completing their studies is not satisfactory. The low completion rate is a concern not only in South Africa, but worldwide. Trends are identified as to why students do not complete their studies. This study seeks to focus on perceived social support, the students’ academic fit, the psychological conditions of meaningfulness and availability as well as the students’ engagement levels, and then to investigate if these constructs will influence their intention to stay. The proposed engagement model of May, Gilson, and Harter (2004) originally designed by George Kahn (1990), was used to determine whether social support and academic fit correlates positively with the psychological conditions, which may lead to engagement and increase a student’s intention to stay. A quantitative research design was used to investigate the universal challenge at hand, and it was descriptive in nature in order to gather specific information from the first-year students. A crossectional design was used. The research method consists of a literature review and an empirical study, presented in one research article. A convenience sample was used, and a total of 304 students completed the questionnaires. These questionnaires were based on the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Psychological Conditions Scale, Academic Fit Scale, the Work Engagement Scale and the Intent to Leave Scale. Structural equation modelling methods were used, and implemented in AMOS to test the measurement and structural models. The fit-indices used to test if the model fit the data included the absolute fit indices such as Chi-square statistic, the Standardized Root Mean Residual (SRMR), and the Root-Means-Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). The incremental fit indices which were used included the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and the Comparative Fit Index. It was found that social support did not have an impact on the psychological conditions of meaningfulness and availability, but it had a direct and indirect (via academic fit) effect on intention to stay. This implies that the amount of support students receive has an influence on their intention to stay, and also increased their sense of belonging in their field of study. Academic fit was positively associated with the psychological conditions of meaning and availability, which means that if the student’s personality and field of study is aligned the student will feel that the course is meaningful to him, and he will invest more energy in his studies. Academic fit had direct effects on students’ intention to stay, which means that students who feel they belong in their field of study will also be more likely to stay at the educational institution. It was also found that if students experience a sense of psychological meaningfulness and availability they will be more engaged in their studies, which impact their intention to stay / MCom, Industrial Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact the primary caregiving role had on men's perceptions of leisure. The Assessment of Leisure and Recreation Involvement (Ragheb, 2002) was used to examine men's leisure. Twenty-five stay-at-home dad groups were solicited via e-mail; 81 men submitted usable responses to an online survey. Respondents considered themselves the primary caregiver for children in the household and at least one child was younger than 12. Descriptive data were collected about the experience of being a primary caregiving father, demographics, and how the caregiving role affects the men's perceptions of leisure. Caregiving fathers in the sample resembled the perceptions of many primary caregiving mothers. Perhaps the "caregiving" role, rather than gender, is a more distinct variable explaining perceptions of leisure by parents.

Depuis 30 ans a été mise en place, dans la plupart des pays européens, une politique de réduction des durées d'hospitalisation. Beaucoup d'études ont été conduites sur les conséquences de ce raccourcissement des durées d'hospitalisation mais par contre peu se sont intéressées aux caractéristiques cliniques et sociodémographiques des patients à l'admission qui pourraient influer sur ces durées. Une meilleure connaissance de ces facteurs permettrait d'adapter ces durées aux besoins spécifiques des patients et ainsi réduire les conséquences négative s de sorties prématurées. De plus, cela pourrait permettre une meilleure planification de la disponibilité en lit. L'objectif de notre étude est de mettre en évidence les déterminants cliniques et sociaux des durées d'hospitalisation et les conséquences de celles ci sur l'organisation des soins grâce à une étude prospective portant sur 121 patients hospitalisés pour un premier épisode psychotiques. A l'admission il n'est retrouvé aucun facteur prédictif des durées d'hospitalisation. Par contre la réponse au traitement et la symptomatologie à la sortie de l'hospitalisation sont significativement associés aux durées d'hospitalisation. Mais le facteur le plus prédictif est la préférence du psychiatre traitant pour une durée courte ou longue d'hospitalisation. Lors du suivi les courtes hospitalisations n'ont pas été compensées par plus de suivi par les services extra-hospitaliers de psychiatrie ou par les médecins généralistes. Ces résultats suggèrent la nécessité de développer des soins plus rationnels et standardisés pour la prise en charge des premiers épisodes psychotiques pour améliorer notamment le suivi post hospitalisation. / Since the middle of last century, there has been a transition in almost all western countries towards a policy of reduced periods of hospitalization. Although many studies have been carried out on the consequences of short versus long length of stay (LOS), less is known about the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients on admission, which could influence LOS. A better knowledge of these factors could help adapt LOS to patients' specific needs and perhaps reduce the negative consequences of early discharge. Furthermore, predicting LOS could be helpful for planning bed availability. First-episode psychosis is a key moment to study with the importance of cares on prognosis. The aim of our study is to evaluate clinical and social determinants of LOS at admission and discharge in relation to 121 hospitalisations for first episode psychosis using standardized assessment measures and their consequences on care organisation. None of the clinical factors at admission were significant predictors of longer hospital stay. However, response to treatment and symptomatology at discharge were significantly associated with longer LOS as was the head psychiatrist's general preference for long or short hospitalisation. Furthermore our findings, during the one-year follow up, suggest that a shortening of hospital stay for first episode psychotic patients has not been compensated by an increased role of the general practitioner (GP) in providing post-discharge care or by psychiatric community care. This suggests a need for greater evidence-based rationalization of practice for the care of first psychosis episode with more interactions between hospital and community care

Emergency department (ED) overcrowding has been a common complaint in Emergency Medicine in Canada for many years. Its adverse effects of prolonged waiting times cause patient dissatisfaction and unsafety. Previous studies indicate that adding a physician in triage (PIT) can increase accuracy and efficiency in the initial process of patient evaluation. However, the scientific evidence of the PIT impact on ED is far away from sufficient before its widespread implementation. This research is to search solutions using PIT to identify areas of improvement for the ED patient flow, based upon a validated discrete-event simulation (DES) model. As an efficient decision-making tool, the DES model also helps to develop an understanding of the current ED performance and quantitatively test various design alternatives for ED operations. / February 2017

Intensive care unit nursing shortages are an ongoing issue within the Canadian healthcare system. The goal of this thesis research was to better understand Manitoban intensive care unit (ICU) nurses’ intent to leave or stay. An adapted version of the Conceptual Framework for Predicting Nurse Retention provided the framework to examine ICU nurses’ perceived empowerment, caring, job satisfaction and intent to leave or stay. An online survey was distributed by the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba to 630 ICU nurses in Manitoba. Ethical approval was obtained from the Education Nursing Research Ethics Board at the University of Manitoba. Findings indicate the majority of ICU nurses who participated in this research were satisfied with their job. Multivariate analyses indicated that job satisfaction was statistically significantly associated with intent to stay. / October 2016

Introduction: Opioid poisoning has been rapidly increasing in the past decade, and has been driven in large part due to increases in opioid prescribing. This has been accompanied by intervention efforts aimed at preventing and reversing opioid poisoning through naloxone prescription programs. Current literature have not quantified the economic burden of opioid poisoning. Understanding this information can help inform these efforts and bring light to this growing problem. In addition understanding various determinants of increased costs can help to identify the types of populations more likely to have greater costs. Main Objectives: The objectives are 1) to quantify the economic burden of opioid poisoning, 2) to evaluate differences in costs, LOS, and in-hospital mortality depending on opioid type, 3) to identify opioids most likely to result in hospitalization for opioid-related ED visits and 4) to determine differences in the odds of admission to various hospital admission categories with respect to opioid type. Methods: A cost-of-illness approach was used to estimate the economic burden of opioid poisoning. Direct costs and prevalence estimates were obtained from nationally representative databases. Other sources of direct costs were obtained from the literature. Indirect costs were measured using the human capital method. Differences in costs, LOS, and in-hospital mortality were measured through generalized linear models using the National Inpatient Sample in 2009 from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. The Drug Abuse Warning Network database was used to evaluate opioids most likely to result in hospitalization and to evaluate the likelihood of different opioids to cause admission into different types of hospital settings. Results: Opioid poisoning resulted in an economic burden approximately $20.4 billion dollars in 2009. Productivity losses were associated with 89% of this total. Direct medical costs were associated with $2.2 billion. Methadone was associated with the greatest inpatient costs and LOS, while heroin was associated with a greater likelihood of in-patient mortality compared to prescription opioids. Heroin, methadone, and morphine were associated with the greatest odds of hospitalization. Among admitted patients, methadone, morphine, and fentanyl were each associated with the greatest odds of ICU admission compared with other opioids. Conclusions: Opioid poisoning results in a significant economic burden to society. Costs, length of stay, in-patient mortality and the odds of hospitalization and admission type depend on the type of opioid involved. The results from this study can be used to inform policy efforts in providing interventions to reduce opioid poisoning and help focus efforts on populations at highest risk for increased costs.

Tradicionalmente o planejamento de provisão de internações baseia-se em comparações nacionais e internacionais em vez da eficácia de políticas de curta e de longa permanência. Estudos sobre as causas e consequências das internações psiquiátricas de longa permanência têm uma relação direta ao tamanho e provisão de instalações que têm um maior impacto sobre como os recursos são utilizados.Objetivo:Identificar fatores de exposição associados ao tempo de permanência prolongado em internações psiquiátricas.Metodologia: estudo caso controle realizado no hospital psiquiátrico de Uberaba. Os casos foram todos os pacientes com internações com permanência superior a 60 dias contínuos no período de janeiro de 2014 a dezembro de 2014. Os controles escolhidos aleatoriamente, pareados por sexo e idade. Características epidemiológicas e sociodemográficas relacionadas às internações psiquiátricas de longa permanência foram descritas e realizadas comparações entre as diversas variáveis. Análise multivariada por regressão logística foi realizada para determinar variáveis preditoras de internação psiquiátrica de longa permanência.Resultados:selecionou-se 216 pacientes, 72 casos (5,5% do total de internações) e 144 controles; 63,9% do sexo masculino; a média de idade foi de 44,4 anos (DP±11,9); a procedência distribuiu-se entre 53% do próprio município de Uberaba e o restante entre 43 outros; o tempo de permanência foi de 84,8 dias (DP±31,4; IC95%: 77,4-92,2) entre os casos e de 33,2 dias (DP±10,8; IC95%: 31,5-35,1) entre os controles (p<0,05). A média do tempo de permanência para pacientes com motivo de internação com risco para si ou terceiros foi de 38,7 dias (DP±24,1) e para os com motivo sem tal risco foi de 59,3 dias (DP±33,7) (p<0,05). Houve associação com o desfecho, em análises univariadas e multivariadas por regressão logística do motivo da internação por incapacidade de autocuidado e/ou falência do suporte familiar e/ou social (OR 3,61; [IC95%: 1,91-6,82]). Conclusão:os resultados do estudo concordam com a literatura internacional. Em nosso país não existem estudos de custo-eficácia deste tema. Recomenda-se mais estudos analíticos que investiguem a qualidade de vida de pessoas que tenham internações psiquiátricas de longa permanência, visando tanto o processo de planejamento da alta e o pós alta, utilizando critérios amplos sem focalizar categorias definidas de doenças. / Background:Traditionally, hospitalisation planning is based on national and international comparisons rather than the effectiveness of short-term and longterm policies. Studies on the causes and consequences of long-stay psychiatric hospitalisations have a direct relationship to the size and provision of facilities that have a greater impact on how the resources are used. Objective: To identify exposure factors associated with long stay in psychiatric hospitalizations. Methods: a case control study performed at the psychiatric hospital of Uberaba, Minas Gerais. Cases were all patients with hospitalisations with stay over 60 continuous days from January 2014 to December 2014. The randomly chosen controls, matched by sex and age. Epidemiological and sociodemographic characteristics related to long-stay psychiatric hospitalisations were described and comparisons were made between the several variables. Multivariate analysis by logistic regression was performed to determine predictors of long-stay psychiatric hospitalisation. Results: 216 patients were selected, 72 cases (5.5% of all hospitalisations) and 144 controls; 63.9% male; the mean age was 44.4 years (± 11.9); the origin was distributed between 53% of Uberaba itself and the rest among 43 other cities; the length of stay was 84.8 days (± 31.4; CI95%: 77,4-92,2) between the cases and 33.2 days (± 10.8; CI95%: 31,5-35,1) between the controls (p <0.05). The mean length of stay for patients with risk for themselves or others was 38.7 days (± 24.1) and for those without that risk was 59.3 days (± 33.7) (p <0, 05). There was an association with the outcome in univariate and multivariate analyzes by logistic regression of the reason for hospitalisation due to incapacity for selfcare and/or family and/or social support failure (OR 3.61; 95% CI: 1.91-6.82 ]). Conclusions: the results of the study agree with the international literature. In our country there are no cost-effectiveness studies of this topic. More analytical studies are recommended that investigate the quality of life of people with longstay psychiatric hospitalisations, aiming at both discharge process and postdischarge planning, using broad criteria without focusing on defined categories of diseases.

Bakgrund: Hälso- och sjukvården är skyldiga att främja patienters delaktighet i vården. För att patienter ska känna sig delaktiga behöver deras enskilda behov tillgodoses, för att uppnå detta behöver vårdpersonalen lyssna till patienten, ge adekvat information och tillsammans med patienten planera för dennes vård på ett respektfullt sätt. Bröstcancer är den vanligaste cancerformen för kvinnor, vårdtiden efter ett kirurgiskt ingrepp är kort. Kvinnor som drabbats av bröstcancer uttrycker ett stort behov av känslomässigt stöd och att känna sig delaktiga i vården. Syfte: Att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser av delaktighet vid kort vårdtid i samband med bröstcancerkirurgi. Metod: En kvalitativ induktiv metod har använts där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes, dessa analyserades med Elo och Kyngäs innehållsanalys Resultat: Deltagarna ansåg att ett bra bemötande och närvarande vårdpersonal var viktigt för att de skulle känna sig delaktiga i vården särskilt med tanke på den korta tiden de befann sig på avdelningen. Dock uttryckte deltagarna att det hade varit svårt att få ett förtroende för vårdpersonalen då de vårdades under så pass kort tid. De upplevde att personalen utförde arbetet på rutin, vilket resulterade i att personliga samtal uteblev. Deltagarna hade önskat mer information och känslomässigt stöd under vårdtiden. Det framkom även upplevelser av att inte bli involverade i planeringen kring vården. Slutsats: För att göra kvinnor med bröstcancer delaktiga i den korta postoperativa vården behöver vårdpersonalen bemöta patienterna på ett respektfullt och individanpassat sätt, tillsammans med patienten planera vården, tänka på patientens integritet, vara närvarande och ge patienterna känslomässigt stöd. / Background: Healthcare is obliged to promote patients' participation in healthcare. In order for patients to feel involved, their individual needs need to be met, in order to achieve this, the healthcare staff need to listen to the patient, provide adequate information and, together with the patient, plan for their care in a respectful manner. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer for women, the length of stay after surgery is short. Women who suffer from breast cancer express a great need for emotional support and to feel participation in the care. Aim: To describe women's experiences of participation in short-term care in connection with breast cancer surgery. Method: A qualitative inductive method has been used in which semi-structured interviews were conducted, these were analyzed with Elo and Kyngäs content analysis. Results: The participants felt that the interaction and a caring relationship, including a present healthcare staff, were important to feel involved in the care, especially in view of the short time they were in hospital care. However, the participants stated that it has been difficult to gain confidence in the healthcare staff when they were cared for in such a short time. They felt that the staff performed the work on routine, which resulted in personal conversations not being fulfilled. The participants wanted more information and emotional support during the care period. Experiences of not being involved in the planning of the care were also reported. Conclusion: To involve women with breast cancer in their postoperative care, healthcare professionals need to respond to the patients in a respectful and individualized manner, plan the care together with the patient, think about the patient's integrity, being present and give the patients emotional support.

Thesis advisor: Barabara Hazard / This randomized controlled trial (RCT) examined a discharge nursing intervention (DNI) aimed at promoting self-regulation of care for early discharge interventional cardiology patients. The purpose of this study was to compare medication adherence, patient satisfaction, use of urgent care, and illness perception in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) undergoing interventional revascularization procedures who receive usual care and those who receive a DNI. The Common Sense Model (CSM) of illness representation provided the theoretical foundation for this study. The CSM is a cognitive parallel processing model that draws relationships between illness representation, coping methods, and illness outcomes to help explain the process by which people make sense of their illness. Intervention research aimed at life style changes to reduce secondary events after treatment for CVD is needed to guide evidence based care. Treatment for CVD has shifted from surgical repair with prolonged hospitalizations to interventional procedures requiring shorter hospital stays. This trend reduces nursing time to monitor complications and provide education about medication management and lifestyle changes. Patients recover in short stay areas and return home within hours or one to two days of the procedure. Cardiac disease is then managed as a chronic, but often stable condition. With this change in the delivery of care, several trends have emerged that have implications for quality nursing care and patient outcomes: a) the burden of care shifts from the hospital setting to home, b) patients are discharged without extensive education about complications and disease management, c) the occurrence of secondary events and disease progression remain a valid threat, and d) nurses with expert practice are in a unique position to assist patients and families with CVD management. This study addressed the following questions. 1. Do patients receiving the nursing intervention differ significantly from those receiving usual care on medication adherence? 2. Do patients receiving the nursing intervention differ significantly from those receiving usual care on patient satisfaction? 3. Is there a significant difference in the utilization of urgent care between those patients receiving the nursing intervention when compared to those patients receiving usual care? 4. Does a difference exist between the patients receiving the nursing intervention and those patients receiving usual care on illness perception, as measured by seven components of the IPQ-R: time line (acute and chronic), consequence, personal control, treatment (cure) control, illness coherence, timeline (cyclical), and emotional representations? Purposive sampling was used to select a sample of patients admitted for interventional procedures at an academic teaching hospital. One hundred and fifty four patients were and randomized into control and experimental groups. Final analyses included data from 129 patients. Sixty-four participants in the experimental group received the DNI which included: 1) additional written information about taking medications, 2) a medication pocket card, 3) a list of 3 cardiac internet sites,and 4) a phone call, 24 hours post procedure, from an expert cardiac nurse to review discharge instructions. Sixty-five participants in the control group received usual care. Analyses on four outcome measures, medication adherence, use of urgent care, patient satisfaction, and illness perception, revealed one statistically significant result. Participants in the experimental group, receiving the DNI, scored significantly higher than the control group on one measure, the timeline (acute/chronic) component of illness perception (p = .006) indicating a greater appreciation of the chronicity of their disease. Otherwise, there were no significant group differences found. This study provides support for nursing intervention research guided by self-regulation theory that examines the patient's perception of illness. Patients with cardiac disease who received the DNI were statistically more likely to acknowledge that their illness would last a long time. This awareness, may improve adherence to a prescribed regimen of medication and lifestyle modification. Nursing interventions guided by an understanding of patients' belief that their cardiovascular disease is chronic will add to the body of knowledge that informs providers about decisions patients make concerning medication adherence and lifestyle modifications. However, the results underscore the limitations of adding additional discharge care to this population of patients to improve medication adherence, use of urgent care, and patient satisfaction. Future research should include a longitudinal study to examine how patients who perceive their disease to be chronic in nature managed their medications and care decisions at home. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

A popularização do GPS tem gerado uma massiva quantidade de dados que são organizados em trajetórias geográficas. Trajetórias geográficas são sequências ordenadas de coordenadas geográficas que representam um caminho de um objeto móvel. Para melhorar a compreensão destas trajetórias, são detectados locais de maior importância que são chamados de pontos de permanência, que indicam que um usuário permaneceu neste local por um tempo significativo. Pontos de permanência são comumente transformados em vértices de redes geolocalizadas para facilitar a mineração de trajetórias, a transformação é feita agrupando pontos geograficamente próximos. Porém, é pouco discutido na literatura a qualidade destas redes. Portanto, este projeto aborda esta lacuna e apresenta duas novas abordagens para construção de redes sociais geolocalizadas a partir de pontos de permanência. A abordagem proposta utiliza a fase de contração do paradigma multinível para realizar a transformação de pontos de permanência em vértices de redes. A fase de contração contrai uma rede original iterativamente até ser obtida uma rede solução, a contração leva em conta a estrutura topológica da rede. Os resultados mostram que as novas abordagens conseguem representar com maior precisão, por meio de redes geolocalizadas, o mundo real. / The popularization of GPS has generated a massive amount of geographic data organized in raw trajectories. Raw trajectories are ordered sequences of geographic coordinates that represent a path of a moving object. To improve the understanding of raw trajectories, important places, referred to as stay points, are detected. They indicate that a user has remained in this correspondent place for a significant time. Stay points are commonly turned into vertices of location-based networks to facilitate trajectory mining, the turning into vertices is done by grouping geographically close points. Nonetheless, to the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of studies addressing the quality of these networks. This piece of research addresses this gap and presents two new approaches to using stay points for building location-based social networks. The proposed approach uses the contraction phase of the multilevel partitioning to turned stay points into vertices. The contraction phase contracts an original network iteratively until a solution network is obtained, the contraction is done considering the topological structure of the network. The results show that the new approaches are able to represent more accurately, through location-based networks, the real world.