PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Nursing : Nursing, Doctoral Program

Beginning in 2000 the Institute of Medicine clearly established the importance of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and teamwork with regard to improving patient care quality and safety in acute care hospitals. IOM documents also presented evidence of the positive impact that interdisciplinary collaboration and teamwork can have on other key dimensions of organizational performance. Interdisciplianry collaboration represents a significant issue confronting hospital and nursing executives, deans of colleges of nursing and medicine and practicing nurses and physicians. The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which collective self-esteem and attitudes toward collaboration were predictors to nurse-to-nurse, nurse-to-physician and physician-to-nurse collaborative practice behaviors in acute care hospitals. The conceptual framework used to guide the study was derived from social identity theory, symbolic interaction theory, and relevant published research on nurse-physician collaboration in contemporary acute care hospitals. Three instruments were mailed to randomly selected registered nurses and physicians in southwest Ohio. Bivariate and multi-variable regression relationships were determined. In the prediction of nurse-to-nurse collaboration, a model comprised of attitudes toward collaboration (JSA) and collective self-esteem (CSE) revealed a significant contribution from JSA (t(88)= 5.58, p < .0001) and CSE (t(88) = 2.55, p< .0126). In the prediction of nurse-to-physician collaboration a model comprised of JSA and CSE revealed a significant contribution from JSA (t(88) = 5.5, p < .0001) and a non-significant contribution from CSE (t(88) = 1.77, p =.08). A similar finding resulted when examining physcian-to-nurse collaborative practice, where a significant contribution from JSA (t(63)= 5.23, p < .0001) and a nonsignificant conrribution from CSE (t(63) = 0.08, p < 0.9366) was found.

Committee: Dr. Linda Workman (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Communication

In this study, 75 faculty members completed an online questionnaire regarding their conceptions of career success, the universities' conceptions of career success, fears and constraints to career success, and conversations about these conceptions. The purpose of the study was to see to see how these conceptions are discussed. Possible selves research (e.g., Markus & Nurius, 1986) has found that adults build elaborated views of future selves, which includes possibilities they hope for, they expect, and they fear. People are motivated to bring about their hoped-for self and avoid the feared self. Over time, the hoped-for self, gives way to the expected self, based on abilities and circumstances that the individual perceives as preventing the hoped-for self to occur. Possible selves, and conceptions of career success are closely related to identity formation. A symbolic interactionist approach looks at how conceptions of career success are co-created through talk. Faculty and universities agree that career success for faculty include combinations of research, teaching, and service. However, faculty also talk about career success as including balance between work and family, self-fulfillment, and building relationships. When faculty talked about career success, they reported good quality of the conversations and that they were useful in helping people clarify their own goals, or in understanding the university's expectations. Implications of the study include that universities may want to encourage talk about conceptions of career success, and review what they reward.

Committee: Susan Kline (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Higher

MA, Kent State University, 2012, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

More than 30 live-action superhero movies (based on comic book heroes) starring A-list celebrities have been released by Hollywood since the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001. Captain America, created during times of war to rally support, is among these. Comic book superheroes have almost always reflected American popular culture in a way that everyone can understand. The entertainment medium provides parallels of social issues within the superheroes' storylines through character dialogue, distinctive art and reader perspective. Symbolic Interaction Theory explains how people create meaning from their surroundings and from their relationships with others. Through symbolic interaction, this paper explores how readers define the American Dream through Captain America's interpersonal battles, interactions with other characters and physical appearance as presented by the comic book authors. The textual analysis reveals that Captain America is important in exploring the evolution of the American Dream.

Committee: Bob Batchelor PhD (Advisor); Tim Smith PhD (Committee Member); Willie Harrell PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication