Language and the built, natural, social, and symbolic environments during bad news conversations for people with a life-limiting illness : a case study methodology
- Authors: Miller, Elizabeth
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: Background Bad news of a life-limiting illness is devastating to receive and remains a difficult conversation for healthcare professionals to undertake, despite education and training. Bad news conversations occur anywhere along an illness trajectory and often take place with the acute ward that is busy, sterile, and unfamiliar to patients and family members. Method A qualitative case study research methodology was used to explore the case, being the phenomenon of receiving bad news of a life-limiting illness for people living in regional Victoria, Australia. The literature was examined to understand the physical hospital environment and truth disclosure within bad news delivery. Data was collected between November 2021 and August 2022, through 14 semi-structured interviews with patients and family members, 13 semi-structured interviews with registered nurses, a three week observation period at a private regional hospital. The theoretical framework of Therapeutic Landscapes enabled the built, nature, social, and symbolic environments to be examined. Data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and qualitative content analysis. Results A review of the literature resulted in the development of the "SSAFER place approach" concept model and found that patients need to feel safe in the hospital environment and that safety is equated with space for family and familiar notions of home. Nurses aimed to provide holistic person-centred through therapeutic relationships with patients and family members and create a home-life environment. It was found that a calm and quiet environment was essential for absorbing bad news, and patients and family members believed the way bad news was delivered, and the language used often needed to be improved. The audit of 17 family meeting s highlighted that death and dying language was rarely documented, and late referrals to palliative care services often occurred. The "Breaking bad news model," created from a second literature review supported the results of the thesis. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, patients, family members and nurses were negatively affected, creating a non-therapeutic social environment. Conclusion For patients and family members, a therapeutic landscape comprised of therapeutic relationship, open, honest and empathetic language delivered within holistic person-centred care. In addition, care needed to be provided within a calm and quiet environment to allow absorption and processing of bad news. Nurses providing palliative care aimed to meet patients and family needs holistically within an environment aesthetically tuned to be more home-like than clinical.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Managing international knowledge transfer in Chinese firms
- Authors: Tian, Feng
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: This dissertation reports on an empirical study of the management of knowledge and technology transfer by Chinese companies acquiring product, process and organizational knowledge from overseas partners.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Barley non-starch polysaccharide content and its relationship with kernel hardness and water uptake
- Authors: Gamlath, Jayantha
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: Harder kernels in barley are thought to be a factor affecting the modification of the endosperm during malting by restricting water and enzyme movement within the endosperm. The traditional method used in the malting industry to determine barley endosperm vitreousness is by visual assessment. Since this method is subjective, laborious and requires training, an alternative method is needed. Similarly, the causes and factors influencing kernel hardness are uncertain. The prime objectives of this study were: to identify an appropriate method to quantify kernel hardness; investigate the relationship between kernel hardness and endosperm composition; and to investigate the relationship between barley variety and environmental influences on endosperm composition in relation to the kernel hardness of malting barley.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
An Investigation into the experiences of occupational stress of graduate nurses in Hong Kong
- Authors: Lee, Irene
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "The major criticism by hospital trained clinical nurses is that university graduates are perceived as not being competent practioners as a result of limited time spent in clinical areas. This lack of clinical experience is thought to contribute to new graduates' sense of occupational stress."--leaf xii.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A computer-mediated framework to facilitate group consensus based on a shared understanding ConSULT
- Authors: Afshar, Faezeh
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "Group decision-making usually involves a process of discussion and evaluation of alternatives. Important aspects of a group decision support system are: freedom to participate; the ability to explicitly present points of view; the ability to augment or oppose views by supporting evidence and reasoning; and the ability to use and consider other additional views .... The overall aim of this work is to develop an approach that can alleviate some of the problems associated with group commuication and consensus decision-making by effectively supporting group discussions towards consensus. Towards achieving this goal we have developed an approach called ConSULT (Consensus based on a Shared Understanding of a Leading Topic) as a computer-mediated framework to allow argumentation, collection and evaluation of discussion and group decision-making. This approach employs existing theories and techniques in computer-mediated communication, argumentation, Delphi and voting." -- Abstract.
- Description: Master of Information Technology
- Description: "Group decision-making usually involves a process of discussion and evaluation of alternatives. Important aspects of a group decision support system are: freedom to participate; the ability to explicitly present points of view; the ability to augment or oppose views by supporting evidence and reasoning; and the ability to use and consider other additional views .... The overall aim of this work is to develop an approach that can alleviate some of the problems associated with group commuication and consensus decision-making by effectively supporting group discussions towards consensus. Towards achieveing this goal we have developed an approach called ConSULT (Consensus based on a Shared Understanding of a Leading Topic) as a computer-mediated framework to allow argumentation, collection and evaluation of discussion and group decision-making. This approach employs existing theories and techniques in computer-mediated communication, argumentation, Delphi and voting." -- Abstract.
Ecology and habitat of river blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus r.) in Victorian streams
- Authors: Khan, Minal
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "The present study was aimed to assess the ecology and habitat of river blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus) in two highly modified agricultural streams in central Victoria (Birch and Creswick Creek)"
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A computational story model based on a story grammar that represents conflict
- Authors: Hall, Richard
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "The work in this thesis investigates whether a computational story model can be formulated that can overcome the limitations of existing story models and also interact with stories in multiple ways, similar to the ways in which people interact with them."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The sign of the witch : neo-paganism and the romantic episteme
- Authors: Waldron, David
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "The central premise of this dissertation is that the process by which representations of witchcraft are formed within the neo-Pagan movement are indicative of the broader interrelationship of Romantic and Enlightenment themes in Western culture."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A region-based progressive image compression technique : RePic
- Authors: Bell, Daniel
- Date: 2000
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "This thesis is concerned with the development of RePIC, a new method for the representation and compression of images in such a way that allows the image to be progressively reconstructed."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Economic modelling of countries in transition and artificial intelligence applications to economic
- Authors: Veliev, Raoul
- Date: 2000
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: The basic aims of this research were twofold. Firstly to develop a new macroeconomic model, which was aimed at capturing particularities of countries in transition and the case study was the economy of Azerbaijan. Secondly several methods of artificial intelligence data mining were developed and applied to economic modelling.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A study of recovery and separation of heavy metal ions from waste solutions using precipitate flotation
- Authors: Ren, Xiang (Sean)
- Date: 1999
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: An important industrial problem is the production of wastewater containing a large amount of heavy metal ions. The study described in this thesis is trying to use precipitate flotation technology to explore techniques for not only removing heavy metal ions from the solution, but also selectively separating them to recycle of the recoyered metal value from industry wastewater. Zinc and copper hydroxide precipitation and flotation behaviour have been studied. lt shows that it is almost impossible to separate copper and zinc ion using hydroxide precipitate flotation when the solution contains Fe3+ or Al3+ ions. The influence of additional ions such as Ca2+ and Mg2+, and other electrolytes on the flotation and separation have been studied. DLVO theory has been used to explain the mechanisms occurring in the process. A new process, named "self-carrier" precipitate flotation us~g anionic surfactants, has been developed to improve the flotation recovery and reduce the consumption of collector. The mechanism of the process is discussed in detail with reference to data collected from Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Zeta Potential Measurement. The xanthates are the most commonly used class of sulphide mineral collectors. This study investigated the copper sulphide precipitate reactions and the aggregation behaviour, the influence of oxidation, additional ions etc., and successfully used xanthate to float the sulphide precipitates. The mechanisms occurring in this process have been discussed. The investigation of the sulphide precipitate flotation behavior using a cationic collector has also been carried out to discover the possibility of copper and zinc separation. An important application of this study is the flotation and separation of copper and zinc ions from industry wastewater. The tailing wastewater from a mineral processing plant, Woodlawn Mines (N.S.W., Australia), which contains high concentrations of harmful heavy metal ions was used to test the flotation and separation of the heavy metal ions. Both xanthate and cationic collectors have been investigated for the flotation separation. Effective separation has been achieved .
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Between the public and personal voices : discourses and meanings of quality teaching in higher
- Authors: Crebbin, Wendy
- Date: 1999
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "This thesis is an analysis of the construction of, and contestation over, meanings about quality teaching in higher education in Ausralia, during the period 1992-1996."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Composition and ecology of the flora and fauna of remnant native grasslands of the western basalt plains and northern plains of Victoria : implications for management on private property
- Authors: Hadden, Susan A.
- Date: 1998
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "This thesis investigated a) the effects of the removal of grazing on the botanical composition, structure and biomass of two long-grazed species-rich grassland remnants, b) the habitat use and requirements of the ground-dwelling mammal, reptile and amphibian fauna and c) the composition, and abundance of the beetle, ant and spider assemblages."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Different contexts of physical activity in relation to children's self-concept
- Authors: Jiang, Xiaoli
- Date: 1996
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "This study investigates children's self-concept in relation to the quality of school physical education and sports programs, the teaching by physical education specialists and participation in extra curricular sport activities."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy