Browsing by Author "Lynham, Susan A., advisor"
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Item Open Access A phenomenological investigation of coexisting values in healthcare(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Stewart, Christopher W., author; Lynham, Susan A., advisor; Coates, Tabitha K. L., committee member; Mumford, Troy V., committee member; Lopes, Tobin P., committee memberHealth care delivery in the United States has a storied history that has led the American public to expect that their Health Care Practitioners (HCPs) will pursue personal and professional values such as benevolence, equality and capability. A progressive set of events that dates back to the implementation of national health insurance for the elderly and the more recent emergence of events surrounding the implementation of the market-based solution in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have led healthcare organization to become increasingly concerned with the pursuit of market values (e.g. competition; productivity). A review of relevant literature on the coexistence of personal, professional and market values in health care pointed toward a number of potential consequences that might emanate from this coexisting values phenomenon. The HCPs who practice at the nexus of this phenomenon are those who most directly experience such consequences and the aim of this study was to qualitatively explore and illuminate the lived experience of a selection of doctors and nurses. Through an application of a co-constructive approach to inquiry it was found that those HCPs who participated in the study experience professional opportunities to express their personal value preferences, while also experiencing a paradoxical tension when it comes to leaving their patients feeling satisfied with their care experience. It was also found that the HCPs interpret their interactions with the pharmaceutical industry in a variety of ways, and that a HCPs exposure to market values is influenced by their practice area and the type health system they are working in. The vast majority of study participants practice within the same health care organization (system), and it was further found that these HCPs benefit from a quality of leadership and organizational support that enables the pursuit of their care value priorities. Study finding also point to the potential for adverse consequences (e.g. demoralization; burnout) in instances where HCPs are unable to fully realize their personal and professional value priorities. Study implications feature suggestions for practice, theory development and future research, and suggestions for those who might endeavor comparable qualitative research.Item Open Access Does gender matter? A hermeneutic phenomenological study of the shared experience of women physicians in academic pediatrics(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Wukitsch, Michael V., author; Lynham, Susan A., advisor; Bubar, Roe W., committee member; Chermack, Thomas, committee member; Doe, Sue, committee memberAcademic medicine, historically dominated by men, has perpetuated a hierarchical culture that marginalizes women (Boulis & Jacobs, 2008; Morantz-Sanchez, 1985; More et al., 2009; Pololi, 2010). Despite this, the presence of women physicians in academic settings has surged, challenging traditional norms. In pediatric academic medicine, women physicians encounter the need to navigate through this entrenched male-dominated culture. Understanding their experiences is crucial for hospital administrators and medical school leaders. This study investigates the experiences of women physicians in academic pediatrics at a nationally ranked institution. This research sheds light on how women physicians navigate the challenges of a traditionally male-dominated work environment and how their professional lives intersect with personal aspects. This exploration of the layered complexities women physicians face in academic pediatrics provides insight into their lived experiences. Employing hermeneutic phenomenology, this study delves into the lived experiences of women physicians, providing a platform to amplify their voices. Anchored in constructivism, the study's paradigmatic position is elucidated through five governing axioms: defining reality, the knower's relationship with the known, transferability, association linkages, and the role of values in inquiry (Lincoln & Guba, 2013, pp. 37-38). Eight essential themes, distilled from participant interviews, capture the essence of their experiences. These themes, categorized into personal and institutional perspectives, are viewed through the lenses of agency and structure, mirroring the yin-yang duality. This approach acknowledges both harmony and potential overlap among themes, presenting the phenomenon as a synthesized whole. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. Further research avenues are proposed, along with insights for refining existing theory. Additionally, considerations for various stakeholders' practices are examined, encompassing recommendations for action. The study concludes with an epilogue, reconsidering the findings based on recent social events.Item Open Access Exploring the nature of physician leadership for family medicine resident physicians: a phenomenological study(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Dewsnap, Michael A., author; Lynham, Susan A., advisor; Arroliga, Alejandro C., committee member; Coates, Tabitha L., committee member; Hooper, Barbara R., committee memberFrom solo practitioner in the late 19th century to team leader and policy maker in the 21st century, the physician's role is becoming increasingly complex and often extending beyond the perceived traditional realm of patient care. Such complexity has garnered recent attention for defining and developing physician leadership in order to equip physicians to lead in the shifting landscape of health care. Nonleader resident physicians are an underrepresented population in the literature on physician leadership. Although a few resident physicians assume formal leadership roles in medical residency, the majority serve as leaders by virtue of their stage in training or as informal leaders to peers and others. Little is known about resident physicians not in formal roles (nonleaders) and how they describe physician leadership through their lived experiences in graduate medical education. This study explored the nature of physician leadership for nonleader family medicine resident physicians from their descriptions of physician leadership. Guided by the constructivist paradigm, the research question for this qualitative study was, How do family medicine resident physicians describe and experience the nature of physician leadership? The conceptual framework consisted of (a) two foundational leadership elements, (b) leadership era paradigms, and (c) three contexts of medical education. Descriptive phenomenology was selected as the methodology and data were collected from six family medicine residents in two family medicine residency programs in a southwestern state in the United States. The participants met criteria and completed two rounds of interviews and member checking. The data were analyzed through integrative data analysis and yielded themes about what was experienced regarding physician leadership, such as (a) the environment created by physician leaders, (b) the attributes and behaviors of physician leaders, and (c) the focus on the followers. These themes were bound by how the resident physicians experienced these aspects, such as through the context of the specialty of family medicine, the graduate medical education context, and the apprenticeship structure of medical residency that facilitated day-to-day proximity to physician leaders. Conclusions and recommendations for practice, future research, and theorizing are also presented.Item Open Access Shared leadership and member engagement in Western Protestant house churches: a naturalistic inquiry(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Veliquette, Abigail J., author; Lynham, Susan A., advisor; Gloeckner, Gene, committee member; Mumford, Troy, committee member; Smallwood, Steve, committee memberWestern Protestant churches measure success through member engagement. Waning church member engagement has led some to argue that ineffective leadership structures are to blame. While the possibility of shared leadership has been advanced to this end, its use in Western Protestant Church settings has yet to be explored and understood. Thus, this study sought to inform and illuminate how member engagement occurred in Western Protestant house churches that practiced shared leadership. This study was conducted within the Naturalistic paradigm, utilizing the embedded methodologies of hermeneutic phenomenology and ethnography to (a) understand the lived experience and in situ culture of individuals who attend Western Protestant churches where shared leadership is practiced and its perceived effect on their resulting engagement as members of those churches and (b) based on these findings, offer thick description for deep understanding, informed action, and further study as to how shared leadership might be utilized within Western Protestant churches to foster member engagement. Findings indicated that he culture of the house churches selected could best be described through the practiced mediums of the house church including meeting in homes, fellowship time, the physical set up, the flexible structure, and the study of scripture. These mediums were indicative of the underlying beliefs, values, and assumptions of the house church culture. Additionally, the adaptive nature of the church has, in notable part, instigated this shift towards house churches. Some of the manifestations of this shift are seen through the enactment of shared leadership as visible through decision-making and the ways in which church members take initiative to be involved. Additionally, the manifestation of church member engagement is visible through how these members construct, shared and individual, the experiences of participation in the weekly gatherings, interaction throughout the week, and an increased sense of ownership and responsibility. Finally, the themes that had emerged were predominantly confirmed via a final quantitative member checking survey and enabled me to develop contextualized definitions for shared leadership and engagement.Item Open Access Stuck in the middle: Generation Xers lived experiences in the workforce while navigating between Baby Boomers and Millennials, and perceived impact on their job satisfaction(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Dickson, Suzanne Armatas, author; Lynham, Susan A., advisor; Peila-Shuster, Jackie, committee member; Steger, Michael, committee member; Wallner, Barbara, committee memberGeneration Xers are defined as those individuals born between the years of 1965-1980, and represent between 46-49 Million in the U.S. population, and are considered a much smaller cohort than Boomers (80 Million) and Millennials (78 Million). Gen Xers argue that they are overshadowed by the notable influence of the Boomers and a perceived anticipation of the Millennials to become "the next great generation" in the workforce and as such, describe themselves as "stuck in the middle" while waiting for Boomers to retire so they may advance in their careers. However, pronounced demographic trends may have exacerbated Gen Xers' perceptions of neglect and being stuck in the middle. These demographic trends include Boomers continuing to work and Millennials entering the workforce and bringing with them vastly different work preferences, values and expectations than the proceeding generational cohorts. These two dimensions --Boomers continuing to work, and Millennials entering and beginning to influence the workforce--suggest a potentially enigmatic challenge for the smaller but still relevant cohort of Gen Xers with the potential impact on Gen Xers being relatively unknown. This exploratory study was to examine the unique workforce experiences of Gen Xers as it related to being stuck between the Baby Boomers and Millennials and thereby, gain understanding of the perceived impact to their job satisfaction. To describe, understand and find meaning in the participants co-constructed findings, a hermeneutic phenomenology methodology was utilized that was grounded in a constructivist paradigm. The findings from this study represent the individual, shared and co-constructions of six participants which resulted in twelve global themes. The twelve themes include: 1: "Stuck in the middle" is experienced and expressed differently by Gen Xers; 2: Gen Xers have anxiety about their professional future; 3: There are challenges unique to Gen Xers; 4: Gen Xers have perceptions about themselves and their work role; 5: There are generational similarities and differences; 6: Unique work culture impacts generational issues; 7: There may be economic influences on their career; 8: Historical context shapes who Gen Xers are as adults; 9: Baby Boomer influences contribute to job dissatisfaction; 10: Extrinsic motivators; 11: Intrinsic motivators; 12: Job satisfaction or dissatisfaction can carry over to life. The global themes are further comprised of organizing and basic themes to provide additional breadth and depth of understanding of this phenomenon. The study concludes by acknowledging that the voices of the Generation X participants have been heard through the compilation of their personal stories. It is noted that their stories and experiences were largely influenced by three primary factors which include recognition of the individuality of Gen Xers, lack of mutual exclusivity between generational cohorts, and the significance of context in understanding one's lived experience. Finally, drawing from the findings, recommendations are provide to inform research, theory and practice.Item Open Access The concept of organizational knowledge and its associate component parts(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Ziegler, Coronda, author; Lynham, Susan A., advisor; Jennings, Louise, committee member; Doe, Susan, committee member; Folkestad, James, committee memberWithin its extant literature organizational knowledge is theorized as an entity that can be created, captured, and transferred. A pragmatic and applied definition of the concept of organizational knowledge is absent in the literature. Presumptively, the concept of organizational knowledge can be defined, clarified, and articulated, the exploratory journey of which is the goal of this dissertation. This related aim is twofold. First, to begin a process of contributing to description of the concept of organizational knowledge and its associate component parts. And, second, to inform future understanding and inquiry of the concept and its associate component parts. The dissertation presents in manuscript form, three articles that inform these two study objectives. Collectively, the three-article format begins the process of advancing a definition, description, and expanded understanding of the concept of organizational knowledge and its associate component parts. The specific research design employs three distinct lenses to this end, namely, one methodological (of methods), one conceptual (of integrative literature review) and one empirical (of case study).Item Open Access The meaning of work for five Generation Y employees: a hermeneutic phenomenological study(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Coates, Tabitha K. L., author; Lynham, Susan A., advisor; Glick, Scott, committee member; Jennings, Louise, committee member; Wallner, Barbara, committee memberResearch on Generation Y is inconsistent and incongruent, making it difficult to understand the organizational impact of this cohort in the workforce. This exploratory study sought to provide an in-depth examination of Generation Y to understand some work related patterns and meaning among the cohort at a deeper, more intrinsic level than prior studies. The purpose of the study was to explore and understand how five Generation Y employees perceived and described their notion of the meaning of work, based on their lived experience of the phenomenon. To understand and analyze the constructed meaning of the meaning of work, this study was grounded in the interpretive paradigm. The methodology used was that of hermeneutic phenomenology. The findings from this study are representative of the individual, shared, and co-constructions of ten essential themes including: the meaning of work is influenced by education; the meaning of work is the opportunity to do work that is meaningful; the meaning of work is balance; the meaning of work is completing tasks and being compensated to meet our basic needs; the meaning of work is the importance of social relationships; the meaning of work is considering and exploring all opportunities; the meaning of work is influenced by our social networks; the meaning of work is a reflection of who we are; and the meaning of work is working for an organization that functions well; and the meaning of work is influenced by the current state of the economy. The essential themes are presented using thick descriptive quotes from the participants and supporting literature. In addition, the ten essential themes were composed of essential sub-themes and essential sub-sub-themes that provided additional layers of depth in understanding the phenomenon for the five participants. This study provided a voice for the Generation Y participants, allowing researchers and practitioners to begin to build knowledge about the relationship between this generational cohort and the evolving nature of work. Recommendations are provided for using the findings to inform research, theory, and practice. First, suggestions are made for research regarding accumulating knowledge from diverse prospective, sampling, narrowly defining constructs, and improving methodology. Second, recommendations are provided for future theorizing and theory building. Last, I discuss how the findings of this study will inform practice related to the meaning of work phenomenon at the organizational, individual, and generational levels.