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The death of a neonate is a life-changing and tragic experience for the individuals involved in the final moments of the infant's life. As the frontline provider in this clinical scenario, the bedside nurse supports the patient and family through their individual journey of loss. If the nurse does not possess the palliative care educational background and communication skills to support this unique care delivery process, the journey of death can evolve into a particularly negative experience for the parents and the nurse. This specific delivery of care concern was identified and gleaned from a parental bereavement exit interview after the loss of an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH). Due to the lack of educational preparation, the NICU nursing staff members had demonstrated inexperience, awkwardness, and insecurity in their provision of the end-of-life care activities and family support interventions. The purpose of this doctor of nursing practice project was to develop an evidence-based neonatal palliative care educational program to support the NICU nursing staff and families at ACH. The educational program is multimodal in approach to address the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of adult learning through the use of palliative care informational modules, videos, and simulation training. The clinical outcome of this new palliative care educational program will promote a positive change in the NICU nursing staff's clinical practice during the provision of nursing care when faced with neonatal end-of-life situations at ACH. This capstone project on adult education should be read by professional frontline nursing staff who care for these fragile patients in the specialized intensive care world of neonatology. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Use of educational technology, hardware and software such as whiteboards, simulators, math solvers, and language programs, has been shown to enhance learning by providing a more vivid, interactive experience. Yet a number of studies in the last 5 to 7 years have reported low use of educational technology (e-technology) by high school teachers and wide reluctance by teachers to become proficient in such use. Earlier studies have investigated the causes of this reluctance. Recent studies have linked behavior of teachers to desired outcomes expected by school leadership. This study examined the role of principals in enabling the use of e-technology--the expectations set and encouragement offered by school principals and the actual use of e-technology by teachers. A qualitative, explanatory multiple case study was conducted with each case being one of three high schools, two in California and one in Massachusetts, selected for ease of access by the researcher. The study used face-to-face interviews with principals and technology specialists (two cases had such a position), online questionnaires for teachers (10 to 12 responding from each school), and in two cases, discussions with a small focus group of teachers (6 to 10) to supplement the online questionnaire results. The questions were designed to learn about the perspectives of the principal and of the teachers on the incorporation of e-technology. Principals were asked about e-technology use in their school and the extent to which the principal put policies and resources in place to encourage such use. Teachers were asked about their use of e-technology and the factors that led them to use or not use such tools. Based on data collected from each school, the actual practice of the teachers was qualitatively compared to the expectations established by the principal for e-technology use. A cross-case analysis was conducted, between the school in which the principal showed active encouragement (technology plan, training, teacher evaluation, equipment, and technology support) and the two schools in which the principals depended on the school district office for e-technology decisions and policy. The findings indicate that for effective use of e-technology, desired outcomes must be clearly indicated and supported at the local school leadership level--the principal. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]