Eight faculty, nine undergraduate nursing students, and one Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Leadership student, all from the School of Nursing, had the opportunity to attend the Western Institute of Nursing (WIN) Annual Research Conference on April 11-14, in Spokane, Washington. This opportunity is provided each year by the Jody DeMeyer endowed fund and makes Boise State University unique for having such great representation at the conference.
The focus of the conference was “Transforming Health Through Advances in Nursing, Research, Practice, and Education.” Not only did students attend sessions related to this topic, they presented their own research and evidence-based practice projects alongside their mentors and other faculty research presentations.
Jenny Alderden, assistant professor, presented her work in a symposium on pressure injuries using machine learning to investigate the injuries within the Intensive Care Unit in a symposium. Jane Grassley, professor and Jody DeMeyer Endowed Chair, also gave a podium presentation highlighting her work with St. Luke’s nurses to implement a family bonding time in the mother/baby unit. Other faculty also presented their research posters at the conference. Max Veltman, associate professor presented his research on “Healthcare for Foster Children,” and Teresa Serratt, associate professor, presented a poster on “The Nursing Workforce.”
School of Nursing faculty also won awards at the conference. Pam Strohfus, associate professor, and Paula Molina-Shaver, clinical assistant professor, won the Best of Show Poster award for their work entitled, “Medication Errors Abound: Why an Intramuscular Injection isn’t Intramuscular.” This scholarly endeavor is a continuation of their work concerning body mass index and appropriate needle depth.
Serratt was also recognized as the recipient of the 2018 Sigma Theta Tau International Western Institute of Nursing Research Grant. She has received $10,000 to investigate state regulations related to mental health technicians in acute care.
Ron Ordona, a DNP in Leadership student who will graduate Spring 2018, presented his capstone student project, “Transitional Care Medical House Call: A Pilot Project” with mentor Cara Gallegos, assistant professor. Ordona’s work was recognized by the WIN Gerontology Special Interest Group as the best student presentation in gerontological nursing at the conference.
Students who attended the conference had positive comments about presenting their research:
“Engaging with people as they passed my poster was really fun. I left feeling truly empowered by the exciting projects so many inspiring nurses are working hard to accomplish. I really loved being able to interact with nurse researchers and hear about their research as well. I was not sure how I felt about research prior to attending the conference, but after the poster session and several concurrent sessions, I now know this is something I want to pursue. Because of this experience, I aspire to continue my education to a graduate level and participate in future research projects.”
Student research posters included:
- The Undergraduate Research Assistant Experience – Kelsy Mitchell, Julie Rekiere, students, and Grassley, faculty mentor
- Child Fatalities – Julie Rekiere, student and Veltman, faculty mentor
- General Anesthesia and Delirium – Hannah Nakashima, student and Gallegos, faculty mentor
- Disaster Training for Nurses – Taylor Beckman, Alanna Belz, Cat Ostrem, Sarah Leuw, students and Gallegos, faculty mentor
- Fall Prevention in the Community -Christine Shives, student and Lucy Zhao, assistant professor, faculty mentor
- Virtual Reality, Gaming, and Nursing Skills – Kimberly Brown, student and Karen Breitkruz, associate professor, faculty mentor
- Targeted Education Related to Intramuscular Injections – Chelsea Tindell, student, and Strohfus, faculty mentor