UMSN News at a Glance (Jan 2016): Students Top the News with a Global Health Immersion, Award and Publication, Plus Faculty Advocates for Veterans
Nine UMSN nurse practitioner students recently completed a global health immersion experience in Thailand. Led by Clinical Assistant Professor Michelle Pardee, DNP, FNP-BC, and Clinical Associate Professor April Bigelow, Ph.D., ANP-BC, the students spent two weeks providing care at health centers and schools, in addition to home visits. They also went to two temples to provide health care to monks. The students represent several UMSN master’s programs, including primary care nurse practitioner specialties of adult gerontology, midwifery, pediatrics, and family. The annual immersion experience began in 2013 and continues to develop with new partnerships and villages across Thailand. View more photos.
UMSN HILLMAN SCHOLARS AUTHOR FEATURED ARTICLE
PhD students Robert Knoerl and Grace Kanzawa work with Ellen Lavoie Smith, PhD, APN-BC, AOCN, director of UMSN’s PhD program, on research related to peripheral neuropathy, a painful side effect of chemotherapy. The two students’ recent Coping with Cancer article answers questions about the nerve condition which causes painful tingling and burning sensations primarily in the hands and feet.STUDENT AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH
Rhodene Mullings was selected as a recipient of a Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training (MHIRT) Award. The program gives students an opportunity to engage in global research related to health disparities. Mullings will travel to Ethiopia to participate in a research project. She will be working on a project entitled “Understanding Patient and Provider Awareness of Sexually Transmitted Infections” with mentor Jason Bell, MD, MPH, assistant professor at U-M’s Medical School. The focus of the project will be aimed at understanding where patients seek treatment for STI’s and how providers are trained to treat these infections. Mullings brings a unique perspective to international research. She was born in Jamaica, moved to Michigan’s remote Mackinac Island as a teenager, and graduated in a high school class of 10 students. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from U-M with a degree in Anthropology and Minor in Medical Anthropology, before deciding to pursue a career in nursing. Mullings participated in UMSN's GENESIS Program and is now president of the GENESIS Student Association.Human Trafficking in Ethiopia
UMSN Hillman Scholar and PhD student Kristen Choi is part of the interdisciplinary U-M team working to establish a clinic for victims of human trafficking in Ethiopia. Choi discusses the advantages of an interdisciplinary approach in her blog for Rackham Graduate School.
LEADERSHIP FOR VETERANS
Marita Titler, PhD, RN, FAAN, UMSN Professor and Chair of Systems, Populations and Leadership Department, was selected for a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs work group focused on improving system-level care for veterans. The Best Practice Identification and Dissemination (BPID) work group, Chaired by Peter Pronovost from John Hopkins, is tasked with advising the Under Secretary of Health on developing systematic structures and processes for standardizing operational best practices across the VA System. The VA system includes more than 1,700 hospitals, clinics, living centers and other facilities, and provides care to nine million veterans.
U-M HONORS
Assistant Professor Patricia Coleman-Burns, PhD, MA, has been selected for the Sarah Goddard Power Award: Recognizing the Status of Women Within the University of Michigan. Power was a U-M Regent known for her efforts to advance the position of women and minorities in faculty and administrative roles. Awardees are selected for their contributions to the betterment of women in leadership, scholarship and professional activities. Dr. Coleman-Burns serves as director of GENESIS, a UMSN outreach program for students in grades 8-11 to learn about careers in nursing and other health sciences and retention and academic success program for underrepresented students in the profession enrolled in the School. She is also the Director of Student Enrichment & Accelerated BS Completion Program and special advisor on multicultural affairs to UMSN’s dean. In addition, she is active in programs including the University Outreach Council, the Women of Color in the Academy Steering Committee, and chairperson of the UMSN Strategic Planning Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She is also a Member of the Executive Board of the SafeHouse Center. Dr. Coleman-Burns will receive the award at a special ceremony on February 10, 4-5:30pm at the Michigan League.
Nursing Environment Effects on Surgical Outcomes
Assistant Professor Christopher Friese, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN, calls for committed efforts to more implementation science to understand successful surgical outcomes in an invited JAMA Surgery commentary. Co-authored with U-M Assistant Professor of Surgery Amir A. Ghaferi, MD, MS, “Revisiting Nursing’s Effect on Surgical Quality and Cost” reviews recent findings that show hospitals with better nursing environments have lower failure-to-rescue rates and a better overall value. However, the authors believe more data are needed to inform hospital executives for policy making.
Nurse-Led Chronic Care Coordination Grant Featured
“RNs hold such potential to improve patient care by functioning as team leaders,” UMSN Clinical Associate Professor Donna Marvicsin, PhD, RN, PPCNP-BC, CDE, told HealthLeaders. Dr. Marvicsin is leading a new, $1.5 million grant in partnership with Detroit’s Community Health and Social Services Center (CHASS). Dr. Marvicsin and colleagues will work to create a model of interprofessional collaborative practice with nurses acting as leaders to better coordinate care through improved electronic health records, collecting more patient information before the visit with the practitioner, and manage ongoing care.
Health IT in the News
In “Healthcare IT: Hot Trends for 2016” Associate Professor Patricia Abbott, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, tells InformationWeek that she expects to see sensor-based technologies helping patients and providers communicate and manage chronic disease. The two-part series looks at how trends such as “wearables” are able to monitor more advanced health conditions and what the influx of data means for practitioners and IT professionals.
Letter to the Editor
In response to an editorial in the New York Times on the risks of home births, UMSN’s Lisa Kane Low, PhD, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, co-authored a letter to the editor calling for better integration of home births and transfers in the U.S. health care system. Dr. Kane Low is UMSN’s Associate Dean for Practice and Professional Graduate Studies, and President-Elect of the American College of Nurse Midwives.
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