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The Research Engine & Conference Presentations
SHOWCASING THE RESEARCH ENGINE AT THE SCHOOL OF NURSING
The research work of the School of Nursing was front and center during April 2013 and we have a lot to be excited about! At the Western Institute of Nursing, there were nearly 40 different activities from four featured sessions to podium presentations, symposiums and a whole slew of posters.
The annual research day conference spotlighted a variety of program and was followed by poster viewing throughout the 5th Floor.
And finally, the Bachelor's Students proudly presented their capstone projects completed as part of their clinical immersions.
Read on for the details.
Winning at WIN
This year's WIN was right down the road in Anaheim, California and the UCLA School of Nursing was everywhere! You can check out all of the abstracts here.
At a special state-of-the-science panel, Professor Lynn V. Doering presented a review of gender differences in identification, treatment and outcomes for cardiovascular disease, with a focus on coronary atherosclerosis, heart failure and stroke. During the same presentation, Professor JoAnn Eastwood introduced her novel study in which she is partnering with a community organization and using mobile health technologies to reduce cardiac risk factors among young minority women.
Also during the three-day conference, UCLA School of Nursing faculty and doctoral students presented three symposia:
- "Cultivating Nurse Leaders: A Framework for Nursing Education in Vulnerable Populations." Researchers discussed their work on finding ways to eliminate the cultural, financial and language barriers that impact health care delivery. Health disparities continue to exist among vulnerable populations, the researchers stress, and addressing inequities requires mentoring and guiding new nurse-scientists to conduct research in this important area.
- "Promoting the Health of Vulnerable Populations" looked at the challenges of meeting the health care needs of four vulnerable populations: homeless men on parole, homeless men and women who suffer from frailty, methamphetamine users who are mothers, and American Indians suffering effects of abuse.
- "Detecting and Characterizing Patterns of Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia," researchers discussed current interventions and effective treatments for this behavioral challenge.
In a newly developed topic, Communications Director Laura Perry partnered with her colleague from UC Davis and recent PhD recipient Benissa Salem to discuss "Communicating the impact of Nursing Research: Reaching Key Audiences to Advance Your Work." This three hour pre-conference, well received program discussed why communicating research is so important, communications tools and how to use them and developing key messages and talking points.
Throughout the three days of WIN, PhD Candidates proudly displayed their research.
Celebrating Research Days
Research Days was held on April 17 this year and kicked off with presentations by NRSA awardee Maria Hayes-Bautista, PhD, who spoke about Latino Mothers of Incarcerated Sons. She was followed by SON Intramural awardee Lynn Woods speaking on Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia and Dana Connolly, a bachelor's student who presented on her Capstone project "Resources for Medi-Cal patients." The keynote speaker was Janice Crist of the University of Arizona College of Nursing who spoke about "ENCASA: Reducing Health Disparities among Mexican American Elders Through Engagement."
In her research work, Crist found out that Mexican-Americans took care of their elders and did not realize there were services that could help them. The research led to intervention education about home health services and the processes to decide whether to hire help. They used telenovela intervention and saw an increase in the use of healthcare services.
Following a box lunch, there was poster viewing of research.
Capstone Poster Presentations
Fifty Bachelor's students proudly displayed their research projects completed as part of their senior year clinical immersion. Students were charged with identifying a problem of interest to the unity, implementing a study, writing up the results and presenting and discussing their findings with the unit leadership. Very few schools of nursing offer a capstone experience and the feedback we get from the units is very positive.
