Transforming McLeod Hall - School of Nursing - University of Virginia

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impact The Rural Health Internship Program brought together a host of students and faculty. Pictured are (l to r) Chantal Nizam, Rebecca Wendland (front row), Michelle Dorsey, Katy Bagley, Samantha Hudgins, Diane Naim, Beth Merwin (middle row), Jack Thorman, Di Umoh, Sam Hilsman, Megan Stiles, and Matt Truwit (back row). “The students bring unique and interesting questions and help us to see our project in new ways.” where I thought we would be.” Campbell’s research team, which also includes graduate student Erica Lewis, studies patient and family satisfaction with hospice care. The Rural Health Care Research Summer Internship Program: Involving a Diversity of Students and Projects The Rural Health Care Research Summer Internship Program offers a unique research partnership made up of seasoned researchers and a broad mixture of students from UVA’s School of Nursing, other UVA schools, and outside universities. Students working as 2010 summer interns included Katy Bagley, Sarah Borchelt, Michelle Dorsey, Sam Hilsman, Diana Naim, Chantal Nizam, Emily Sisa, Megan Stiles, Matt Truwit, and Di Umoh. This highly successful program was piloted with federal stimulus funding. Additional funding is now required to ensure the program’s future. Di Umoh and Chantal Nizam Two nursing student interns worked with faculty teams on interrelated diabetes studies, one in Louisa County, Va., and the other in rural Grand Bahama Island. Both studies looked at cultural issues interwoven with data studies. Di Umoh worked with investigators to test a new approach to diabetes selfmanagement among African Americans living in rural areas. Previous research has shown that individuals in this ethnic and geographic profile have a higher incidence of diabetes and its complications. Umoh updated background literature on diabetes self-management and transcribed audiotapes from weekly group sessions held in rural Louisa County. Her mentors included associate professor Sharon Utz and assistant professor Ishan Williams, along with assistant professor Kathryn Reid (BSN ’84, MSN ’88, FNP ’96) and PhD student Myra Clark. “The students bring unique and interesting questions and help us to see our project in new ways,” says Utz. “Their backgrounds and experiences add to the richness of the team and our understanding of the clinical problems we study.” Umoh sees the experience as an important one for students. “As nursing students, we often fail to acknowledge just how crucial research is to our practice,” says Umoh. Chantal Nizam, a rising third-year nursing student, participated in a study set on Grand Bahama Island. The project focused on enhancing collaboration in rural international research, while addressing the global need for diabetes self-management training. Under the guidance of assistant professors Ishan Williams and Kathryn Reid, Nizam assisted in gathering data and organizing materials to help meet the grant’s short timeline. Like most of her peers, Nizam did not have previous research experience. She valued the introduction to research methodology and seeing its potential impact on clinical practice. She also liked the opportunity to work more closely with faculty and staff. For Williams, Nizam’s assistance was critical and she sees the program as useful for grooming new scholars. “This program clearly puts undergraduates into research,” says Williams, which is a great path for encouraging new graduate students, especially in nursing.” • 18 Virginia Legacy Fall 2010
Impact Katy Bagley collected information on patient satisfaction while volunteering at this year’s RAM clinic in Wise, Va. Michelle Dorsey and Katy Bagley For two nursing student interns, the summer program was a chance to take their distinguished major projects to fruition and professional publication. Michelle Dorsey (BSN ’10), the School’s first winner of the University-wide Harrison Undergraduate Research Award, worked with professor Beth Merwin and assistant professor Mary Gibson (BSN ’75, MSN ’86) to complete her own research on the strengths and weaknesses of rural prenatal health care, especially as compared with nonrural care. Professionally, Dorsey plans to combine clinical practice and research. She is considering a doctoral degree, perhaps centered on women’s health, public health, primary care, or family health care. Katy Bagley’s rural research is more personal—she has family in southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee. Her distinguished major project was inspired by a culture and health care class taught by assistant professor Audrey Snyder (BSN ’89, MSN ’91, ACNP ’98, PhD ’07) and through firsthand experience at the annual Remote Access Medical (RAM) Clinic in Wise, Va. Bagley studied patient satisfaction with the RAM Clinic, the factors that determined whether or not a patient would return the following year, and the patients’ ongoing use of community health resources. With one manuscript ready to submit to journals, Bagley expects her follow-up summer study to result in a second paper. It will also provide valuable insights to improve patient experiences and access to RAM and to assist local community health providers. Bagley’s career plans include becoming a nurse practitioner working with children. She also loved working with underserved populations and expects eventually to return to academia. Matt Truwit Matt Truwit came to the program from Duke University. The son of a physician father and nurse mother, Truwit had a special interest in health care, but the research was new to him. Truwit worked with associate professor Pam Kulbok on a study of teenage boys, assessing how they make decisions to smoke or not to smoke. He also assisted associate professor Sarah Farrell (BSN ’81, MSN ’83) with several projects focused on new ways to provide readily accessible health care information. One project explored the use of iPod Touches by nursing students for bedside nursing care and research. The other examined the concept of establishing health information kiosks in two rural, international areas. Truwit helped write grant proposals and assisted with international travel plans related to the research goals. “This was my first exposure to a true, granted research study,” he says. “I look forward to conducting my own research and obtaining my own grants in the future, so the experience in writing helped to prepare me.” Megan Stiles For nonnursing students, the summer internship offers an opportunity to explore related interests and learn basic research techniques. Intern Megan Stiles, for example, was a recent UVA chemistry and philosophy graduate, an active EMT, and a teaching assistant in a chemistry lab. Working with assistant professors Sarah Delgado and Mary O’Laughlen (PhD ’06), Stiles entered data for a pediatric asthma study. The research centered on interpreting a survey given to health care providers about adherence to national education and prevention guidelines. Not Either, But Both “The Rural Health Care Research Summer Internship Program has been a tremendous success for the School,” says Beth Merwin, associate dean for research, “and I sincerely hope we can find a way to sustain it. Through these experiences, students learn that they don’t have to make a choice between clinical practice and research. They can combine both. The research can become a foundation for their entire careers. It will likely influence some to pursue graduate and doctoral studies.” “This was my first exposure to a true, granted research study. I look forward to conducting my own research and obtaining my own grants in the future, so the experience in writing helped to prepare me.” www.nursing.virginia.edu Virginia Legacy 19 •
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