News

Alumna Spotlight: Tranise Hamilton Goodlow

March 12, 2018
Jason S Gelt

This fall you earned the Mary Opal Wolanin Award for your DNP project. Can you tell us about that?

My project was about hypertension guidelines. The Eighth Joint National Committee (JNC 8) is the governing body that determines how this country treats hypertension. In their latest guidelines, they stated that in the African American population, first line medications should be thiazide diuretics or calcium channel blockers, but I was not seeing that in my nursing experience. I saw African Americans being treated with (angiotensin converting enzymes) ACEs and (angiotensin II receptor blockers) ARBs and not thiazide diuretics or calcium channel blockers, so when I realized that was wrong I decided to implement my study to see if prescribers were writing prescriptions correctly. I looked at MDs, DOs, NPs and PAs; the general consensus is they are either prescribing ACEs and ARBs or they are prescribing beta blockers, which are much further in the guidelines for treating hypertension. Long story short, the African American population is not being managed correctly. That’s concerning, because over half of African Americans have hypertension. So if they are not being treated correctly, then they have higher mortality and co-morbidity risks for strokes, heart attacks, kidney disease and things of that nature.

Is your project ongoing?

I have concluded it, but Dr. Sheila Gephart has encouraged me to continue my research once I actually get a nurse practitioner job. Eventually, yes, I do want to do another study with a larger sample size. My sample size was 231 patients and I would like to do a more robust investigation.

Why did you pursue a career in nursing?

My answer has three parts. When I was a senior in high school, my great-grandmother passed. We were at the hospice and I saw how caring the nurses were with her. It really touched me to see how they interacted with my family. That sparked my interest. Around the same time, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, which is where I am from. I was really inspired by the good that health care professionals, specifically nurses, were doing to help people who did not have their insulin or needed dialysis. Also, I come from a line of teachers, so I love being able to explain complex information in layman’s to someone who is non-medical. Teaching is my favorite part of nursing.

What are your hopes for your nursing career now that you have your DNP?

It is actually kind of funny. I said I would never do research, but now thanks to Dr. Gephart and Dr. Brian Buchner, I am very interested in research. I would like to help address the health disparities that are happening in the African American population. With my research, I can make a difference in someone’s life by helping to control their hypertension. Research is important to me, but I also do want to teach. I am trying to touch everyone: The new nurses, the established ones, the patients and everybody in between.

What drew you to the UA program?

My dad always told me, ‘If you’re going to do something, do it to the best of your ability and get to the top.’ A lot of my peers that were going to get their masters, but I thought, ‘Why get a masters when I can get a doctorate?’ The UA’s DNP program was a big draw. Another thing I really liked about the university is the opportunity for mentorship. When I was considering applying in 2013, I came across Dr. Buchner and saw that he had worked as a nurse in Dallas. Although I am from New Orleans, I live in Dallas, so I felt like we were connected in a weird way, so I went ahead and reached out to him. He responded immediately. He was super-supportive from the beginning, when I was not even in the program. So I thought, if the faculty is this caring and I am not even there yet, that’s the school I want to be a part of.

What features of the program were particularly valuable to you?

Number one, the faculty are very caring. Every professor that I had was genuinely interested in me, gave me great feedback, cared about me as a person. That mattered to me, especially with it being a distance program. Somebody in particular that I would not have graduated without her is Christina Norman, Clinical Placement Coordinator. She worked so hard to find me placement, because in Texas I could not get placement until the last semester. She helped place me in Arizona for one semester and Albuquerque for another semester, so I would not even be here without her.

Can you share a favorite memory or story from your time at the College?

I would have to say the first RISE. It was August 2014 when I came to campus, and I was nervous. Dr. Ted Rigney was fantastic. One thing he did that I loved was break down what Doctor of Nursing Practice is: He was the one that made me respect and understand that Doctorate is a level of education, not a job. He said, ‘Pharmacists have doctorate degrees, physical therapists have doctorate degrees. A doctorate means you are an expert and teacher in your field and that is it.’ He gave us the history and the philosophy behind it. He really inspired me to stand up for my degree when people say, ‘Well, you are not a physician.’ That’s true, but I still have a doctorate just as a physician has a doctorate.

How do you intend to build better futures?

By being open. My current job is as a nurse educator, so I deal with new graduate nurses all the time who are super green. They are nervous and they do not know what to do, but I tell them, ‘Keep things very simple.’ They laugh, but it is true. I tell them all the time, ‘As long as no one dies, we can fix it.’ They put so much pressure on themselves, but let’s be very basic and simple in the beginning. Did anybody die or did anybody get hurt? If this answer is no to both of those questions, then we can fix whatever you did. I feel confidence with simplicity. And I like to do that with patients too. I say ‘I do not expect you to be perfect. I understand you like cake. I like cake, too, but maybe have two slices of cake instead of five. I am not asking you to be perfect, I am just asking you to be better.’ That was my approach with my patients, trying to compromise with people and meet them in the middle with what is realistic for them. I am not trying to get patients, nurses or myself to be perfect, I am just trying to do better. If I can do better every day, I will get what I need and everyone else will, too.

From the Bench to the Bedside

March 5, 2018
Jason Gelt

A UA College of Nursing Professor’s Start-Up Will Improve the Electronic Health Record for Nurses

If you think commerce and academia don’t mix, University of Arizona College of Nursing Associate Professor Dr. Jane Carrington is here to show otherwise. A foremost nursing informatics expert, she will soon be one of the first nursing faculty members to bring a product to the commercial market.

On the heels of a $745,417 RO1 grant from National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) for her Electronic Health Record (EHR) algorithm to alert nurses to important clinical events, she was invited to participate in the 2017 Coulter College Commercializing Innovation (C3i) program. C3i helps inventors in the academic world usher their discoveries on to commercialization by uniting inventors with business advisors, consultants and marketers. In a moment straight out of Shark Tank, after she presented her pitch two venture capitalists offered her $3 million in seed money in exchange for 10% of her invention.

“It wasn’t just because of the product,” she says of her offbeat approach. “It was because I pitched it in a different way. I said, ‘You know what? All of us are patients in this health care system. And we have two simple goals every time we’re in the hospital: one, Get out as soon as possible and two, survive. Our current EHRs don’t promote enough guarantees that these goals will be met. But with the addition of our product, we will now have a way to up the ante.”

Tell us about your product.

We named it CECAMS – Clinical Event Communication Management System. It’s for early detection of change in status of six events – fever, pain, bleeding, urine output, breathing and consciousness – so as to prevent complications or unexpected death. Basically, it’s an algorithm and clinician interface that tracks the status of patients and based on a data pattern, triggers an alert to the clinician about the potential for or actual occurrence of a clinical event. The company we’re forming so far is named Quantum Communication Tools. Right now, we plan to name a CEO and using a business innovation approach, submit a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant proposal in order to have more resources to advance the product.

What’s unique about your approach?

It’s a hot thing on the market right now. Everybody sees the value of EHR data and not everybody has access to that data. But not all of these ventures are solid because they’re quick start-ups looking for the fast dime. Our project is more science based, following the rules of computer science for algorithm and machine learning. We’re moving more slowly but that gives us more accuracy and relevancy for clinicians. We’re using innovative data visualization strategies to develop a prototype EHR that we can test and eventually put on the market.

What sets my work apart is that I look at the EHR as a communication system rather than as a documentation system. I use the principles of information theory. I adhere to what is known about human factors for the user technology interface and I put all that together for messaging, receiving the message and then determining where the data goes after the message has been received. Current EHRs are great for data entry but not as great for retrieving the data, which often makes them useless for continuing care. We’re working on understanding how nurses use the EHRs so we can re-design to be useful as a communication system. The idea is to turn vast amounts of data into actionable knowledge.

How did you become involved inTell us about the C3i program?

We got an email from the SBIR program officer for NIH saying we were eligible to participate in the C3i program through the Coulter Foundation. The C3i is one branch of that foundation composed of people who are committed to helping people like me learn how to commercialize their inventions. Once I formed a business team, I had to stay on top of weekly assignments and web presentations, and take part in coaching exercises with venture capitalists. These people are masters at helping you take your scientific idea and lay it out in a way that will want someone to invest in it. They also assigned us a journalist who specializes in helping people tell their story in a way that’s succinct. And then our final was presenting our pitch in Bethesda in front of NIH representatives.

Tell us about you provisional patent?

What it means is we have put a flag on the moon, if you will. People are monitoring the patent list to ensure nothing threatens our patent before we’re done. It’s provisional, meaning we’ve got a flag out there and we’re protecting our corner.

What will Phase Two of the EHR Prototype interface involve?

The first step was defining each clinical event and then developing an event classification system – developing the rules, so to speak. We’ve ended up with a classification system that’s enormous but is an absolutely powerful document. One of the phases of the algorithm development is to make it scientific, so in Phase Two we’re going to send it out to staff nurses for review.

What are your hopes for the future?

The success of my business and my research are two facets. However, another facet is extending the application of EHR communications technology to other healthcare problems.  For example, I plan to shift my thinking from technology underpinning hospital individual patient acute care to creating technology solutions that will advance care systems safety and excellence. Informatics is a ubiquitous key to needed innovations.

Student Spotlight: Erin Leigh Galligan

Feb. 28, 2018
Jason Gelt

Senior in the DNP Nurse Anesthetist specialty program, from the Bay Area

Why did you decide to pursue a nursing degree?

I originally pursued an accelerated BSN degree, knowing I wanted to become an advanced practice nurse, but I wasn’t sure of the specialty.  After seeing a CRNA do the job, I immediately knew that I wanted to become a CRNA.  

What drew you to the UA College of Nursing?

I was already living in Tucson, gaining ICU experience to eventually go to CRNA school. When the UA created its CRNA program, it was very serendipitous. 

What is it about nurse anesthesia that you find particularly appealing?

Every day, people trust anesthesia providers with their lives and the lives of the people they love.  This is a huge onus of responsibility, and I try very hard to honor that trust put in me. The practice of anesthesia is real-time medicine with results that are immediately appreciable.  Also, I find anesthesia to be this area of confluence between evidence-based practice, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, vigilance, collaboration, cost-consciousness and efficiency where consideration of every variable must take place when developing an anesthetic plan.

What features of your program are you especially passionate about?

I appreciate that this degree is terminal, which will allow me to one day teach future CRNAs at the collegiate level. Also, the CRNA program starts with a cadaver lab, which is a feature not many CRNA programs offer. We also get to rotate through different clinical sites, affording us the opportunity to experience rural medicine, academic medicine, private practice and independent CRNAs. 

Please share your favorite memory from your time at the CON.

This summer, I was able to spend about a month in Luang Prabang, Laos, working in the OR at the only pediatric hospital in the country.  This was a life-changing, challenging and incredible experience from which I feel I am still decompressing.  Luang Prabang is where the idea for my DNP project in third world pain education came to life. 

How do you intend to Build Better Futures?

Having a terminal degree to teach, and being able to do mission trips caring for disenfranchised populations are both in my future as a CRNA.

Alumnus Spotlight: Major Pedro Oblea, PhD, RN

Feb. 14, 2018
Jason Gelt

US Army Nurse Scientist and UA College of Nursing Alumnus Receives Funding to Study LGBTQ Military Service Member Experience

An active duty military officer for nearly 15 years, Major Pedro Oblea, PhD, RN, completed his PhD at the UA College of Nursing in December 2014. A nurse scientist keenly interested in the domestic situations of active duty service members, his dissertation examined the effects of short-term separation on the behavioral health of military wives. His research into issues like depression, stress, social support, and marital relationships led to his latest study, Exploring LGBTQ Military Service Members Stressors and Lived Experiences. Thanks to a two-year $200,000 grant from TriService Nursing Research Program (TSNRP), he and his team are about to embark on a groundbreaking investigation into the experiences and challenges impacting the health and readiness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) military service members.

What is the main question of your investigation?

My overall goal is to understand lived experiences, associated stressors and social support impacting the health and readiness of the LGBTQ military service members. Initially, I intended to examine the lived experiences and stressors of same-sex couples in the military. But since that population is relatively small, I decided to broaden the study to include the experiences and stress factors faced by the LGBTQ military community.

What makes this study particularly unique?

There are a lot of studies about the difficulty the LGBTQ in the civilian population has in accessing health care, but this is the first study of its kind with the military. Data was hard to access until the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in 2011. With the military recognizing LGBTQ and same-sex couples, for the first time, it was an opportunity to register as couples for our healthcare insurance. Before Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, same-sex couples weren’t part of the conversation. Now, the partner actually gets a dependent military ID. It’s a big deal that they can access healthcare.

How will this project build better futures?

My hope is that this study will be the basis for the future creation of military health care policy to take care of LGBTQ in the military. The results will guide or help the military policymakers to improve health care policies that will affect the LGBTQ population because the LGBTQ population has special needs. Based on the literature, they often suffer from stigma. They don’t want to access help. They’ve been subjected to prejudicial treatment, and often have a lot of stress and emotional problems from when they were coming out. This study might impact the degree of stress this population faces in the future.

Jason S Gelt
jasongelt@email.arizona.edu
520-626-2742

Student Spotlight: Richard Coenen

Feb. 1, 2018
Jason Gelt

Fourth-year Masters of Science for Entry to the Profession of Nursing (MEPN), from Tucson, AZ

Why did you decide to pursue a nursing degree?

As a former United States Marine and Police Officer, I have always had a passion to serve and help others. I was discouraged with police work because I felt it was a very reactive approach to helping the community. For me, nursing is an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of patients through education and actively involving them in the plan of care. This career not only allows me to help others in a tertiary care setting, but I can be involved in implementing primary prevention strategies through health promotion. Nursing is a profession that deals with people and requires true compassion. I am passionate about working with patients and helping them navigate through their complex healthcare needs.

What drew you to the UA College of Nursing?

As a former graduate from the University of Arizona, Eller Business College with a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, I have always been a Wildcat at heart. I love the UA because of its dynamic and innovative teaching strategies with a research focus. Specifically, when I researched the UA College of Nursing I knew it was where I wanted to be. The Master of Entry to the Profession of Nursing was a great fit for me as a husband, father and prior graduate. I felt the school was innovative, challenging and invested in the students. I immediately could tell upon observation that the instructors were passionate about student success. I really liked the physical environment of this school and was excited about the emphasis placed on critical thinking within the program.

What features of your program are you especially passionate about?

I am extremely passionate about the focus placed on independent and critical thinking within a fast-paced and challenging environment. I feel like I have learned so much and gained the most out of a nursing program because of the high expectations placed upon students. Within a clinical setting, we are not just observers of care, but are expected to manage care beside the primary nurse. This program has challenged and prepared me for this amazing career.

Please share your favorite memory from your time at the CON.

One of my favorite memories was conducting a role-playing scenario on Therapeutic Communication within one of our early nursing courses. It was a great moment with close friends to share a hard laugh and learn in a non-stressful environment. I also have a lot of great memories within the clinical setting. I enjoyed working with patients, great instructors, and nurse mentors.

How do you intend to Build Better Futures?

I intend to build better futures by not only helping one critical care patient at a time, but making a difference at a hospital and community level. I plan to be involved in developing hospital and local healthcare policy. I hope to use my foundational education in research and evidence-based practice to make quality improvement initiatives within nursing. I believe there is a need for more advanced nurses within the hospital setting to make effective changes. I would like to be a role-model and mentor for other nurses and students to encourage evidence-based nursing and patient advocacy.

Outside of the profession, I hope to be a role-model for my three children. I want them to learn that it is important to care for others and utilize their education to help change the world. I am appreciative of those who have helped me achieve an education in nursing, so I can support my family and provide a better future.

$1.9M Federal Grant Helps UA College of Nursing Expand, Diversify Nursing Workforce

Jan. 30, 2018
Jason Gelt

Thanks to the four-year diversity grant, the college will expand its support of students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in nursing in Arizona.

Jan. 30, 2018

TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Arizona College of Nursing has received a four-year, $1.9 million grant to support students from diverse backgrounds, with the goal of increasing diversity in the nursing workforce.

The Health Resources and Services Administration diversity grant (No. D19HP30859-01-00), administered through the HRSA Nursing Workforce Diversity program, will fund the Arizona Nursing Inclusive Excellence scholars project, which supports students admitted to the college from disadvantaged backgrounds that are underrepresented in health care and nursing.

The nursing workforce remains predominantly white, with other ethno-racial groups underrepresented in the profession.

"As an institution of higher learning, discovery and service, it is critical that the University of Arizona is a community that accepts and encourages a diversity of thought, heritage and tradition," said UA President Robert C. Robbins. "We are incredibly grateful for the enhanced opportunities this grant will enable for students of underserved populations, which will ultimately contribute to better access to health care education and clinical care for all the people of our state."  

Full-time, pre-professional nursing, Bachelor of Science in nursing and doctoral students who are Native American, Hispanic/Latino, first-generation college attendees or from a rural or U.S.-Mexico border community may qualify to become ANIE scholars. As scholars, they gain access to financial support and academic enrichment services, such as mentoring, coaching, individual and group tutoring, professional skills development and peer networking. As part of the ANIE project, college faculty members are designing a holistic admissions process in concert with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

"As a college of nursing at a land-grant university, we have an obligation to create a workforce that is representative of and reflects the communities we serve," says ANIE Project Director Mary Koithan, PhD, CNS-BC, FAAN, associate dean for student support and community engagement at the College of Nursing. "The ANIE program is focused on improving access to nursing educational opportunities by reducing the barriers and improving the success of our Native American, Hispanic/Latino, first-generation college and rural/border students."

In addition to Dr. Koithan, the ANIE project team includes Michelle Kahn-John, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC, GNP, ANIE co-director for scholar enrichment; Cheryl Lacasse, PhD, RN, OCN, ANIE co-director for community partner outreach; and Linda Perez, M Admin, RN, ANIE living/learning coach.

ANIE scholars who join the project include:

  • Voyager scholars, who are first-year, first-semester, pre-professional nursing students enrolled at the UA who have access to programs aimed at their successful completion of pre-nursing studies to optimize their admission to the college's two-year professional BSN educational program;
  • Vanguard scholars, who once enrolled in the BSN degree program, have access to academic enrichment and mentoring to ensure their successful BSN completion and readiness to attain RN licensure; and
  • Pinnacle scholars, who are working toward Doctor of Nursing Practice or a PhD in nursing, who have access to programs that work to ensure their success in graduating and finding employment in advanced practice or as faculty members.

In addition, a Career Advance Transition supportive program will be developed to recruit and enroll more registered nurses with community college associate nursing degrees into the UA College of Nursing degree programs. 

“The project seeks to progressively strengthen and transform the college's culture of `inclusive excellence’ while supporting the personal and professional success of underrepresented nursing students,” Dr. Koithan said. “Providing new opportunities for these students not only furthers the college's 60-year mission to build better futures, but ensures the nursing workforce will diversify to reflect the needs of disadvantaged Arizona populations,” she added.

With the nation's third-largest population of American Indians and a Hispanic/Latino population of nearly 31 percent, Arizona is an ideal state in which to implement this program. The ANIE project will work to expand the diversity of the nursing workforce to meet the state's needs, project officials say.

Contact: Jason Gelt, UA College of Nursing, jasongelt@email.arizona.edu, 520-626-2742

Student Spotlight: Megan Quinn

Jan. 11, 2018
Jason Gelt

Megan Quinn

Third-year PhD student; from Phoenix

Why did you decide to pursue a nursing degree?

I have always felt a calling to help and heal, and I felt that nursing provided me with an opportunity to provide compassionate care and to help ease suffering. 

What drew you to the UA College of Nursing?

When looking for a place to pursue my PhD studies, I heard great things about the faculty at the UA CON and how well the program prepares its students to be high performing nurse scientists. I have found both of these rumors to be true! 

What features of your program are you especially passionate about?

I love the camaraderie and support I have found in the faculty at the CON. I have received amazing mentorship through relationships with my advisor and other faculty members, and have been able to work with them closely by taking research assistant positions and independent study courses. I also appreciate the flexibility of the program, which has allowed me to pursue a graduate certificate at another institution to help me achieve my career goals.

Share your favorite memory from your time at the CON.

The best memories I have from the program are from spending time with my cohort colleagues at RISE and at WIN conferences. Spending time with my classmates helped me feel like a part of the community and helped us build better teams for our later work together.

How do you intend to Build Better Futures?

I am interested in improving outcomes for babies and families dealing with serious illness in the neonatal intensive care unit. I have taken care of babies at the bedside for several years and have been moved by the suffering I have seen. I hope my work will help advance the use of palliative care in the neonatal intensive care environment so that families can feel comforted and supported in the decisions they make about their baby’s care.

Newsletter: 2018 Issue 1

Jan. 11, 2018

$50K Gift to UA College of Nursing Professor Will Aid Investigation of Compassion Meditation Technique

Dec. 20, 2017
Jason Gelt

The estate of bestselling integrative health author, educator and cancer survivor, Jack Challem, has awarded a $50,000 gift to University of Arizona College of Nursing Assistant Professor Thaddeus Pace, PhD.

The funds will support Dr. Pace’s research, including an upcoming pilot study using Cognitively-Based Compassion Training® in cancer survivors and their friends and family.

“Jack’s focus was on immunity and inflammation processes,” said the estate’s executor, Sally Dodds, PhD, who first became aware of Dr. Pace’s research when she was an associate professor at the UA College of Medicine Tucson. “And since Dr. Pace investigates inflammatory immune responses to stress, his work is a perfect fit.”

The donation will help Dr. Pace apply a specific compassion meditation technique called CBCT® to assess its effects to ease the onset of stress in home caregivers as well as patients coping with cancer. CBCT® (Cognitively Based Compassion Training), works to cultivate compassion to reduce stress, build resiliency, improve relationships and foster human value in the self and others.

“Dr. Pace has been a wonderful asset to our college and his work is an obvious fit with the goals and values of Jack Challem's estate" ~ Dr. Joan Shaver, Dean, UA College of Nursing 

Dubbed compassion meditation, in previous studies, the therapy already has proven effective in dampening the body’s response to stress in healthy young adults. “We’ve taken initial work on how compassion meditation may be good for modifying stress activation and have examined indicators of its stress-reduction effect in foster-care children with trauma histories,” said Dr. Pace, who theorizes the therapy also may prove useful in the cancer-survivorship arena. “The biological underpinnings of the quality-of-life impairments that happen in cancer survivors likely involve similar stress components.”

Thanks to prior research by Dr. Pace’s UA collaborators, Terry Badger, PhD, RN, professor, College of Nursing, Department of Psychiatry and member of the UA Cancer Center, and Chris Segrin, PhD, professor, UA College of Social and Behavioral Science, UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, it is evident that a complex social bonding occurs between cancer survivors and their home caregivers (family or close friends).

Studies involving prostate and breast cancer survivors revealed when the patient’s mood was down, their caregiver’s mood tended to be down, and vice versa. Based on this interplay, Dr. Pace plans to offer a multi-week CBCT® program to both parties, promoting more tranquil moods in tough social situations, and also promoting a calmer overall outlook. “If we can elevate the mental outlook on one or both parties, both are likely to show a positive effect,” Dr. Pace said.

Dr. Pace, who also is assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology, hopes that new research underway in his laboratory will build solid scientific evidence to support an integrative wellness strategy for breast cancer survivors and their close family members and friends. In the study, participants will learn to adapt their mind-body state through instructor-guided meditation sessions and be expected to practice at home. Any change in depression, anxiety, stress and social interactions will provide insights into the body’s mental and physical responses to the therapy and help provide feedback to improve wellbeing.

“Dr. Pace has been a wonderful asset to our college and his work is an obvious fit with the goals and values of Jack Challem’s estate,” said College of Nursing Dean Joan Shaver, PhD, RN. “One of our distinctive research strengths relates to cancer prevention and survivorship and the use of integrative approaches. Our faculty collaborate in this quest with our other UA health professions colleagues, particularly as co-members of the Arizona Cancer Center. These philanthropic gifts accelerate our ability to move important research forward.”

The Healing Power of Technology: Nursing Students Spread the Word about UA College of Nursing Telehealth Research

Dec. 12, 2017
Jason Gelt

In early October, four students from the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at the University of Arizona College of Nursing presented their research posters at the third annual Telemedicine & Telehealth Service Providers Showcase in Phoenix. Hosted by the UA’s Arizona Telemedicine Program, the conference is focused on building partnerships to bring high-quality telehealth services directly into hospitals, clinics, private practices and patients’ homes.

Kimberly Denise Shea , PhD, RN, CHPN

Nearly 400 attendees browsed an array of telehealth specialty services and supporting technologies and discussed the latest trends in applications of clinical telehealth. Associate Clinical Professor, Dr. Kimberly Shea, PhD, RN, CHPN, who accompanied the students to the showcase and serves as their doctoral committee chair, said, “It’s a national convention, and people come from all over the country. It’s a great way to give students terrific experience and shine a spotlight on the impressive work that students are doing in our doctoral programs, in the field of nursing and health informatics in general and more specifically telehealth.” 

Melissa Koon, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, NP-C, third-year Dual-Degree DNP/PhD student
Project: A Best Practice Assessment Protocol for Mobile Technology Home

Tell us about your telehealth project.

We realized that technology could enable us to see more people in the home – especially those living in rural areas – than we could in person, so we’re working on bringing telehealth to palliative and hospice patients. The goal is to use telehealth to help people avoid having to go to hospitals or clinics. Typically, if you are a patient in hospice and need access to care, generally for distressing symptoms, you contact on-call staff and it may take a nurse an hour or two to arrive at your door. Using a telehealth strategy (an iPad for example) for the initial call, a nurse can immediately see what’s going on and coach toward a start on treatment or completely treat the distress. We asked our panel of experts, the hospice staff at Casa De La Luz, to help us develop a protocol by rating the most important activities occurring during home visits. We used the information to make the iPad visit protocol closely resemble the home visit, making sure the visits are appropriately structured and make good use of a limited amount of time.

How will your project impact patient care and education?

Compared to the usual approach, we expect that this telehealth enhancement will lead to relieving symptoms in a more timely fashion. It will also avert nurse burnout by allowing nurse case managers more flexibility in time management. In the realm of education, we hope to guide future nurses in how to do assessments and physical examinations by tablet visualization versus in-person, but still convey that personal human touch that comes with a visit. We’re already using telehealth strategies for many aspects of healthcare delivery, but not yet hospice and palliative care. We need to make this a formal part of our education programs because this is the way of the future.

John Lee Conway, RN, MSN, Ed., third-year online Dual Degree Doctor of Nursing Practice student.
Project: Telemonitoring: Utilizing Persuasive Technology to Improve Client Engagement

Tell us about your telehealth project.

I have a very personal interest in this field because it was the process of telemonitoring that identified anomalies in my mom’s heartbeat and led to early cardiac surgery. She was in and out of the hospital in record time and sent home with monitoring equipment.  However, she didn’t use it all appropriately. That led me to the question: What enablers would most motivate patients to monitor themselves and regularly report accurate healthcare data to their healthcare providers? The answer, I believe, lies in persuasive technology. My intention is to study the use of computers to test what would persuade patients to provide information to their healthcare providers on a regular basis. Improved, consistent and accurate health-related communication between the patient and provider would improve health and well-being outcomes and could be implemented at a distance. 

How are you helping to build better futures with your research?

My project is meant to expand healthcare capacity for managing chronic health care issues in the home, so the growing patient population of people with chronic conditions can be managed without repeat visits to hospitals or urgent care.  By managing health care using online strategies, we’re changing the face of how patient care occurs.

(L-R) Brooke Finley and Dr. Kimberly SheaBrooke Finley, BSN, RN-BC, third-year Dual Degree Doctor of Nursing Practice/ PhD student.
Project: Opting In: Exploring Veterans’ Satisfaction and Perceptions of Telecardiology

Tell us about your telehealth project

It started with my interest in using information technology like teleconferencing to transmit video or auditory signals between people. I was working for the VA as a cardiology research assistant while I was in nursing school and one of our cardiologists was really curious as to how patients were doing in their telemedicine clinics. So I designed this study when I was entering my PhD program to examine the satisfaction ratings of veterans using telecardiology versus those who came into the VA in person. The first part of my survey asked, ‘Would you recommend telecardiology to a friend or family member?’ and overall the veterans thought it was great: they would recommend it, they got really good care, and they could see the same provider team every time. Most of the time, they saved hundreds of miles driving.

What makes your project unique and innovative?

Telehealth has been around for a while, but there really hasn’t been a lot of superb research on it as a healthcare delivery modality. A lot of the studies do not include advanced methodology or well-controlled quantitative investigation. My intent is to design better quality studies in telehealth to provide evidence that telehealth use should be expanded. It can save a lot of money and it helps the providers have a better quality of life too, because they’re not commuting all the time. I believe that’s really a win-win for lots of people and is cost effective.

John Paulo Batucan Bautista, BSN, RN, AGACNP, third-year online Doctor of Nursing Practice student
Project: TeleICU Nurse-Directed Low Tidal Volume Ventilator Rounds

Tell us about your telehealth project.

I work for Banner’s TeleICU, whereby a central command station is linked to a number of intensive care units (ICUs) across Banner hospitals and we provide extra oversight and expertise to support the on-site staff. As part of quality assurance for patients using a mechanical ventilator to assist with breathing, we regularly examine reports of best practices for low tidal volume ventilation, which in seriously ill patients protects against the developing or worsening lung tissue injury.  When I looked at a series of quarterly reports of data across ICUs, I noticed that we were not consistently hitting the ideal benchmarks.  The use of this protective ventilation technique requires advanced knowledge of ventilator management.  My intent was to create a way using TeleICU technology to make sure every patient in every ICU gets the exact same quality of care. 

What makes this project particularly unique and innovative?

I’m using telehealth technology to remotely monitor patients in ways to help free up bedside nurses so they don’t have to worry about making sure that patients are on proper low tidal volume ventilation.