Third Annual Dean’s Research Day a Huge Success
The inaugural Suzanne H. Brouse Lectureship, prominent speakers, and research posters showcased nursing and its impact.
The University of Michigan School of Nursing’s Dean Kathleen Potempa called it “a day of scholarship, fellowship, and thinking ahead to the future of nursing,” and it was that and more. With over 300 faculty, students, alumni, healthcare researchers, and practitioners in attendance, the school’s third annual Dean’s Research Day provided on opportunity for the community to engage with individuals whose cutting edge research is changing the face of healthcare both in this country and around the world. As Dean Potempa explained, “The golden age of nursing is ahead of us and it’s one that will rely on research that betters the lives of the people and communities we serve.”
Featured this year was the Suzanne H. Brouse Lectureship which provides the necessary support to bring a noted speaker to the School of Nursing every year. Said Dean Potempa, “As an alumna of the University of Michigan School of Nursing, Dr. Brouse had the inspiration to give back to her alma mater in a way that will allow us to continue to invite scholars to the school who will push us to keep thinking, to keep moving forward in research that advances the science of nursing.” Dr. Brouse echoed Dean Potempa’s commitment to nursing research saying, “It’s a joy to be in this room with these past, present, and future researchers who will make an impact on not only nursing science, but also on the lives of the people and patients we serve as nurses.” Dr. Brouse explained that part of her motivation for endowing the lectureship was the exceptional education she received at the University of Michigan School of Nursing: “We who have outstanding training need to give back so that others may have similar opportunities.”
To inaugurate the lectureship, Dean Emerita Ada Sue Hinshaw presented her findings that propose a certain set of characteristics that make nursing research most likely to influence national healthcare policy. In her presentation, Dean Emerita Hinshaw urged young nurse researchers to carefully consider what they will focus their research careers on and to choose a topic that will advance health policy and improve models of care. She explained that in order to capture the attention of policy makers, medical research must a) address a major health problem, b) be of interest to multiple disciples and audiences, and c) have an interdisciplinary team of investigators who bring to the table diverse perspectives on the issue. As nursing science lends itself exceptionally well to meeting these three criteria, she posited that nurses have a unique opportunity and responsibility to build research careers around these qualities, thereby vastly improving the body of knowledge used in creating national health legislation.
As in the past two years of the event, this Dean’s Research Day displayed over thirty posters from students and faculty at the School of Nursing on an array of topics, from interdisciplinary research that explores how to increase the number of African Americans and Latinos who enroll in medical studies to NIH funded studies about the use of smokeless tobacco within certain demographic populations. From among these presentations, awards were given to recognize the three best posters at the event. Poster abstracts were peer-reviewed by a committee of ten judges that included clinical faculty, tenured faculty, doctoral students, and University of Michigan Health System clinicians. The six criteria used to determine winners were significance of the research presented, clarity of the objectives, appropriateness of the research methods, relevance of the results, implications for policy and/or practice, and overall aesthetics of the poster. Winners were:
- 1st Place - A Computer-Mediated Intervention and Dash Diet, Wheels-I Program, Sustains Improved Blood Pressure Over Eight Weeks in Women from Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds (Dr. Margaret Scisney-Matlock, Dr. Susan Steigerwalt, Dr. Kenneth Jamerson, Dr. Susan Pressler, Dr. Amanda Sen, Dr. Elizabeth Brough, Lenette Jones)
- 2nd Place – Serotonin Transporter Gene Polymorphism Associated with Alcoholics Anonymous Affiliation and Spiritual Awakening (Dr. Stephen Strobbe, Dr. Marcin Wojnar, Dr. James Cranford, Dr. Kirk Brower)
- 3rd Place - Using Web-Based Technology to Assess Psychological Distress Experienced by Breast Cancer Survivors Across the Survivorship Continuum (Deborah Thornton, Dr. Ellen Smith, Karen Skalla, Zhongze Li, Dr. Tracy Onega, Kristen Anton, Susan Gallagher, June Rhoda, Wendye DiSalvo, Dr. Allen Dietrich)
